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Recommended SSD drive for MacBook 2008 Aluminium Unibody

M

Mac-Rumours

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 23, 2010
144
1
I'm thinking about buying an SSD for my MacBook as the prices have come down recently.

The following are all about the same price:

Corsair 120GB Force 3 SSD CSSD-F120GB3-BK
OCZ 120GB Agility 3 SSD AGT3-25SAT3-120G
Crucial 128GB M4 SSD CT128M4SSD2

I've read recommendations for the Crucial but the write speed is slower than the others – will this make a difference with my older MacBook? I've also read that the Intel 320 are very reliable but the price is 60% higher than the others.

Any recommendations appreciated.
 
Samsung 470 or 830

You won't see any advantage with the 830 as your mb is limited by its controller.
 
First of all, try to stay away from Drive using Sandforce SF2281, I hear a lot of problem when you use it for a while. Even if you can fix it with Firmware update, It is hardware compatibility Issue.

I prefer Crucial M4 since the price is nice ($240.- for 256 GB on Amazon) or Plextor M3 since they used Marvell chipset. Everest Chipset can be good choice too.
 
allapon said:
First of all, try to stay away from Drive using Sandforce SF2281, I hear a lot of problem when you use it for a while. Even if you can fix it with Firmware update, It is hardware compatibility Issue.

I prefer Crucial M4 since the price is nice ($240.- for 256 GB on Amazon) or Plextor M3 since they used Marvell chipset. Everest Chipset can be good choice too.
Click to expand...

Another vote for the crucial M4. Everything allapon says is correct based on my research. Was able to get 512GB M4 to work flawlessly: disc cloned, TRIM enabled on snow leopard for an old mac book, +200 MB/sec peak on the activity monitor.
 
I recommend an intel series. I use an Intel 520 and have never had a single problem and the install was a breeze. Plus intel backs up their products with a decent warranty. You would be disappointed if you spend a little extra to get an intel drive.
 
Crucial M4 128gb, plug and play no faffing about and a bargain these days.

Just installed one on my Macbook core 2 duo 2006 and the boot time is now faster than my iMac :O
 
Crucial M4. 128gb. Very happy with it. I'm not too savvy – but a friend of mine who is, said the M4 are more reliable than Sandforce these days.
 
My Intel 320 died a week after installing, I took it back to BestBuy and they handed me a new one. Easy peasy. It's been rock solid since then.
 
Go with an intel drive they are fantastic drive and come with an awesome warranty. Plus as I said before they are dead simple to install and setup to use. Plus if it does fail for some strange reason with the 520 series your covered for 5 years!
 
Intel is currently running a rebate program on their Intel 330 60GB and Intel 330 180GB models. It is $15 off the 60GB and $60 off the 180GB. At newegg.com this makes the 60GB $65 and the 180GB $140.

Not a bad deal considering they come with a 3 year warranty.

Brian
 
Late 2008 Unibody Macbook SSD Recomendation PLS

Hi guys, hope this is the right place for help. I have a Unibody Late 08 Macbook and really want to install an ssd. I currently have a Hybrid in it, and although its faster than the original HDD, its still not up to my new 27in desktop with ssd.... Ive researched heavily what ssd to buy, and im lost.... I can get an Intel 330 180GB, or a Crucial M4 256 which is alot more expensive... Ive read about the sandforce FW controller issues, and would ideally like a straight forward install rather than FFW updates etc... Any advice would be appreciated... Oh, Im in Aus, so we get screwed on price... Tks for any help. my macbook has the dreaded nvidia chipset... and 4gb of ram.
 
