SSD Buying Guide

[Giuly]

Hey guys, first post here

I have an early 2008 non-unibody Penryn macbook Pro. I was looking to increase the speed by swapping out to a SSD. Looking for something thats reasonably priced, not looking to spend too much since its an old machine. Any recs?

also, I just recently had to replace my logic board thru apple and have swapped out a battery. Would getting an ssd now be foolish? Not sure how much longer I can expect the laptop to last...

Thanks for any help

SanDisk Ultra Plus - on machines with SATA-II it's good as a 840 Pro, but significantly less expensive.

 

[Nanashi91]

Hi guys, first post here as well .

So I've recently decided to upgrade my early 2011 MBP to a a 250Gb SSD and 8Gb RAM. I am thinking of keeping my old 320Gb HDD and mount it on the optical drive bay for extra storage, but have a few questions regarding what to buy.

I have been reading a lot on which SSD to buy and have been looking at the Samsung 840 Evo that just came out, however I'm not sure if this drive would be best for my laptop? Do any of you have any experience upgrading an early 2011 MBP to SSD?

I have also read that the early 2011 MBP's came with problems and so it doesnt have a SATA III port in the optical drive, does this mean that my original idea of placing my old HDD in this bay is a bad one? How do I figure out what kind of connection I have available in the optical drive bay?

Thanks for any help, much appreciated

 

[maknum]

Thanks for the help.

Couple more questions..
hows the performance of the sandisk extreme? its almost equal pricing for the 250 gb on amazon.

i tried reading most of the thread, and saw that a lot of people are going samsung 830/840 or crucial m4? are these worth the money in my case? i don't do that much heavy work, and just want to improve overall speed...

also, for the early 2008 macbook pro, whats the RAM capacity? i've read that the limit is 6gb, but now its 8gb with a firmware update? Currently have 4gb and looking to upgrade...

thanks again

 

[alex0002]

Thanks for the help.

Couple more questions..
hows the performance of the sandisk extreme? its almost equal pricing for the 250 gb on amazon.

Do you mean the older Extreme or the newer Extreme II, if the later then refer to the anandtech:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7006/sandisk-extreme-ii-review-480gb

The older Sandisk Extreme with the sandforce controller didn't have a great reputation. I think some of those drives didn't properly negotiate SATA-II speeds in those older macs and ended up running the interface at SATA-I. Perhaps others with first hand experience could comment.

i tried reading most of the thread, and saw that a lot of people are going samsung 830/840 or crucial m4? are these worth the money in my case? i don't do that much heavy work, and just want to improve overall speed...

Crucial M4 and Samsung 830 were great and still decent performers, but the crucial m4 has been replaced by the m500 and samsung 830 has been replaced by the 840, which in return is being replaced by the 840 Evo. For the older SATA-I or SATA-II machines, the samsung 840 which you can still find for sale new, could be good value for money even if not as fast as the 840 Evo.

also, for the early 2008 macbook pro, whats the RAM capacity? i've read that the limit is 6gb, but now its 8gb with a firmware update? Currently have 4gb and looking to upgrade...

thanks again

Might depend on model, check here...
http://www.everymac.com/systems/by_year/macs-released-in-2008.html

 

[jacg]

Help - energy saver preference issues

Hi, I've been following this thread for a long time and finally got the crucial M500 960 GB in my mid 2012 MBP as a replacement for the boot drive. I kept the DVD in place. Enabled Trim. Great speed and capacity.

Can anyone advise me why my energy saver setting no longer function? The screen no longer dims, the keyboard LEDs no longer turn off and the machine won't sleep properly unless I unplug it.

I've tried setting all the right preferences many times. Problems started after installing the cloned SSD.

 

[paul-n]

Did you try a PRAM reset?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

 

[maknum]

just installed my sandisk ultra 256 gb in early 2008 mbp. So much faster, what a great investment.

