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SSD Buying Guide
- Thread starter Hellhammer
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I'm about to go all in on a crucial m500 960GB and after having read some reviews and user thoughts on it, it seems to be a good drive.
I've never dropped this type of drive into my system before nor spent this much on a hard drive. Just curious if anyone has any last words of wisdom or if I need to read a bit more. Any tips are appreciated.
I've never dropped this type of drive into my system before nor spent this much on a hard drive. Just curious if anyone has any last words of wisdom or if I need to read a bit more. Any tips are appreciated.
Would you enable TRIM (with TRIM enabler) on a Crucial M4?
Is better to do it on this SSD? Better without it?
I admit suggestions, because I'd like to know something more before purchasing it...
The Samsung 840 is a better option? Does this need the TRIM command?
Thank you.
PS: I really want to know what's best for the disc, and don't know if enabling TRIM is the best I can do if the SSD has it's own garbage collector.
Is better to do it on this SSD? Better without it?
I admit suggestions, because I'd like to know something more before purchasing it...
The Samsung 840 is a better option? Does this need the TRIM command?
Thank you.
PS: I really want to know what's best for the disc, and don't know if enabling TRIM is the best I can do if the SSD has it's own garbage collector.
You certainly should enable TRIM on the 840 when used in a Mac. As for the Crucial, I'm not 100% sure, but I would think it should be enabled as well, since OS X doesn't support TRIM on third-party SSD's.
Thanks for your answer, SandboxGeneral.
I asked it because I've read some people -with M4 I think- who experienced some troubles, mainly beachballs, with TRIM enabled. And without TRIM, they have a better performance (they say).
Other people are fine with TRIM and, that's the cause of my confusion about this topic.
Here are a couple of articles you should look at to help determine if you should enable TRIM on the Crucial SSD.
http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/Crucial-M4-and-OS-X-Lion-Trim/td-p/58028
http://blog.macsales.com/11051-to-trim-or-not-to-trim-owc-has-the-answer
Additionally, check out this URL: The Crucial m4 SSD Update: Faster with FW0009
I'm pretty sure that TRIM is enabled by default on every current Windows notebook/ultrabook sold with an SSD and every Mac sold new with an SSD. I don't think they'd do that if it was going to make things worse.
If there are problems with TRIM I'd suggest it either hasn't been implemented properly, or there is a problem with the drive.
Now there are some SSD vendors who aren't going to recommend TRIM, because (a) they know that some people don't follow instructions and if they tell their customers to use a third party tool, some of them will screw it up somehow, and (b) they want to tell their customers that their SSD "just works".
I think this guy knows more about it than most on here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=17285963#post17285963
EDIT: The info and links in the first post in this thread pretty much covers the subject anyway.
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Indeed it does. My fault, I didn't read the first post.
The OP says:
Hellhammer said:
I know this is from early 2011, and now we all know more about this technology (TRIM). Also, the SSD now may have better Garbage Collectors; but maybe, there may be some kind of conflict between the Garbage Collector from the M4 and the OS X TRIM.
Honestly, I don't know what is better. I will read more from this forum and from the SandboxGeneral's links when I have a chance. And I'm also considering the Samsung 840 pro, since is considered as the best SSD and it seems to work flawlessly with TRIM enabler.
BTW: Thanks to you two
Need some help. I installed the Samsung 840 in my early 2008 17" MBP and now am having trouble cloning my backup drive to the SSD. I used Carbon Copy to clone my hd, then removed and replaced the hd with the SSD. The SSD is recognized in the disk utility as well as in the system utility. Formatting issue?
Thanks in advance
Don S
Thanks in advance
Don S
Mid 2009 13" MBP
What would you recommend for someone who just wants better overall performance from the aging 5400RPM SATA spinning drive that came stock with the machine back in 2009? I would like to get 256gb but less is OK I suppose.
Any recommendations?
What would you recommend for someone who just wants better overall performance from the aging 5400RPM SATA spinning drive that came stock with the machine back in 2009? I would like to get 256gb but less is OK I suppose.
Any recommendations?
Lot's of people have had great success, including myself with the Samsung 840 SSD. That would put a spring into its step.
Oh and if I end up getting this model:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NHAEXE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Do I need to buy some sort of drive mount?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NHAEXE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Do I need to buy some sort of drive mount?
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Nope... the bare drive will will fit right in there.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
[Updated} Plextor M5 P & S installed
I installed a Plextor M5P Xtreme in my late 2011 MBP and a Plextor M5S in my 2011 Macmini. Both drives are 256GB and very fast, with the M5S showing slightly lower write speeds, 345 vs 385 for the M5P. Read speeds were the same, pegging the dial. Those numbers may not be very accurate as I only ran the Disk Speed Test once for a short time. [Updated: Note: At first, both drives showed a blank white screen on a cold power up or reboot, lasting about 2-5 seconds, and then the boot up was very fast. The Intel I had installed previously didn't have that "short wait a few seconds" step, maybe the drive was negotiating with the OS? No real issue there, but it was new and different behavior for me. After using the drives for a while, that "wait" has almost disappeared, so maybe it was cache or firmware related?]
Both drives are a little faster than the Intel 335 240 and have about 16GB more disk space, about 255GB on the main partition after formatting. Plextor has iso image files on their HP for the firmware updates for all of their drives. I updated both easily (had to update the M5S in the MBP as the mini doesn't have an optical drive. Used Disk Utility to burn the CDs.
Good alternate choice here and relatively cheap too (prices may vary from country to country), about $245 and $198 for the M5P and M5S, respectively, on the market in Japan. Power consumption on the M5S is higher than the Intel 335, better to use it in a mini or the like where battery life is not a concern (although the difference is rather small). The M5P Xtreme seems to have better (lower) power consumption than the M5S, sorry no benchmarks, just a perceived impression.
