SSD = performance difference Vertex2 vs Samsung 840 vs Crucial M4

[imorton]

Hi Gang, I am contemplating upgrading my sata-II 180G Vertex2 SSD in my 2011 MacBook Pro (sata3 capable) to either a 256gb Samsung 840 (non-Pro), or a Crucial M4, or a Samsung 840 Pro (if really really worth the price)

My sata2 Vertex2 SSD gives me @ 90mbs read/write with BlackMagic DiskTest software.

What real-world performance difference will I see by going to a newer Sata3 SSD?

Should I buy a 240/256gb Samsung 840 SSD, Crucial M4, or the Samsung 840 Pro?

Which is better for reliability/performance, the Crucial M4 or the Samsung 840 (non-Pro)?

I like the Crucial M4 because apparently you can upgrade the firmware with a Macbook (and not a Windows machine)

Thanks for all your insights, IAN

PS: I use my 2011 Macbook Pro for Internet (10 windows open), photo's, email, Parallels Desktop, web design, etc....

PPS: Is there a difference in buying from Amazon vs Newegg in regards to returns/defective drive etc...?

 

[l.a.rossmann]

If you manage to notice a difference between those SSDs, I'll pay for it. For your activities of web design, and hardcore web browsing, I sincerely doubt even sata 2 vs. 3 would be noticeable.

Unless you are unzipping 10 GB files from one drive to another, it's just not worth losing your mind over. Seriously. Benchmark differences are one thing, but it won't be noticeable in the real world, between good SSDs with similar specs.

It's like overclockers who would go nuts over memory timings. In 2005, people would overclock their Winbond BH5 and voltmod their motherboard to get DDR575 at 2-2-2-5 timings at 3.5vdimm, and for what? Yes, the memory bandwidth tests would be amazing, but you got under 2% improvement in video encoding, the video game would jump from 55.6 FPS to 56 FPS, with the only real difference in making winrar archives over 10 GB.

There's a 256 GB adata drive I use that I recommend to everyone. It runs a 4 GB Quickbooks Enterprise database, 5 GB shiprush database, and is very snappy. Also affordable. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211597

 

[imorton]

If you manage to notice a difference between those SSDs, I'll pay for it. For your activities of web design, and hardcore web browsing, I sincerely doubt even sata 2 vs. 3 would be noticeable.

Unless you are unzipping 10 GB files from one drive to another, it's just not worth losing your mind over. Seriously. Benchmark differences are one thing, but it won't be noticeable in the real world, between good SSDs with similar specs.

It's like overclockers who would go nuts over memory timings. In 2005, people would overclock their Winbond BH5 and voltmod their motherboard to get DDR575 at 2-2-2-5 timings at 3.5vdimm, and for what? Yes, the memory bandwidth tests would be amazing, but you got under 2% improvement in video encoding, the video game would jump from 55.6 FPS to 56 FPS, with the only real difference in making winrar archives over 10 GB.

There's a 256 GB adata drive I use that I recommend to everyone. It runs a 4 GB Quickbooks Enterprise database, 5 GB shiprush database, and is very snappy. Also affordable. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211597

Thanks for the Reply and Info

It's true that the benchmarks make these Sata3 SSD's sounds like the cat's meow for performance. My idea was to put my older Sata2 SSD in an external HD case and use it for CCC backups.

My laptop already boots from cold start to desktop in @ 18-20 seconds and programs open in 1-2 seconds, so I can't really see how much faster a Sata3 SSD can go.

I wonder if a newer Sata3 SSD (vs a Sata2 SSD) will create/copy CCC or Super Duper backups to an external USB2 external hard drive?

The benchmarks do look impressive, such as 250 MBs Write and @ 500 MBs Read for the Samsung 840 and the M4's, but what does this mean to an average laptop user?

It is also confusing as to which SSD is the best bang for the buck, Samsung, OCZ, Intel, Crucial, Mushkin, etc....

 

[marc11]

Thanks for the Reply and Info

It's true that the benchmarks make these Sata3 SSD's sounds like the cat's meow for performance. My idea was to put my older Sata2 SSD in an external HD case and use it for CCC backups.

My laptop already boots from cold start to desktop in @ 18-20 seconds and programs open in 1-2 seconds, so I can't really see how much faster a Sata3 SSD can go.

I wonder if a newer Sata3 SSD (vs a Sata2 SSD) will create/copy CCC or Super Duper backups to an external USB2 external hard drive?

The benchmarks do look impressive, such as 250 MBs Write and @ 500 MBs Read for the Samsung 840 and the M4's, but what does this mean to an average laptop user?

It is also confusing as to which SSD is the best bang for the buck, Samsung, OCZ, Intel, Crucial, Mushkin, etc....

With a SATA II connection you aren't going to see any speed differences between putting a SATA II drive or a SATA III drive in there because the drive speed will be limited to SATA II no matter what. So it comes down to the quality of the drive and its controller for speed, in which case I think the Samgun 840 (non pro) or the Intel 330/335 would be great drives and a great price and give you a nice bump in performance.

