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SSD Buying Guide

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Dmack4142 said:
Hey guys when i buy a top of the range cMBP and put the ssd into the optidrive bay, what steps do i need to follow to make it the main drive and the 750HDD the secondary ?

Cheers
Click to expand...

These are the instructions for installing the SSD as your main drive on the 2011/2012 MBP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfiGF_pjqvM

These are the instructions for the optibay (don't know if it's for 2011/2012 though, or 2010, but they're all very similar):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD_rmrGDFgQ

you can also find many guides on http://www.ifixit.com
 
jon08 said:
I'm probably going to be in the market for a 512GB SSD around October/November. Do you guys think there's a chance Samsung 830 prices could drop to around $400 for the 512GB version?

Otherwise, I'll probably just go with Crucial m4, but I'd obviously like the faster drive of the 2. How much speed difference is there really between the 2 drives in real life? Like, does Samsung boot 1-2 secs faster or something? And does it open apps on 1 bounce only, while Crucial opens them on 2 bounces etc? Or is this difference in speed not as apparent as the two examples I just mentioned?
Click to expand...
You won't see much difference at all between M4 and 830 for most tasks because the read performance is very similar, and disks spend most of their time reading compared to writing. Even with writing, only something that writes a large amount of data will be quicker with the 830. Smaller writes are buffered and asynchronous, meaning the operating system can carry on without waiting for them to complete. If the M4 and 830 were the same price it would be a no brainer to go with the 830 which has a higher sustained write speed, but most people will not see any great benefit for most purposes.
 
steve-p said:
You won't see much difference at all between M4 and 830 for most tasks because the read performance is very similar, and disks spend most of their time reading compared to writing. Even with writing, only something that writes a large amount of data will be quicker with the 830. Smaller writes are buffered and asynchronous, meaning the operating system can carry on without waiting for them to complete. If the M4 and 830 were the same price it would be a no brainer to go with the 830 which has a higher sustained write speed, but most people will not see any great benefit for most purposes.
Click to expand...

I see, thanks!
 
Is anyone running one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148444

I want to jump to SSD mainly to improve battery life and decrease temps in my late 2010 MBP.

The review seem overwhelmingly good, but many point out an INCREASE in battery consumption, as well as a general unreliability.

Is the M4 really plagued by the negatives associated with early SSD options (limited lifespan and things like that)?

I'm ALMOST at the point where I would consider spending $400 on an SSD of that capacity, but I'd like it to be the last SSD that I ever buy.
 
Vertex 4 256GB

Hey, I was wondering if anyone has personal experience with the Vertex 4. I saw only like 1 post their speeds here on Macrumors. It came across as faster read and pretty much same write as an 830. The vertex 4 is on sale for $200 on the 256gn @ new egg. I missed the 830 sale so I figure I'd just go for vertex unless there is anything negative.
 
Just whacked a 128GB Crucial M4 into an Early 2011 MBP along with my 500GB in the optical bay. Sym linked some of the iTunes media and picture folders and runs well so far (better not speak too soon!)
Boot and shutdown times are amazing, everything feels even snappier and I'm keen to see how it goes with some video work.
 
Lorenzmk3 said:
Just whacked a 128GB Crucial M4 into an Early 2011 MBP along with my 500GB in the optical bay. Sym linked some of the iTunes media and picture folders and runs well so far (better not speak too soon!)
Boot and shutdown times are amazing, everything feels even snappier and I'm keen to see how it goes with some video work.
Click to expand...

How'd you sum link? Not very familiar with that.
 
drewyboy said:
Hey, I was wondering if anyone has personal experience with the Vertex 4. I saw only like 1 post their speeds here on Macrumors. It came across as faster read and pretty much same write as an 830. The vertex 4 is on sale for $200 on the 256gn @ new egg. I missed the 830 sale so I figure I'd just go for vertex unless there is anything negative.
Click to expand...

I've been running a Vertex4 512GB for a little over two weeks and absolutely love it. Haven't had any issues with it in my early 2011 i7 15" MBP (2.2Ghz, 8GB Ram). I shut off my MBP daily and use sleep mode multiple times a day and I haven't had any issues with it. Speeds per BlackMagic run in the mid 400MB/s and everything has been so much faster. It's installed in the main bay since I still use my DVD drive for my constant supply of NetFlix DVD's.
 
Been using the crucial 512gb m4 ssd with firmware 000f for about a week with about any problems at all. System has been running fast and smooth. :)
 
Couple of warranty related questions with regards to SSD upgrades

1. Removing the HDD and replacing it with the new SSD. Will this void the warranty and Applecare?

2. Removing the HDD and replacing it with the new SSD. Taking out the optical drive and putting the original HDD in there. Will this void the warranty and Applecare?

