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SSD Buying Guide

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Question to those who have used SSD's and regular platter-based drives:

How does a SSD (830, OWC, M4 or 520) perform in terms of power consumption version a regular 5400rpm drive? Does it drain battery slower, same or faster? Also, what about heat production?
 
Hey Hellhammer,

Have you had a chance to toy around with one of the new Intel 520 SSDs? After my wonderful experience with my first SSD, a Crucial m4, I want to buy a SSD for another computer that I have and have toyed around with the idea of trying something new. I could just get another Crucial, and I know that I would be happy, but I am curious about some of the other drives out there. I am considering getting either a Samsung, Intel 520 or Plextor M3P (don't know how long till the new Plextor is released but it seems like it and the M3S are supposed to be good drives and come with a 5 year warranty).

I have never owned an Intel drive and the 520 seems good, but I am still a little bit weary of the SF-2281 controller in it. With the 8MB bug still affecting some 320 drives (at least it seems that way from the Intel forums) I don't know how much Intel can really be trusted in terms of reliability, and if they have really worked out the bugs in the SF-2281 or not. Any opinions on the drive? I don't plan on purchasing my next SSD until June or July so I hope that by then we will have an idea as to whether or not Intel really fixed the various bugs.
 
definitive said:
Question to those who have used SSD's and regular platter-based drives:

How does a SSD (830, OWC, M4 or 520) perform in terms of power consumption version a regular 5400rpm drive? Does it drain battery slower, same or faster? Also, what about heat production?
Click to expand...

In general, SSDs use less power while idling because they have no moving parts. A hard drive is spinning even when not in use, thus drawing more power. However, a lot has to do with the drive and its specifications. Some controllers and firmwares are more power hungry than others (e.g. Samsung 830 is very hungry for power).

thefizzle657 said:
Hey Hellhammer,

Have you had a chance to toy around with one of the new Intel 520 SSDs? After my wonderful experience with my first SSD, a Crucial m4, I want to buy a SSD for another computer that I have and have toyed around with the idea of trying something new. I could just get another Crucial, and I know that I would be happy, but I am curious about some of the other drives out there. I am considering getting either a Samsung, Intel 520 or Plextor M3P (don't know how long till the new Plextor is released but it seems like it and the M3S are supposed to be good drives and come with a 5 year warranty).

I have never owned an Intel drive and the 520 seems good, but I am still a little bit weary of the SF-2281 controller in it. With the 8MB bug still affecting some 320 drives (at least it seems that way from the Intel forums) I don't know how much Intel can really be trusted in terms of reliability, and if they have really worked out the bugs in the SF-2281 or not. Any opinions on the drive? I don't plan on purchasing my next SSD until June or July so I hope that by then we will have an idea as to whether or not Intel really fixed the various bugs.
Click to expand...

I haven't had a chance to play around with Intel 520s yet but I've had a 256GB Plextor M3 in my system for a few weeks (review will be up when I get my multimeter to finish testing). It's pretty much equal with Intel 520 in terms of performance but consumes less power (I've only done preliminary power testing though, need a better multimeter).

Samsung 830 is definitely the safest choice and also the fastest but I have no problem recommending the Plextor drive either.
 
definitive said:
Question to those who have used SSD's and regular platter-based drives:

How does a SSD (830, OWC, M4 or 520) perform in terms of power consumption version a regular 5400rpm drive? Does it drain battery slower, same or faster? Also, what about heat production?
Click to expand...

I honestly haven't noticed much of a change. If anything, almost seemed like it improved. After fully charging my 13" i5 mbp, it showed 12 hrs remaining at idle. I don't think I've ever seen the number over 10 or 11 before then. I didn't get much of a chance to really compare the two because the next day I installed the HDD in the optibay. In my limited use, I haven't once felt like the battery was draining faster. I have the 128GB samsung 830 + 5400 750GB HDD (sleeps after 1 min of inactivity). I didn't bother doing any scientific tests because I needed this setup.

My recommendation, don't worry about battery life. It's not enough to distract from the positives of using an SSD. SSD is quicker, lighter, and you will notice how much quieter your computer is compared to a HDD.