My Intel 330 in my 2010 MBP gets 250+ read and 280+ write, pretty much SATA II max speeds; it boots in less than 10 seconds, wakes from sleep instantly and opens programs at a blink of an eye, yeah its pretty fast. I have a Samsung 840 non pro waiting with be installed in my sons 2010 Macbook and from what I have read it is a real peformer at a great price; the only reason I got this over another Intel 330 was because it was replaced by the 335 with a smaller NAND and I wasn't so confident on jumping in on it yet.

An SSD works like any other internal HDD, you can CCC clone to an external USB drive, you can Time Machine back up and you can move, copy, delete, etc like any other drive.

 

[yusukeaoki]

840 is the fastest drive listed on there.
However, I actually like my M4 better due to many many users using it never had a problem.
In fact I believe the compatibility with M4 might be better compared to the 840.

Although many people say "840 is better because its faster" most of them dont even use the full potential of SSD.
Unless you are transferring huge files, you wouldnt even bother to know the difference.

 

[imorton]

With a SATA II connection you aren't going to see any speed differences between putting a SATA II drive or a SATA III drive in there because the drive speed will be limited to SATA II no matter what. So it comes down to the quality of the drive and its controller for speed, in which case I think the Samgun 840 (non pro) or the Intel 330/335 would be great drives and a great price and give you a nice bump in performance.

My Intel 330 in my 2010 MBP gets 250+ read and 280+ write, pretty much SATA II max speeds; it boots in less than 10 seconds, wakes from sleep instantly and opens programs at a blink of an eye, yeah its pretty fast. I have a Samsung 840 non pro waiting with be installed in my sons 2010 Macbook and from what I have read it is a real peformer at a great price; the only reason I got this over another Intel 330 was because it was replaced by the 335 with a smaller NAND and I wasn't so confident on jumping in on it yet.

An SSD works like any other internal HDD, you can CCC clone to an external USB drive, you can Time Machine back up and you can move, copy, delete, etc like any other drive.

My MacBook Pro is Sata3 capable, I wonder if I would see a difference?

I know I can clone to an external hd, I just wondered if by putting a Sata2 Vertex2 in an external hd case if my clone copies would be quicker via USB2?

----------

840 is the fastest drive listed on there.
However, I actually like my M4 better due to many many users using it never had a problem.
In fact I believe the compatibility with M4 might be better compared to the 840.

Although many people say "840 is better because its faster" most of them dont even use the full potential of SSD.
Unless you are transferring huge files, you wouldnt even bother to know the difference.

I know what u mean, the marketing is very good for the 840 Pro, but the M4 seems to have great reliability and is Mac OSX firmware upgradeable

 

[marc11]

My MacBook Pro is Sata3 capable, I wonder if I would see a difference?

I know I can clone to an external hd, I just wondered if by putting a Sata2 Vertex2 in an external hd case if my clone copies would be quicker via USB2?

----------



I know what u mean, the marketing is very good for the 840 Pro, but the M4 seems to have great reliability and is Mac OSX firmware upgradeable

Sorry my bad I misread your post, I thought you had an older SATA II machine. I am not sure if you will notice the speed difference to be honest. I was comparing my SATA II SSD speeds to a new MBP SATA III machine and could not see any difference in opening apps, accesing data, waking for sleep, etc. I am sure if you are reading or writing large amounts of data you would see the difference for sure. But really, IDK.

 

[davidlv]

With a SATA II connection you aren't going to see any speed differences between putting a SATA II drive or a SATA III drive in there because the drive speed will be limited to SATA II no matter what. So it comes down to the quality of the drive and its controller for speed, in which case I think the Samgun 840 (non pro) or the Intel 330/335 would be great drives and a great price and give you a nice bump in performance.

My Intel 330 in my 2010 MBP gets 250+ read and 280+ write, pretty much SATA II max speeds; it boots in less than 10 seconds, wakes from sleep instantly and opens programs at a blink of an eye, yeah its pretty fast. I have a Samsung 840 non pro waiting with be installed in my sons 2010 Macbook and from what I have read it is a real peformer at a great price; the only reason I got this over another Intel 330 was because it was replaced by the 335 with a smaller NAND and I wasn't so confident on jumping in on it yet.

An SSD works like any other internal HDD, you can CCC clone to an external USB drive, you can Time Machine back up and you can move, copy, delete, etc like any other drive.

For what it is worth, data sample; n=1, I bought an Intel 335 several months ago, it is extremely fast in a late 2011 MBP, no issues whatsoever, except you will sometimes waste time doing a save or something again because the drive is so fast you aren't sure it actually did it!
I don't really know if it is a good idea to enable TRIM or not, many conflicting reports about that, but I ran it with trim enabled for 3 months and nothing seemed out of order, now testing with TRIM disabled (can't see any difference so far. There is one firmware update out on the intel HP reporting only, I gather.
As usual, Intel seems to have a winner here too, even with the Sandforce controller.

 

[marc11]

Nice speeds!