Was wondering if I should enable TRIM for this ssd? also, I heard that you are not supposed to set your energy saver to idle on the ssd? is this true? thanks

 

[davidlv]

just installed my sandisk ultra 256 gb in early 2008 mbp. So much faster, what a great investment.

Was wondering if I should enable TRIM for this ssd? also, I heard that you are not supposed to set your energy saver to idle on the ssd? is this true? thanks

Where did you get that special System Preferences pane with the capability to set the "energy saver to idle"? There is a "Put the hard disk to sleep when possible" check box on my system, 10.8.4, but no "idle" setting. (Making me rather jealous ..... )
Trim will help keep the performance high over time, but most modern SSDs have good garbage collection now, so you may not notice any degradation even without Trim enabled. Try enabling it with Chameleon SSD Optimizer and see if it works for you.

 

[joyless]

Hey guys,
I have decided it's time to upgrade my MBP 2009 with an SSD.
Since 2009 models use slower sata II - should I get EVO or regular 840? Will there be any difference in day to day use? Only resource-heavy app I use is Photoshop CS6, which sometimes can render my machine almost unusable.

EVO is quite difficult to find right now and its about 25-30% more expensive than regular 840 (at least where I live). Is it worth to wait and pay a little more, or it doesn't really matter?

Thanks!

 

[Weaselboy]

Hey guys,
I have decided it's time to upgrade my MBP 2009 with an SSD.
Since 2009 models use slower sata II - should I get EVO or regular 840? Will there be any difference in day to day use? Only resource-heavy app I use is Photoshop CS6, which sometimes can render my machine almost unusable.

EVO is quite difficult to find right now and its about 25-30% more expensive than regular 840 (at least where I live). Is it worth to wait and pay a little more, or it doesn't really matter?

Thanks!

Given your SATA II restriction, it won't matter. Just get whatever is cheapest.

 

[ggoerl]

6,2 MBP here. Yes, I know I only have Sata II at 3gb/s.

Not sure which to choose from between the Samsung 840, Crucial M5 or OCZ Vector. Help! All the guides and stuff I've found on the internet are from 2011/2012 not much updates for 2013.

 

[gtcaz]

Given your SATA II restriction, it won't matter. Just get whatever is cheapest.

I do like some of the other features in the EVO and would probably grab it on principle in case I wanted to toss it into another machine or enclosure later. The price difference is pretty slim (~$20 at the 250 GB size).

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7173/...iew-120gb-250gb-500gb-750gb-1tb-models-tested

 

[Yotsuba]

I picked up an HP v300a 240GB SSD almost a year ago from Best Buy. It's really just a rebranded PNY SSD, but I've had no problems with it at all. I went from a 750GB 5400RPM Toshiba to a 750GB Seagate Momentous XT (Gen 2), to the 240GB SSD that I'm using right now.

 

[HarCees]

Just bought the Samsung EVO 250gb. Installed it on a MB 2010 with SATA II, so I guess I can't expect the full potential performance. This is the average speeds I get with the black magic disk speed test. Is it looking OK considering that my motherboard only supports SATA II?

To be honest. I did not got this "wow"-feeling at all. The computer boots up a little faster than before. Applications tough does not really open faster than before. Previously I had a 7200rmp 750gb disk, which at the time felt like a nice boost. The SSD however feels like it's the same 7200rmp drive. (a quiet one)

Advice is appreciated. I have not done any configuration at all

 

[rs88rs]

Has anyone got success story of EVO 250G in 9,2MBP? I found that the speed test hits more than 300 M/s for write and more than 500 M/s for read, but these numbers are useless when you turn into the real-world computing. The SBBOD appears too much too frequently, and making you wait almost every operation.

I have RMA for my unit, however, I believe that my problem is from 9,2MBP+ML than the EVO itself.

 

[Shaggymax]

Just bought the Samsung EVO 250gb. Installed it on a MB 2010 with SATA II, so I guess I can't expect the full potential performance. This is the average speeds I get with the black magic disk speed test. Is it looking OK considering that my motherboard only supports SATA II?