----------
JuanKB said:
Hey!

First of all, awesome thread. I'm willing to buy a SSD disk, and so far i have narrowed it to 3 candidates. Could you tell me with one is better considering the price factor? (note: these prices are for Spain and converted to dollars).

  • Crucial M4 120GB: 213$
  • Samsung 830 120GB: 231$
  • Intel 520 120GB: 240$

Thank you very much 🙂

EDIT: I have a MacBook Pro 13'' mid-2010
Click to expand...

Wow, I'm glad I don't live in Spain for buying SSD's, although I'd love to live there. I have the Samsung 830 128GB, it's been great so far for the few days I've had it. (I paid $140 for it in the US)
 
diamond3 said:
I honestly haven't noticed much of a change. If anything, almost seemed like it improved. After fully charging my 13" i5 mbp, it showed 12 hrs remaining at idle. I don't think I've ever seen the number over 10 or 11 before then. I didn't get much of a chance to really compare the two because the next day I installed the HDD in the optibay. In my limited use, I haven't once felt like the battery was draining faster. I have the 128GB samsung 830 + 5400 750GB HDD (sleeps after 1 min of inactivity). I didn't bother doing any scientific tests because I needed this setup.

My recommendation, don't worry about battery life. It's not enough to distract from the positives of using an SSD. SSD is quicker, lighter, and you will notice how much quieter your computer is compared to a HDD.

----------



Wow, I'm glad I don't live in Spain for buying SSD's, although I'd love to live there. I have the Samsung 830 128GB, it's been great so far for the few days I've had it. (I paid $140 for it in the US)
Click to expand...


How do you get your 5400 rpm to sleep after one minute without the ssd going to sleep?
 
Make sure you don't have anything that is trying to access the HDD on a regular basis. I just found out that iStat will wake it up ever few minutes and then let it power down. I just barely changed it so it doesn't show the info for the HDD and I'm not sure if it works yet. None of my system files are stored on the hard drive so it doesn't have to keep reading anything. Then I downloaded Cocktail and set the time to sleep after one minute. For the moment it seems to be working, but I haven't used the computer a lot in different settings to say for sure.

As far as I'm aware, I don't think SSD's really sleep or if they do, it's nearly instantaneous so it isn't noticeable.
 
Hellhammer said:
In general, SSDs use less power while idling because they have no moving parts. A hard drive is spinning even when not in use, thus drawing more power. However, a lot has to do with the drive and its specifications. Some controllers and firmwares are more power hungry than others (e.g. Samsung 830 is very hungry for power).



I haven't had a chance to play around with Intel 520s yet but I've had a 256GB Plextor M3 in my system for a few weeks (review will be up when I get my multimeter to finish testing). It's pretty much equal with Intel 520 in terms of performance but consumes less power (I've only done preliminary power testing though, need a better multimeter).

Samsung 830 is definitely the safest choice and also the fastest but I have no problem recommending the Plextor drive either.
Click to expand...

Can you update the Plextor's firmware if the drive is in a Mac (And for that matter, can the Intel's be updated in a Mac? From what I've read it is yes for Intel, no for both Plextor and Samsung). Would you choose a SSD using this as a criterion? It wouldn't be the biggest deal if I had to take the drive out and use a friend's PC to do a firmware update, but it is always nice not to have to do that. Can't wait for your review of the Plextor! 🙂 It looks like a very interesting drive.
 
WickedGame said:
I have become a Macbook Pro 5.3 (MB985) for free and already upgraded my memory to 8GB. The next step is that I replace the HDD with an SSD. But i read a lot of problems with SSD and the Mid 2009 Macbook Pro's.

The problems with negotiation speed on 1.5 Gbps instead of 3 Gbps and beachballing.

Are there SSD's that will work for sure with my Macbook Pro? I was considering to buy one of these:

Intel 320
Crucial M4
Samsung 830

So what should I do?
Click to expand...

Someone?
 
