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Rev. A MBA with Runcore SSD upgrade
- Thread starter NC MacGuy
- Start date
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Why don't you slap an Intel SSD in the MBA and post your result?
YOU CAN'T.
WON'T FIT.
MOOT POINT.
too bad they currently don't have the rev A SSD's on ebay. Will just have to wait until it's back in stock.
Edit: anyone know if SSD drive is lighter than stock HD? wondering if it will cut down on the MBA's weight or if it's negligible. Thanks!
These HDDs are 1.8" long and 5mm thick -- they are tiny. Unless they are made of depleted uranium, I am guessing it would fall well into negligible given the mass of the rest of the laptop 🙂 Apple doesn't have a different weight spec for HDD vs. SSD units.
I'm curious as to how this unit compares to the standard SSD Rev A drive.
Is it worth it in this case?
Is it worth it in this case?
Ace134blue
macrumors 6502a
Thats true you could . . . but then you have the worlds thinnest desktop in the world . . .
-iGrant
External Intel SSD through a USB connector? Okay...
The bootup time once the system is recognized is quite fast.
Just out of curiosity how many really care about boot time? I have a Mac Mini that has not been rebooted . . . in like a month and my Macbook Air I just got has not been rebooted since the last system update, I just leave them on and close the lid when I'm done . . . even if I'm running the battery.
I only reboot my Macs after a system update . . . I never turn them off, they don't seem to need it . . .
-iGrant
Agreed... frankly I prefer if apple focused on performance when my system was up and not reduce the "boot times" which I rarely perform aside from updates that require it.
NC MacGuy,
Any update, X Bench results, etc? My drive arrives next Tuesday and I am trying to decide how excited I should be!
Also, do you have any issues with sleep/hibernate that users where having with these drives and previous firmware?
Any update, X Bench results, etc? My drive arrives next Tuesday and I am trying to decide how excited I should be!
Also, do you have any issues with sleep/hibernate that users where having with these drives and previous firmware?
Having had disappointing results upgrading the original 80 Gb HDD with the Photofast 128 Gb v2 SSD last September, I just deciced to go ahead and order the Runcore 128 Gb, despite the potential sleep issues I had read about...
WOW, what a difference !!! 😀
It is night and day...
The Photofast drive had definitely an edge over the original "iPod" drive, but was arguably SLOWER in some situations (a lot of spinning beach balls using Safari...)
The Runcore is just perfect, everything is incredibly responsive and I can see myself using my Rev A Macbook Air for many more years...
And most important, I have had (until now) absolutely no sleep issues whatsoever !!! It just works... 🙂
Living in Europe, I just bought my drive from this place last week (excellent service) :
http://www.memoryc.com/
Don't know if they had the last firmware drives in stock (they seem to be out of stock right now)
Check out the Xbench results for the Photofast SSD (last September) :
and the new Runcore SSD... 😀
WOW, what a difference !!! 😀
It is night and day...
The Photofast drive had definitely an edge over the original "iPod" drive, but was arguably SLOWER in some situations (a lot of spinning beach balls using Safari...)
The Runcore is just perfect, everything is incredibly responsive and I can see myself using my Rev A Macbook Air for many more years...
And most important, I have had (until now) absolutely no sleep issues whatsoever !!! It just works... 🙂
Living in Europe, I just bought my drive from this place last week (excellent service) :
http://www.memoryc.com/
Don't know if they had the last firmware drives in stock (they seem to be out of stock right now)
Check out the Xbench results for the Photofast SSD (last September) :
and the new Runcore SSD... 😀
No issues at all with sleep or anything else. You should be very excited, the Runcore makes the Rev. A feel like a new machine. Almost up to Rev. B performance.
Here's an X Bench w. the SSD:
Disk Test 110.69
Sequential 78.36
Uncached Write 84.79 52.06 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 78.03 44.15 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 51.01 14.93 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 146.25 73.50 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 188.45
Uncached Write 78.43 8.30 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 182.09 58.29 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1871.94 13.27 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 408.13 75.73 MB/sec [256K blocks]
WOW, those xbench scores are AMAZING!... just so you guys know, the stock 64gb SSD only scores a 57 overall... faster than the photofast a couple posts up, but not near what the runcore is pushing!... looks like it's time to look for a runcore!
How much is the disk test overall, my wife has a Rev A and I was thinking about uping the disk drive on it
=========== (My Rev C) ===========
Disk Test 81.84
Sequential 65.85
Uncached Write 59.24 36.37 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 56.70 32.08 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 48.07 14.07 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 184.52 92.74 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 108.09
Uncached Write 52.80 5.59 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 65.46 20.96 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1385.41 9.82 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 483.25 89.67 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Installation tips?
Hi all,
Just ordered mine from Mydigitaldiscount. I have had hard drive issues (original 80GB) so hopefully this replacement will prolong the usage of my Rev. A MBA. In anticipation of the Runcore arrival, I have been looking at installation guides in earlier posts (iFix, etc.). I have never replaced a HD in a notebook and am a bit apprehensive about the installation. Are there any tips/guides/cautions that those who have successfully installed the Runcore would want to share? Thanks.
Hi all,
Just ordered mine from Mydigitaldiscount. I have had hard drive issues (original 80GB) so hopefully this replacement will prolong the usage of my Rev. A MBA. In anticipation of the Runcore arrival, I have been looking at installation guides in earlier posts (iFix, etc.). I have never replaced a HD in a notebook and am a bit apprehensive about the installation. Are there any tips/guides/cautions that those who have successfully installed the Runcore would want to share? Thanks.
57 is for disk test score... I had the 80gb HDD in it and that only scored a 28 on the disk test.
I just followed the iFixit steps to replace mine... just make sure you do it on a light surface with plenty of space around it so you can just set the screws beside the holes they go it... some are different sizes, and it's hard to tell them apart. It doesn't take very long at all. I would also get some arctic silver (or other hight performance thermal compound) and replace the factory stuff on the CPU and video chip while you're in there... also not difficult, and it will keep it from turning the fan on full blast all the time!
The installation isn't too difficult. Just make sure you have a follow the instructions and make sure to keep all the screws separate by step and size.
Check this link for instructions on how to do it. This link for the screwdriver to do it with.
You can also look at the thread here for some additional information.
Check this link for instructions on how to do it. This link for the screwdriver to do it with.
You can also look at the thread here for some additional information.
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I will also add that I'm really happy with what I've been seeing from RunCore support. 🙂 It looks like they're improving very quickly.
Now.. get the price of that 256GB SSD down a bit and it'll be time for me to upgrade. 😀
Now.. get the price of that 256GB SSD down a bit and it'll be time for me to upgrade. 😀
That's an impressive gain on battery. 😱
Wonder what kind of fairy dust they're applying 😛 as most of what I've read, an SSD is only a marginal battery gain over HDD.
With both SSDs I tested (Photofast & Runcore), the battery gain HAS been marginal.
There is no way I can top the 3~3.5 hour battery mark (browsing with wifi on) I always had on my Rev A, even with the CoolBook controller.
I think some people simply look at the (inaccurate) time estimate in the battery gauge and think there is a gain, instead of actually measuring it.
There is no way I can top the 3~3.5 hour battery mark (browsing with wifi on) I always had on my Rev A, even with the CoolBook controller.
I think some people simply look at the (inaccurate) time estimate in the battery gauge and think there is a gain, instead of actually measuring it.
I agree. I switched to the stock 64gb samsung SSD and battery life might have risen about 20 minutes... definitely not more than that. Bottom line: don't upgrade for the battery life, upgrade for the speed!
It's a fairly easy process if you can work a screwdriver, take your time and put everything back together the same way you took it apart.
Part One. Making Runcore a bootable OSX drive.
1) Restart MBA
2) Unpack Runcore drive.
3) Attach drive to included PATA-USB enclosure. No need to button anything up at this time.
3) Attach USB cable to MBA & Runcore USB enclosure. The LED should light and the Runcore SSD icon should appear on your desktop.
4) Click on the external drive icon.
5) Choose either Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper to transfer your data and make the SSD bootable. This is the easy way. Wait about an hour to an hour and a half for process to complete.