To be honest. I did not got this "wow"-feeling at all. The computer boots up a little faster than before. Applications tough does not really open faster than before. Previously I had a 7200rmp 750gb disk, which at the time felt like a nice boost. The SSD however feels like it's the same 7200rmp drive. (a quiet one)

Advice is appreciated. I have not done any configuration at all

I too am thinking of popping one of these in my MB 2010 machine. I am surprised that the performance is not immediately apparent. I put a Samsung 840 in my Mac Pro and it was instantly faster, boot, app launch...across the board.

Any luck with fine tuning? Good luck and cheers!

 

[Benzy]

hey guys, I have a 2008 pre-unibody 15 inch MacBook Pro, what are my chances of upgrading both the RAM and an SSD?

 

[S.B.G]

hey guys, I have a 2008 pre-unibody 15 inch MacBook Pro, what are my chances of upgrading both the RAM and an SSD?

Chances are good. I had a 2006 MBP that I upgraded the RAM in and added a faster HDD. An SSD will go right in there.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

Just bought the Samsung EVO 250gb. Installed it on a MB 2010 with SATA II, so I guess I can't expect the full potential performance. This is the average speeds I get with the black magic disk speed test. Is it looking OK considering that my motherboard only supports SATA II?

To be honest. I did not got this "wow"-feeling at all. The computer boots up a little faster than before. Applications tough does not really open faster than before. Previously I had a 7200rmp 750gb disk, which at the time felt like a nice boost. The SSD however feels like it's the same 7200rmp drive. (a quiet one)

Advice is appreciated. I have not done any configuration at all

I too am thinking of popping one of these in my MB 2010 machine. I am surprised that the performance is not immediately apparent. I put a Samsung 840 in my Mac Pro and it was instantly faster, boot, app launch...across the board.

Any luck with fine tuning? Good luck and cheers!

OS X uses the Unified Buffer Cache (UBC). This is the reason why applications and files open really fast, even on systems with traditional HDDs. Here is an example:
http://wagerlabs.com/blog/2008/03/04/hacking-the-mac-osx-unified-buffer-cache/

The UBC needs a lot of RAM.

 

[SimonUK5]

Looking at buying the Samsung 840 EVO, in the next day or two. ANy issues using TRIM enabler with one? Running a 2013 nonRetina 15''MBP and Mountain Lion.

 

[lavrishevo]

I just put in the 840 Pro. I boot my 2011 I7 in 12 seconds. Runs great. It's better to get a sata 6 not a sata 3 to take advantage of the speed increase, at least in the computer and slot that supports it. Evo's are only sata 3 correct?

 

[S.B.G]

I just put in the 840 Pro. I boot my 2011 I7 in 12 seconds. Runs great.

It's a thing of beauty isn't it? My 2010 (SATA II) boots in 23 seconds.

 

[lavrishevo]

It's a thing of beauty isn't it? My 2010 (SATA II) boots in 23 seconds.

Yeah it's great. I liked my Momentus XT drive. It did help a lot over the 750 gb 5400 stock drive. Since prices have dropped and reliability has gone up I decided it was time.

 

[COrocket]

I just put in the 840 Pro. I boot my 2011 I7 in 12 seconds. Runs great. You need a sata 6 not a sata 3 to take advantage of the speed increase, at least in the computer and slot that supports it. Evo's are only sata 3 correct?

You have to be careful when talking about SSD interface speed. 6 Gb/s is the transfer speed for the SATA-III standard. 3 Gb/s is SATA-II standard. EVO's are SATA-III drives.

 

[lavrishevo]

You have to be careful when talking about SSD interface speed. 6 Gb/s is the transfer speed for the SATA-III standard. 3 Gb/s is SATA-II standard. EVO's are SATA-III drives.

Ah, thanks for the correction. So both the pro are the evo are sata 3 - 6Gb/s. Makes sense. Any advantage of the evo vs pro? Weird that the evo is cheaper then the pro.