Spink10 said:
Samsung 830 is one of the highest rated SSD - are you going to use it in your 2007 MacBook that is in your sig? If so, you will not get the speeds that are advertised on the Samsung 830.
Click to expand...

Well I want to buy a new Macbook Pro but i want to wait for the next refresh but who knows when that will be so I might just buy a new Macbook now....But either way its a good SSD right? And the price I found on Amazon is the cheapest.
 
Apple9to5 said:
Well I want to buy a new Macbook Pro but i want to wait for the next refresh but who knows when that will be so I might just buy a new Macbook now....But either way its a good SSD right? And the price I found on Amazon is the cheapest.
Click to expand...


If you ask 10 people what is the best SSD you will get 11 answers. However, many will have Samsung 830 as the best or very close to the best. You cannot update firmware with Mac with Samsung (slight draw back). It seems as if Samsung 830 or Crucial M4 are interchangeable around here as the "best" SSD. The crucial can update firmware with Mac.

Intel 520 - OCZ - various other SSD are also highly ranked by others.
 
Hellhammer said:
Samsung 830 is definitely one of the best SSDs out there. Extremely reliable and even beats SandForce based SSDs in performance.
Click to expand...

Do you know the difference between the two Amazon models - desktop and laptop - is the desktop one just come with a 3.5 mount?
 
Apple9to5 said:
That really sucks you can't upgrade the firmware with a Mac with the Samsung....So how would you update it? Is the samsung faster then this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1808J119WE0HMSGMC95B
Click to expand...

You need windows to update firmware - I would think boot camp would work. Or use a windows machine.

I don't know details about speed between Samsung 830 and Crucial M4 - other than what they post under the specs section. Hopefully Hellhammer can comment on that.
 
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Spink10 said:
Do you know the difference between the two Amazon models - desktop and laptop - is the desktop one just come with a 3.5 mount?
Click to expand...

The notebook version comes with a SATA to USB cable to ease migration, whereas the desktop version comes with a 3.5" mount and a SATA cable.

Spink10 said:
I don't know details about speed between Samsung 830 and Crucial M4 - other than what they post under the specs section. Hopefully Hellhammer can comment on that.
Click to expand...

Crucial's Achilles' Heel is worse sequential write performance. Samsung 830 is faster, but most people won't notice the difference.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/355?vs=532
 
This is a noob question but I have a 2.4ghz mid 2010 MacBook pro so am I limited to the type off SSD I can get? Will SATA III not work? I'm looking for a good SSD in a $100 range, preferably from Amazon
 
FullMetalx117 said:
This is a noob question but I have a 2.4ghz mid 2010 MacBook pro so am I limited to the type off SSD I can get? Will SATA III not work? I'm looking for a good SSD in a $100 range, preferably from Amazon
Click to expand...

You are not limited. SATA III is backwards compatible and will work with the SATA II connection in your Macbook.

I see Amazon has the 64GB Crucial M4 for $90 and that would be a great choice for you if you can live the small size. You aren't going to find anything larger like a 128GB for $100.
 
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FullMetalx117 said:
This is a noob question but I have a 2.4ghz mid 2010 MacBook pro so am I limited to the type off SSD I can get? Will SATA III not work? I'm looking for a good SSD in a $100 range, preferably from Amazon
Click to expand...

You have sata II - You can purchase a sata III SSD it will not reach its maximum potential. The price difference between sata 2 & 3 is very small. If you are looking to spent less than $100 I would buy the Crucial M4 64GB from Amazon for $90 or the 128GB for $155 Crucial M4 is a sata 3 SSD. Also a 64GB Samsung 830 is $120
 
FullMetalx117 said:
what do you guys think of this one
http://www.amazon.com/Agility-Serie...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B004Z0S6SO

I can get it for about $100 with the rebate. Also do you guys think I should maybe remove my optical drive for the extra space on the ssd?
Click to expand...

I personally use a OCZ drive and love it - I have had zero problems - other forum members have expressed concerns with OCZ - you cannot upgrade firmware with Mac.

As far as removing the optical drive - really a user preference - depending on what is more important to you.
 
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