SSD Drive Comparison

[gstevie]

Ok so looking at making a Fusion Drive with my 2012 Mac Mini. Ordered the drive kit from ifixi europe and now im looking for a good SSD drive. I have found the Samsung 840 EVO 120Gb for £65.99 and the Crucial M500 120Gb for £45.98. Now I have seen that they both get reasonable reviews online but that the Crucial one is rated at having a lower write speed. Does anyone have any experience with these drives or advice in general about this scenario and could help me make the decision on what one to pick? Thanks.

Current set up with stock 1Tb 5200rpm HD:

 

[Weaselboy]

Here is a chart comparing the two. Like you said, the EVO is faster in most tests.

That said, in day to day use, you are unlikely to notice the difference.

Both are popular here among forum members and are good choices.

If money is an issue for you, just save the extra cash and go for the M500.

Are these both from the same vendor with the same exchange policies etc?

 

[gstevie]

Here is a chart comparing the two. Like you said, the EVO is faster in most tests.

That said, in day to day use, you are unlikely to notice the difference.

If money is an issue for you, just save the extra cash and go for the M500.

Are these both from the same vendor with the same exchange policies etc?

The Samsung is from Amazon UK and the Crucial is direct from them.

In terms of cost, for the time I am gonna have it £20 is not really that much. I am getting 7% cash back through Quidco with the Crucial one.

That link you provided is really good, thanks, never saw that one before. That kind of (at quick look) seems to show the Samsung one pretty much wiping the floor with the other. You and others iv read however, are saying that I won't really notice the speed difference in real life. Thats the only thing thats sticking for me. If I really am not going to see performance difference then saving £20 is saving £20 at the end of the day. Graphs tend to show these things working in conditions that normal use is never going to achieved.

Swap it round - if you were picking, what one would you go with?

 

[Crosscreek]

Go for the least expensive. You won't notice the difference. If you were just using SSD I would say at least 250gb Evo or greater.

 

[gstevie]

Go for the least expensive. You won't notice the difference. If you were just using SSD I would say at least 250gb Evo or greater.

Thanks for both ur help. I went for the Crucial one and I will post once it all arrives!

Thanks again!

 

[blanka]

I think it is a good choice. The EVO is a fusion (of a fast SLC and a slow TLC ssd) by itself, and I really don't want depend on a Fusion of a Fusion on the long term.

 

[Donka]

Hi,

Can you please share a link to the drive kit you bought? I'm assuming you mean iFixit in Europe? I'm thinking of doing the same but because my free drive bay is the upper, it means dismantling more of the mini I so I am considering just going with a single larger SSD but I like the idea of using up both bays if possible.

 

[gstevie]

Hi,

Can you please share a link to the drive kit you bought? I'm assuming you mean iFixit in Europe? I'm thinking of doing the same but because my free drive bay is the upper, it means dismantling more of the mini I so I am considering just going with a single larger SSD but I like the idea of using up both bays if possible.

Sure thing I bought http://eustore.ifixit.com/index.php?stoken=EE7082DA&force_sid=&lang=1&cl=search&searchparam=Mac+mini+drive
Minus the tools because I have them already. Fiy the voucher codes for the US site work here too so the one that gives $5 off will actually get u €5 off - better rate actually. . U do have to pay €8 for delivery so I looked at it as it was paying most of the deliver for me. The voucher code I used was fixit1013 put it in just before picking payment method. Hope that helps out. Let me know how u get on!

 

[Donka]

Thanks - that really helps. Only question now is how do you know which bay that sata cable supports? I believe there are two different cables and it depends which logic board connection is currently in use as to which one you will need.

 

[Weaselboy]

Swap it round - if you were picking, what one would you go with?

I would get the Crucial and pocket the extra cash.

For your usage, you will not notice the speed bump with the EVO.

Let us know how you make out.

 

[hfg]

I picked up one of the Crucial M500 960GB drives when they were on holiday sales for $430. It is working great in my Mac Mini and here are the test results for it:

-howard
.

 

[thedeske]

I picked up one of the Crucial M500 960GB drives when they were on holiday sales for $430. It is working great in my Mac Mini and here are the test results for it:

-howard
.

Very Nice - Bet the Mini is feelin' good

 

[gstevie]

Thanks - that really helps. Only question now is how do you know which bay that sata cable supports? I believe there are two different cables and it depends which logic board connection is currently in use as to which one you will need.

Not 100% sure on that one. Thats the 1st iv heard of that particular issue. What I read was regarding the difficulty of completing the task to where the current drives are placed. Eg if its in the *lower* slot ur supposedly all set to go and its much easier but if its listed as *Upper* its more complicated to complete.

Mine says Lower so hopefully its not gonna be a problem. This is the screen shot of where the info is in Disk Utility:

 

[gstevie]

I picked up one of the Crucial M500 960GB drives when they were on holiday sales for $430. It is working great in my Mac Mini and here are the test results for it:

-howard
.

Wow that looks mighty impressive!! Good for u man! I know I'm not gonna get quite that good write speeds coz I went with the 120 but jezo nice to see it making a difference!

 

[scottsjack]

I picked up one of the Crucial M500 960GB drives when they were on holiday sales for $430. It is working great in my Mac Mini and here are the test results for it:

-howard
.

Same here! I put one in my 2010 Mac Pro, one in the new 2012 15' MBP I bought in November and one in the new 2012 mini I ordered last month. They've been working really great.

The first two came with firmware rev2 and had to be updated in Windows. Fortunately the Mac Pro has a Windows 8.1 boot drive. It performed the updates perfectly without screwing up the Mavericks installs. The last M500 came with firmware rev3.