Thanks in advanced.
 
bockscar said:
Couple of warranty related questions with regards to SSD upgrades

1. Removing the HDD and replacing it with the new SSD. Will this void the warranty and Applecare?

2. Removing the HDD and replacing it with the new SSD. Taking out the optical drive and putting the original HDD in there. Will this void the warranty and Applecare?

Thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...

1: NO

2: Possible Yes, most people save there ODD and if need be to send in for repair or diagnostic, they replace the ODD back in. A pain but the price.
 
...

I installed an Intel GB 330 Series 180GB into my 2012 13" MBP, and here are the results

Before:
7499242712_98da9c3565.jpg


After:
7506347184_69ca499621.jpg


does anyone know why i'm only getting ~200MB/sec write speed when it's advertised as 400MB/sec?
 
mikethehamster said:
I installed an Intel GB 330 Series 180GB into my 2012 13" MBP, and here are the results

Before:

After:

does anyone know why i'm only getting ~200MB/sec write speed when it's advertised as 400MB/sec?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I can't answer your question, but can you tell me what software you used for your test?

Thanks,
Jason
 
mikethehamster said:
I installed an Intel GB 330 Series 180GB into my 2012 13" MBP, and here are the results

does anyone know why i'm only getting ~200MB/sec write speed when it's advertised as 400MB/sec?
Click to expand...

This has been covered many times already in this thread. The Intel 330 uses a Sandforce controller which relies on compression to achieve it maximum write speeds.
You tested using Blackmagic which uses incompressible data for it's testing therefore it will only show roughly half the maximum write speed of the drive. This is normal. If the benchmark tool used compressible data then you would see the full write speed and if the tool used a mixture of data types then you would see somewhere in between the two.

----------
jwhelan said:
Sorry, I can't answer your question, but can you tell me what software you used for your test?

Thanks,
Jason
Click to expand...

BlackMagic - available for free on the app store.
 
BAC5.2 said:
Is anyone running one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148444

I want to jump to SSD mainly to improve battery life and decrease temps in my late 2010 MBP.

The review seem overwhelmingly good, but many point out an INCREASE in battery consumption, as well as a general unreliability.

Is the M4 really plagued by the negatives associated with early SSD options (limited lifespan and things like that)?

I'm ALMOST at the point where I would consider spending $400 on an SSD of that capacity, but I'd like it to be the last SSD that I ever buy.
Click to expand...

I will be as soon as the UPS guy drops it off. Pretty excited about it after I saw what the wives MacBook Airs drive did..
 
Omfg!!!!

I had the idea from someone to do this waited for 2012 to come out, this is unreal!!!!!!DATA DOUBLER!!!!!! I can open every program on the dock AT ONCE and zeeeeeep, ziip peeeeew!!!!!! Cannot recommend this enough!!!!!


***CANADIAN CUSTOMERS YOU WILL GET A DUTY OF $38 WELL WORTH IT!!***

ALSO RIGHT HAND GETS HOTTER LOL!!!!!! WTHEFCARES
 
Just installed a samsung 830 512gb

I'm only getting a write speed of 380 MB/s

Anyone know why that s bit lower than others get with this drive ?
 
The Mercurian said:
Just installed a samsung 830 512gb

I'm only getting a write speed of 380 MB/s

Anyone know why that s bit lower than others get with this drive ?
Click to expand...

That's because you have a 512GB one. It's a bit slower than the 256GB model when it comes to write performance.
 
Donka said:
This has been covered many times already in this thread. The Intel 330 uses a Sandforce controller which relies on compression to achieve it maximum write speeds.
You tested using Blackmagic which uses incompressible data for it's testing therefore it will only show roughly half the maximum write speed of the drive. This is normal. If the benchmark tool used compressible data then you would see the full write speed and if the tool used a mixture of data types then you would see somewhere in between the two.

----------



BlackMagic - available for free on the app store.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the response :) guess I'll try looking for a new benchmark tool
 
(first post!)

I have a late-2008 MacBook Pro (5,1) with a factory-equipped Apple SSD TS256. I've had intermittent i/o lockups for some months now, and it has gotten obstructive to actually getting work done. Time for a replacement.

I understand that these machines with the EFI 1.7 and the NVidia MCP79 chipset have problems when connected to SATA1 devices (like this Apple SSD TS256) -- apparently it's a very good idea to get a drive that is known to be well behaved with this model.

So, what to get?

I know the Samsung 830s are very highly regarded right now. Are they known to be well-behaved with the 5,1 models (and the MCP79)? Alternatively, the OWC Mercury Electra was recommended as being seasoned and well-behaved.

Other recommendations welcome!

Thank you,
Andrew
 
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