 

[Tenashus1]

Hi Gang, I am contemplating upgrading my sata-II 180G Vertex2 SSD in my 2011 MacBook Pro (sata3 capable) to either a 256gb Samsung 840 (non-Pro), or a Crucial M4, or a Samsung 840 Pro (if really really worth the price)

My sata2 Vertex2 SSD gives me @ 90mbs read/write with BlackMagic DiskTest software.

What real-world performance difference will I see by going to a newer Sata3 SSD?

Should I buy a 240/256gb Samsung 840 SSD, Crucial M4, or the Samsung 840 Pro?

Which is better for reliability/performance, the Crucial M4 or the Samsung 840 (non-Pro)?

I like the Crucial M4 because apparently you can upgrade the firmware with a Macbook (and not a Windows machine)

Thanks for all your insights, IAN

PS: I use my 2011 Macbook Pro for Internet (10 windows open), photo's, email, Parallels Desktop, web design, etc....

PPS: Is there a difference in buying from Amazon vs Newegg in regards to returns/defective drive etc...?

Make life easy for yourself. Just go with the M4. It's firmware upgradeable for the Mac.

 

[imorton]

From what I see, if I had to choose between the 840 non-Pro model vs the Crucial M4, it seems the M4 is a great choice.

Now if money wasn't an issue, I can see the 840 Pro model is the better SSD. What would I see different in REAL-WORLD USE with the 840 Pro?
Now if put my older Sata2 Vertex SSD in a external HD, will I see greater throughput than the 7,200 rpm HD that is in there, or is USB2 the limiting factor?

 

[Crzyrio]

One of the reason I opted for the Vertex 4 on my Macbook is because of the 5Year warranty it comes with.

Speed wise you wont notice a difference

 

[yusukeaoki]

It differs from your choice, but I would prefer the
256GB Crucial M4 or 256GB OCZ Vertex 4

Just make sure to buy anything above 256GB since they have the fastest speed compared to lower end models.

 

[Orlandoech]

For some SSD Benchmarks and comparisons see the post in my signature.

And FYI, the Vertez 2 will be by far the slowest of the 3.

 

[duervo]

From what I see, if I had to choose between the 840 non-Pro model vs the Crucial M4, it seems the M4 is a great choice.

Now if money wasn't an issue, I can see the 840 Pro model is the better SSD. What would I see different in REAL-WORLD USE with the 840 Pro?
Now if put my older Sata2 Vertex SSD in a external HD, will I see greater throughput than the 7,200 rpm HD that is in there, or is USB2 the limiting factor?

USB2 is going to limit you in that scenario for large file/sequential reads/writes, but it will still be faster than the 7200 RPM drive for the smaller random reads/writes.

 

[imorton]

I guess the best thing to do is keep an eye on the SSD specials that may come up for Valentines Day.

I see that NewEgg doesn't allow any returns, does Amazon allow returns of SSD's if there is incompatibility/problem issues?

 

[Tenashus1]

I guess the best thing to do is keep an eye on the SSD specials that may come up for Valentines Day.

I see that NewEgg doesn't allow any returns, does Amazon allow returns of SSD's if there is incompatibility/problem issues?

Yes.

 

[imorton]

So I see that it makes more sense to buy a SSD from Amazon since they have a return policy for defective or incompatibilities.

I know that NewEgg doesn't allow returns on SSD's.

I wonder where the best place to buy a 256 Gb Crucial M4 sad?

 

[Tenashus1]

So I see that it makes more sense to buy a SSD from Amazon since they have a return policy for defective or incompatibilities.

I know that NewEgg doesn't allow returns on SSD's.

I wonder where the best place to buy a 256 Gb Crucial M4 sad?

Newegg is not what it used to be in my view. Rather impersonal now. Go with Amazon. They will accept an undamaged return if need be. You can even talk to someone about a return or defect. With Newegg their customer service can keep you on hold for a while and their return policy is, as you say, nil. Bought my M4 from Amazon. I had a Kingston SSD that I returned without a problem.

 

[imorton]

I wonder when the next big sales are coming on SSD's? Any good discounts coming on the 840's or M4?

 

[AppleWarMachine]

no problems with my M4

 

[imorton]

From what I have been reading, the M4 ssd seems to be a good bet and with the least amount of issues.

The standard 840 ssd seems to be very close in performance, and the 840 Pro model is the fastest yet the most expensive?

I probably wouldn't see any real-world difference between those three, eyt I imagine I would see a real-world difference between the M4 and my older Sata2 Vertex2 SSD

 

[Doc. Caliban]

I appreciate this thread, as I may be on the same market soon.

Is there any reason to avoid the 512GB M4 as opposed to the 256GB version?

- Doc

 

[Tenashus1]

I appreciate this thread, as I may be on the same market soon.

Is there any reason to avoid the 512GB M4 as opposed to the 256GB version?

- Doc

No.

 

[yusukeaoki]

I appreciate this thread, as I may be on the same market soon.

Is there any reason to avoid the 512GB M4 as opposed to the 256GB version?

- Doc

Not at all. Just the amount you want and if you have the money or not.

64 and 128GB has the slowest speeds on most SSDs. 64GB being the slowest.
256GB and up usually has the fastest speeds.