 

[Donka]

Not 100% sure on that one. Thats the 1st iv heard of that particular issue. What I read was regarding the difficulty of completing the task to where the current drives are placed. Eg if its in the *lower* slot ur supposedly all set to go and its much easier but if its listed as *Upper* its more complicated to complete.

Mine says Lower so hopefully its not gonna be a problem. This is the screen shot of where the info is in Disk Utility:

Image

Yup, mine is in the lower drive as well. A word of caution, this is what the customer service rep told me when I emailed them earlier today. Since I emailed them and before I got a reply, I found the user instructions on their site which implied the cable is for the upper bay but the customer rep says otherwise. With regards to ease, if it is the lower drive and you are just replacing the stock drive then it is a simple process but adding a second drive regardless is more involved as you need to remove the logic board.

Customer rep reply:

"Thank you for your message. The SATA cable in our iFixit Mac Mini Dual Hard Drive Kit will enable you to add a second drive in the lower drive bay of the Mac Mini as the built-in drive sits in the upper bay 99.9 percent of the time. So the SATA cable that comes with the kit is not universal.

Let me know if I can be of any further assistance to you.

Best regards,
Matthias (iFixit EU Team)"

 

[Donka]

Just an update - it seems they do supply the cable for the upper bay but you need to specify that when ordering. I got the following after replying to say that their kit would be of no use to me as my drive was located in the lower bay:

"We have a non-standard cable for cases like that. It will be back in stock in about two weeks. So if you can wait a bit, you could order toward the end of the month and just leave us a comment during the order process stating that you need the non-standard SATA cable for the upper bay of your Mac Mini. We won't charge you extra!

Best regards,
Matthias (iFixit EU Team)"

 

[gstevie]

Just an update - it seems they do supply the cable for the upper bay but you need to specify that when ordering. I got the following after replying to say that their kit would be of no use to me as my drive was located in the lower bay:

"We have a non-standard cable for cases like that. It will be back in stock in about two weeks. So if you can wait a bit, you could order toward the end of the month and just leave us a comment during the order process stating that you need the non-standard SATA cable for the upper bay of your Mac Mini. We won't charge you extra!

Best regards,
Matthias (iFixit EU Team)"

Thats is slightly worrying. There does not seem to be any information implying that you need to advise them what cable is needed. I would have assumed as the product is a dual drive kit then they would supply what is needed. I have filled out the form on the site to ask for more information regarding my specific situation.

-- My SSD drive arrived from Crucial today! excellent delivery service from them, considering that I selected the 3-5 day free delivery!!

 

[Donka]

Thats is slightly worrying. There does not seem to be any information implying that you need to advise them what cable is needed. I would have assumed as the product is a dual drive kit then they would supply what is needed. I have filled out the form on the site to ask for more information regarding my specific situation.

-- My SSD drive arrived from Crucial today! excellent delivery service from them, considering that I selected the 3-5 day free delivery!!

Keep us posted how you get on.

 

[gstevie]

Right so the doubler kit arrived today and it has the cable - as Donka had said from his correspondence with ifixit (for the lower section) on the Mini. Anyone have any advice on how to proceed? I have contacted ifixit to see what they say but not sure when they will get back to me or how much help they can be at this point. Must admit thought if they say there is nothing that can be done I will be pretty unhappy with them as I cannot see where Before purchasing I was supposed to give that information. I mean if they offer a free swap in terms of the cable, why not mention that, or did I miss it?

Thanks again for any input you guy have.

 

[Donka]

Right so the doubler kit arrived today and it has the cable - as Donka had said from his correspondence with ifixit (for the lower section) on the Mini. Anyone have any advice on how to proceed? I have contacted ifixit to see what they say but not sure when they will get back to me or how much help they can be at this point. Must admit thought if they say there is nothing that can be done I will be pretty unhappy with them as I cannot see where Before purchasing I was supposed to give that information. I mean if they offer a free swap in terms of the cable, why not mention that, or did I miss it?

Thanks again for any input you guy have.

Their customer support seemed pretty quick to correspond so I would expect to hear back soon. I'm not sure why they don't advertise this on their site regarding the cables unless they feel it just confuses matters and most of the time the lower is indeed the one needed. Hopefully they swap it out soon and if they don't, just mention Macrumours forums are watching.

 

[gstevie]

Their customer support seemed pretty quick to correspond so I would expect to hear back soon. I'm not sure why they don't advertise this on their site regarding the cables unless they feel it just confuses matters and most of the time the lower is indeed the one needed. Hopefully they swap it out soon and if they don't, just mention Macrumours forums are watching.

Is it possible to use the cable that is supplied?

 

[Donka]

Is it possible to use the cable that is supplied?

I'm assuming the cable you have received will be the same as the one currently in the mini and they are different to connect to two different Sata ports on the logic board. There may be a way to force but I'm not sure as I haven't physically seen them.

 

[gstevie]

Honestly I'm not sure what's going on. On more than one site now regarding the installations this is the blurb: "NOTE: A small number of 2012 units were shipped with the drive mounted in the upper drive bay rather than the more typical lower bay shown in this video."

I take from this that the configuration of our Mac's are the most commonly set up. Our current HD's should be in the lower section. Why are ifixit stating the opposite to this?

 

[Donka]

No idea mate. I've no idea the ratio of factory installed drives in upper versus lower bays. I just wish it was consistent though. I'm thinking about just buying a large capacity SSD and doing a straight swap.