I've been researching for a while for SSD's in my Late 2008 Macbook unibody as well. Last week I decided to go with the crucial m4 128gb mainly because people have said they are reliable, have a mac updater and the latest firmware allows the SSD to run at a 3 Gbit/s negotiated link speed (which I think OCZ drives have the problem of only running at 1.5Gbit/s). So far so good, really fast and makes a four year old computer feel like new again! Haven't enabled TRIM, not sure whether I need to at the moment. Would recommend the M4!
 
minky1234 said:
I've been researching for a while for SSD's in my Late 2008 Macbook unibody as well. Last week I decided to go with the crucial m4 128gb mainly because people have said they are reliable, have a mac updater and the latest firmware allows the SSD to run at a 3 Gbit/s negotiated link speed (which I think OCZ drives have the problem of only running at 1.5Gbit/s). So far so good, really fast and makes a four year old computer feel like new again! Haven't enabled TRIM, not sure whether I need to at the moment. Would recommend the M4!
Click to expand...

Thanks Minky, im fairly convinced i should get the crucial... just need to decide on 128 or 256... its a secondary machine that only gets used when the ipad is insufficient.... no video or music etc, so 128 is prob enough, accept that i have about 110gb on the existing HDD, i suspect its photos and rubbish. the firmware update makes me nervous... im not up to speed on that sort of thing... still trying to work out how to get a copy of lion! its installed on both machines, but i cant work out how to get it without paying twice for it.... not sure i like this no disk business apple are into! tks again. P.S. Minky, did you reinstal from a backup, or fresh install? a reinstall from timemachine would sort all my issues of getting a copy of lion... tks again.
 
Last edited:
tingtong said:
the firmware update makes me nervous... im not up to speed on that sort of thing...
Click to expand...

The m4 I bought last week came with the latest firmware (000F) so I guess if you can get hold of one in store and check that it has the latest firmware you shouldn't have to mess around and update it..

tingtong said:
still trying to work out how to get a copy of lion! its installed on both machines, but i cant work out how to get it without paying twice for it.... not sure i like this no disk business apple are into! tks again. P.S. Minky, did you reinstal from a backup, or fresh install? a reinstall from timemachine would sort all my issues of getting a copy of lion... tks again.
Click to expand...

I did a fresh install, but that was only because I wanted to start from scratch, probably no real reason to do so based on your needs. You could just clean up your current HD then use Carbon Copy Cloner and clone your HD onto a new SSD.
 
2 months later and I've finally bought a Samsung 830 256GB. I've read nothing but good reviews of this drive and the price has now come down to £145. :)

I'm going to do a clean install of Lion and then migrate data from a Time Machine backup. Don't think I'll need to update firmware or enable trim.
 
Mac-Rumours said:
2 months later and I've finally bought a Samsung 830 256GB. I've read nothing but good reviews of this drive and the price has now come down to £145. :)

I'm going to do a clean install of Lion and then migrate data from a Time Machine backup. Don't think I'll need to update firmware or enable trim.
Click to expand...

Macrumours, will you be doing the upgrade soon, I'd love to know how it goes in our insubordination 08. I love Samsung products and would love to get one, and of course it comes with and USB cable, which I don't think is included in the aus version of the m4.
 
Samsung SSD

Please let us know if the Samsung SSD helps. I was looking at this exact same hard drive from Amazon for my 2008 13" aluminium unibody macbook. Although my MBP still works and is in good condition, the battery life isn't great, and it's slowed down a lot (even with 4GB ram!).

I'm thinking about buying a 13" MBA 2012 top spec, but if an SSD helps considerably with speed, I may be tempted to keep my MBP and wait another year for the next MBA refresh.
 
tingtong said:
Macrumours, will you be doing the upgrade soon, I'd love to know how it goes in our insubordination 08. I love Samsung products and would love to get one, and of course it comes with and USB cable, which I don't think is included in the aus version of the m4.
Click to expand...

philbrown84 said:
Please let us know if the Samsung SSD helps. I was looking at this exact same hard drive from Amazon for my 2008 13" aluminium unibody macbook. Although my MBP still works and is in good condition, the battery life isn't great, and it's slowed down a lot (even with 4GB ram!).

I'm thinking about buying a 13" MBA 2012 top spec, but if an SSD helps considerably with speed, I may be tempted to keep my MBP and wait another year for the next MBA refresh.
Click to expand...

