SSD Propaganda

[rantingrich]

Thanks

Think about it this way, all a drive does is store data, and as a result, it also determines the speed with which the data is read and written. And THAT's where you'll see the speed benefit from an SSD. It's a fast hard drive, so it will make hard drive related tasks faster. Things like number crunching (e.g. rendering) are handled by the CPU, so the SSD will not directly help with that (although it can feed data to the CPU faster than a traditional hard drive).

As for SSD's wearing out and having limited read/write cycles, higher end SSD's will have features to help mitigate that. It's usually not a problem under normal circumstances.

Thanks for that! I think I am gunna get this one and use it as my startup drive. One guy was right What your gunna spend 3 grand on a new MACPRo so why not another $500 on a SSD

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Mercury_6G/

 

[VirtualRain]

If you get an SSD, you will look back on this thread and wonder WTF were you thinking

I personally wouldn't recommend an OWC drive... they use a SandForce controller which has been notorious for premature failure. I'm not sure if that's still an ongoing issue, but why risk it? OWC has good customer service, but the best customer service is the one you don't need. I would recommend a Crucial M4, Samsung 830, or an Intel SSD (all available from Newegg).

 

[rantingrich]

Thanks

If you get an SSD, you will look back on this thread and wonder WTF were you thinking

I personally wouldn't recommend an OWC drive... they use a SandForce controller which has been notorious for premature failure. I'm not sure if that's still an ongoing issue, but why risk it? OWC has good customer service, but the best customer service is the one you don't need. I would recommend a Crucial M4, