Simple question on SSDs / iMac recall!

[50548]

My 2011 iMac is one of those models impacted by the recent HD recall (Seagate drives), and I plan to take it to an Authorized Service Provider next week.

Yesterday I passed by just to tell them about that, in order to know how long it would take and so on...I also took the opportunity to ask them about the possibility to install an internal SSD (since they are opening the computer anyway).

My questions are:

- Is it worth it performance-wise? Here in Switzerland, a 128GB drive would cost me around 300 dollars - their only option seems to be Kingston;

- Will it cause any temperature/sensor problems, being a third-party SSD?

- Is Kingston the best option around? What about TRIM or SATA III support in Lion?

Thanks for your quick advice..!

 

[88 King]

- Is it worth it performance-wise? Here in Switzerland, a 128GB drive would cost me around 300 dollars - their only option seems to be Kingston;

I’ve been using machines with ssd for the last couple of years, it really speed up day to day use of the system. I’d highly recommend ssd for any computer. I even added an ssd to an Atom netbook (didn’t improve the speed much).


- Will it cause any temperature/sensor problems, being a third-party SSD?

My Crucial C300 SSD cause the hard drive fan to spin constantly at 1500rpm, is not a problem for me as it is still very quite.
Some 3rd party SSD will cause fan to spin at maximum and some 3rd party SSD have no problems with the fan. There is really no way to know if Kingston SSD will cause HD fan problem.

There is software called HDD fan control which allows manual hard drive fan adjustment. I tried the demo and it works, but it does not report the temperature of my ssd and its £20 so I did not buy it.


- Is Kingston the best option around? What about TRIM or SATA III support in Lion?

My last machine had Kingston SSDNow V 128GB; it’s not the fastest but great value for the performance.

TRIM support is only available for Apple ssd in Lion; it’s not enabled for any 3rd party ssd. There is a program in mac pro forum to enable TRIM for 3rd party ssd.

The Kingston SSDNow ssd has a very robust garbage collector to slow down degradation of the disk over time. In fact the ssd in 2010 MBA have similar controller to solve the same problem of lack of TRIM.

The performance of my old Kingston ssd was still very good after two years of use.

SATA III will be enabled if the ssd support it.

 

[50548]

Thanks a lot, King! But it seems like fan issues only occur when one replaces the MAIN HD, not other devices installed in the iMac's secondary bay...am I right?

Also, is TRIM the same as SandForce-enabled? Does Lion support SandForce?

Finally, what are the performance differences between sataII and sataIII for iMac SSDs?

 

[gnagy]

Thanks a lot, King! But it seems like fan issues only occur when one replaces the MAIN HD, not other devices installed in the iMac's secondary bay...am I right?

Also, is TRIM the same as SandForce-enabled? Does Lion support SandForce?

Finally, what are the performance differences between sataII and sataIII for iMac SSDs?

If you really care about performance, wait for some external SSD that works using the thunderbolt port. You'll be able to buy ones that have 2 SSDs in RAID 0, and it'll take advantage of the much faster thunderbolt bus. It'll run circles around any SATA III internal drive. Also, if there are problems with the drive, you will never have to open the iMac up again, since the drive is external.

They're not out yet, but I'm watching this one closely, and I'll be reading reviews when it's out:
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10549

I'm also one of the lucky ones with a recalled 1Tb internal drive. I'm just going to get it replaced without upgrading. Once there are good thunderbolt solutions, I'll switch to that, and I'll use my internal drive for backup purposes only.

This is just my opinion and my plan. I'm sharing it so you can think about this option as well.

 

[50548]

Thanks for the replies, I finally took the plunge today and did the following:

- requested free replacement of my recalled HD, of course;

- also requested installation of an internal SSD, the Vertex model with 120GB and sataIII support - TRIM is probably not native, but I will try the freeware solution TRIM Enabler anyway...

Any additional insights on the above? My intention is to install Lion and all major apps in the SSD, while keeping the rest in the HD..!

 

[jbdd21]

Thanks for the replies, I finally took the plunge today and did the following:

- requested free replacement of my recalled HD, of course;

- also requested installation of an internal SSD, the Vertex model with 120GB and sataIII support - TRIM is probably not native, but I will try the freeware solution TRIM Enabler anyway...

Any additional insights on the above? My intention is to install Lion and all major apps in the SSD, while keeping the rest in the HD..!

Interesting...how much did they charge to install the SSD?

 

[50548]

Interesting...how much did they charge to install the SSD?

Not really cheap, but this is Switzerland...it's gonna be something like 480 francs with mounting kit, drive and labor...the HD replacement and related service are free of course. For better reference, the drive alone is 275 francs.