The SSD is in the post so:

WATCH THIS SPACE (for an update). :)

--

I'm still not sure whether to use CCC or migrate data from a backup – will either allow me to run all software that is already installed or will I have to reactivate? I remember migrating data to Lion caused all sorts of havoc with Adobe's software and I ended up having to totally un-install and then re-install Photoshop as it refused to activate otherwise.
 
Mac-Rumours said:
The SSD is in the post so:

WATCH THIS SPACE (for an update). :)

--

I'm still not sure whether to use CCC or migrate data from a backup – will either allow me to run all software that is already installed or will I have to reactivate? I remember migrating data to Lion caused all sorts of havoc with Adobe's software and I ended up having to totally un-install and then re-install Photoshop as it refused to activate otherwise.
Click to expand...

OK, Bought the Samsung 830 256GB yesterday..... The guy at the store said when asked if i should get Crucial or samsung, that the samsung had only been out for a few months, so they didnt have any ideas how reliable it was, but samsung 4790 was good. he said the crucial has been around for 2 yrs and was a proven reliable SSD, but it was slow compared to the Samsung.... Took a leap of faith and got the samsung. Backed up the macbook late 08 2.4Ghz with 4 mb ram to time machine, then swapped the drives. After downloading the lion installer and loading it to a usb, started everything up and installed the OS.... pretty quick is my initial impression... Thenplugged in my time machine backup (external USB HDD) and let it reinstall my programs and settings, including Office and Adobe Suite.... All basically seemed to go well. I had to reinstall Java, and itunes seemingly needed to update? Flash also wanted to update itself for some reason as well... even though the last system was completely up to date? Anyway, the samsung has connected to teh Nvidia controller at 3gb on its own, and havent seemed to have any troubles to date. Its certainly quick, not quite as quick on startup as my SSD 27inch imac, but certainly quicker than the hybrid HDD i was using. Firefox seems snappier, and programs seem to load near instantly. Ill play more with it tonight to try and stress it. Havent enabled Trim, not sure if i need to? There is a freeware app out there that enables it supposedly, but the samsung supposedly has Garbade Collection routines, and Im only using 120gb of a 256gb drive, so im assuming i should be ok. Initially, i havent noticed any benefit in battery life, and my battery is still 98% good, so that has been initially surprising... Hope this is useful to someone. Thanks for all your assistance to date, ill let you know if anything goes awry.
 
tingtong said:
OK, Bought the Samsung 830 256GB yesterday..... The guy at the store said when asked if i should get Crucial or samsung, that the samsung had only been out for a few months, so they didnt have any ideas how reliable it was, but samsung 4790 was good. he said the crucial has been around for 2 yrs and was a proven reliable SSD, but it was slow compared to the Samsung.... Took a leap of faith and got the samsung. Backed up the macbook late 08 2.4Ghz with 4 mb ram to time machine, then swapped the drives. After downloading the lion installer and loading it to a usb, started everything up and installed the OS.... pretty quick is my initial impression... Thenplugged in my time machine backup (external USB HDD) and let it reinstall my programs and settings, including Office and Adobe Suite.... All basically seemed to go well. I had to reinstall Java, and itunes seemingly needed to update? Flash also wanted to update itself for some reason as well... even though the last system was completely up to date? Anyway, the samsung has connected to teh Nvidia controller at 3gb on its own, and havent seemed to have any troubles to date. Its certainly quick, not quite as quick on startup as my SSD 27inch imac, but certainly quicker than the hybrid HDD i was using. Firefox seems snappier, and programs seem to load near instantly. Ill play more with it tonight to try and stress it. Havent enabled Trim, not sure if i need to? There is a freeware app out there that enables it supposedly, but the samsung supposedly has Garbade Collection routines, and Im only using 120gb of a 256gb drive, so im assuming i should be ok. Initially, i havent noticed any benefit in battery life, and my battery is still 98% good, so that has been initially surprising... Hope this is useful to someone. Thanks for all your assistance to date, ill let you know if anything goes awry.
Click to expand...

Congrats! I know Apple are also using Samsung's SSDs so they should be good. :)

Did you have any issues with re-activating software such as Adobe's Creative Suite?
 
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