I installed a Plextor M5P Xtreme in my late 2011 MBP and a Plextor M5S in my 2011 Macmini. Both drives are 256GB and very fast, with the M5S showing slightly lower write speeds, 345 vs 385 for the M5P. Read speeds were the same, pegging the dial. Those numbers may not be very accurate as I only ran the Disk Speed Test once for a short time. [Updated: Note: At first, both drives showed a blank white screen on a cold power up or reboot, lasting about 2-5 seconds, and then the boot up was very fast. The Intel I had installed previously didn't have that "short wait a few seconds" step, maybe the drive was negotiating with the OS? No real issue there, but it was new and different behavior for me. After using the drives for a while, that "wait" has almost disappeared, so maybe it was cache or firmware related?]
Both drives are a little faster than the Intel 335 240 and have about 16GB more disk space, about 255GB on the main partition after formatting. Plextor has iso image files on their HP for the firmware updates for all of their drives. I updated both easily (had to update the M5S in the MBP as the mini doesn't have an optical drive. Used Disk Utility to burn the CDs.
Good alternate choice here and relatively cheap too (prices may vary from country to country), about $245 and $198 for the M5P and M5S, respectively, on the market in Japan. Power consumption on the M5S is higher than the Intel 335, better to use it in a mini or the like where battery life is not a concern (although the difference is rather small). The M5P Xtreme seems to have better (lower) power consumption than the M5S, sorry no benchmarks, just a perceived impression.
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That's is no more than someone's "opinio"n.
According to several SSD reviews there are faster SSDs out there,
http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews/sandisk-extreme-ii-ssd-review-480gb/4/
here the OCZ ranks #4.
http://reviews.cnet.com/internal-hard-drives/ocz-vector-series-ssd/4505-9998_7-35551437.html
Here, the review says it is the fastest, but "not as energy-efficient as its peers".
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-recommendation-benchmark,3269-6.html
Here, it's #2, not the fastest, but very fast.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/vertex-450-256gb-review,3517-7.html
Here it is also #2.
So, it depends on what review you read. And what you believe.
That's is no more than someone's "opinio"n.
According to several SSD reviews there are faster SSDs out there,
http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews/sandisk-extreme-ii-ssd-review-480gb/4/
here the OCZ ranks #4.
http://reviews.cnet.com/internal-hard-drives/ocz-vector-series-ssd/4505-9998_7-35551437.html
Here, the review says it is the fastest, but "not as energy-efficient as its peers".
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-recommendation-benchmark,3269-6.html
Here, it's #2, not the fastest, but very fast.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/vertex-450-256gb-review,3517-7.html
Here it is also #2.
So, it depends on what review you read. And what you believe.
Nope, not just my opinio"n"
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/vector-ssd-review,3358-7.html
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5119/ocz_vector_512gb_ssd_review/index15.html
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storag...inx-zeroes-competition/IOMeter-v20060727-IOps
As I said, it depends on what review you read. And what you believe.
Samsung seems to have accepted Crucials "challenge"
http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/17/samsung-ssd-840-evo/
http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/17/samsung-ssd-840-evo/
Worth it? Or should I wait?
I have an early 2011 13" Macbook Pro, i5, 4 gb ram and Intel HD 3000 GPU.
I'm considering replacing the HDD with a 250 gb SSD (Samsung 840 regular model). The cheapest I found in my country (Denmark, expensive as ¤&%& because of VAT) is 345 dollars, inclusive installation by authorised apple service providers. Thus I will not lose my warrenty (although it expires in a couple of months.
I have an iMac as well as my primary workstation. In rougly a year I will start studying again and I will use my Macbook Pro for that.
I want a SSD no matter what, but I can't decide if I should wait that year or just do it now. I have the money, but will I be better of waiting till just before the semester starts? I'm using the Macbook now and then and everytime I condemn how slow it is (compared to the flash drive in the iMac).
TLDR: Should I wait 1 year before I buy a SSD+installation 345 dollars for studying, or should I do it now?
I have an early 2011 13" Macbook Pro, i5, 4 gb ram and Intel HD 3000 GPU.
I'm considering replacing the HDD with a 250 gb SSD (Samsung 840 regular model). The cheapest I found in my country (Denmark, expensive as ¤&%& because of VAT) is 345 dollars, inclusive installation by authorised apple service providers. Thus I will not lose my warrenty (although it expires in a couple of months.
I have an iMac as well as my primary workstation. In rougly a year I will start studying again and I will use my Macbook Pro for that.
I want a SSD no matter what, but I can't decide if I should wait that year or just do it now. I have the money, but will I be better of waiting till just before the semester starts? I'm using the Macbook now and then and everytime I condemn how slow it is (compared to the flash drive in the iMac).
TLDR: Should I wait 1 year before I buy a SSD+installation 345 dollars for studying, or should I do it now?
The only advantage in waiting a year before purchasing is the hope that the price will come down more by then. The disadvantage would be that you have to endure the relative slowness of the HDD for that much longer.
I'm in a similar situation with my 2011 13" Macbook Pro in New Zealand, where things are also a little more expensive than in the USA. If it were me and I was worried about that warranty, perhaps I'd wait until the end of the warranty and install it myself.
In a month or two there might be other SSD options when Samsung are ready to introduce their 840 EVO to the market and perhaps the other vendors have new models and/or adjust their prices. But waiting a year with a slow drive wouldn't be much fun.
Your 2011 MBP has a finite lifespan, so why not get the best performance you can during that time? The difference between HDD and SSD is quite significant, while the difference between the SSD you buy today and the newer one in 12 months time is going to be difficult to notice except when running benchmarks.
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