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SSD Buying Guide

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SSD Size

Just upgraded my Mac Pro 1,1 with Samsung 830 256 GB SSD and Lion.

I moved my 'home' folder to another drive, but I don't know if I needed to. And although most of my issues are being resolved, there is still a problem with iCal.

It would make sense to use a 128 GB SSD... Especially if you have a lean user folder, but I have 60 GB Music, 40 GB Picts, and 36 GB Movies.
 
gifo said:
thank you,
unfortunatly an higher number of positive reviews isn't always a reason to buy a product, there are a lot of variables. probably the ocz vertex is the best one on my list (at least the first version) but on many macs the drive has a lot of issues.

i can't take a decisiooooon!
Click to expand...

The OCZ Vertex III is probably the least reliable on your list relative to the others.
 
before the release of the intel 520, i was going for the samsung 830 over the Crucial M4

Samsung 830's performances seem to be much better than the Crucial's for the same budget

but now that the Intel is out, even if it's more expensive, it seems to be a good (the best?) compromise between good performance and reliability too ?
 
macchiato2009 said:
before the release of the intel 520, i was going for the samsung 830 over the Crucial M4

Samsung 830's performances seem to be much better than the Crucial's for the same budget

but now that the Intel is out, even if it's more expensive, it seems to be a good (the best?) compromise between good performance and reliability too ?
Click to expand...

As of right now, the Samsung 830 is more expensive than the Intel 520. If you look on newegg, the 520 is $369.99 and the 830 is $399.99. Even Amazon has the Intel 520 cheaper than the Samsung 830. With the Intel 520 being cheaper, I don't see the reason to get the Samsung 830 now.
 
macchiato2009 said:
before the release of the intel 520, i was going for the samsung 830 over the Crucial M4

Samsung 830's performances seem to be much better than the Crucial's for the same budget

but now that the Intel is out, even if it's more expensive, it seems to be a good (the best?) compromise between good performance and reliability too ?
Click to expand...

The difference is most pronounced on the 64 GB, slightly less on the 120 GB, and less on larger sizes. Crucial's 64 GB M4 is really lacking on write speeds relative to other SSDs. However, once you exceed writing of 250+ Mbps, how big of a difference is it on real-world activities? I really can't say I notice a big difference between my SSDs of varying speed all beyond 250.
 
all i read in here is intel, crucial and ocz... does anyone here uses the owc SSD? i head its the most reliable.

to be honest im getting confused about this compatibility issue on ssd on MBP's... i dont know what to get. to many to choose from :confused:
 
iceman600 said:
all i read in here is intel, crucial and ocz... does anyone here uses the owc SSD? i head its the most reliable.

to be honest im getting confused about this compatibility issue on ssd on MBP's... i dont know what to get. to many to choose from :confused:
Click to expand...

I use the OWC SSD's exclusively because I rarely have issues with them and the times that I did have problems, they were addresses immediately. Those other brands are pretty solid as well, though. The issue with the compatibility depends on the age of your MBP. What model do you have?
 
iceman600 said:
all i read in here is intel, crucial and ocz... does anyone here uses the owc SSD? i head its the most reliable.

to be honest im getting confused about this compatibility issue on ssd on MBP's... i dont know what to get. to many to choose from :confused:
Click to expand...

I use the OWC 6G 480 SSD myself. Love it. No issues at all.
 
Blue Monkey said:
I use the OWC SSD's exclusively because I rarely have issues with them and the times that I did have problems, they were addresses immediately. Those other brands are pretty solid as well, though. The issue with the compatibility depends on the age of your MBP. What model do you have?
Click to expand...

i currently have the early 2011 MBP... planing to get an ssd and a data doubler.
so from what i had red in here its better to put the SSD on the HDD sata and put the HHD on the optical drive. am i correct?
 
NickZac said:
The difference is most pronounced on the 64 GB, slightly less on the 120 GB, and less on larger sizes. Crucial's 64 GB M4 is really lacking on write speeds relative to other SSDs. However, once you exceed writing of 250+ Mbps, how big of a difference is it on real-world activities? I really can't say I notice a big difference between my SSDs of varying speed all beyond 250.
Click to expand...



ok then are they are reliable above this capacity or should we go for specific brands for 256 Gb SSD ?
 
Samsung

I bought the Samsung 830 for my Early 2011 MBP 13", and it kicks butt. I wouldn't buy anything else, period. My wife's friend just bought a new 17" mbp and after seeing my computer boot, she ordered herself a 256 gig Samsung 830 about an hour later.

Easy to install:
Use included Usb cable to format
Use SuperDuper to clone
Swap out
Enjoy 400/500 MB/s read/write

:D
 
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have you noticed any noise (coil whine) from the Samsung 830 during intensive use period ? (writing data)
 
macchiato2009 said:
have you noticed any noise (coil whine) from the Samsung 830 during intensive use period ? (writing data)
Click to expand...

Not a bit. The thing is solid. Many people were having problems with sandforce. I'll explain:

Sandforce SSD's must port the Sandforce firmware to their specific devices (OWC, CRUCIAL, ETC) after every update. Most of the other branded SSD's use a sandforce controller with NAND chips that are 3rd party. Trying to cludge all that together leaves a lot of room for problems.

Samsung makes their own controller, their own NAND chips, and their own firmware. That's why they are better...but a little more expensive. Go for stability over a tad bit of speed.

I already posted the speed results of my Samsung 830 a while back in this thread. Problem is people keep asking the same questions and making things more convoluted. Just buy one of the SSD's and if it doesn't work, get something else or read the entire thread and google search like I did!
 
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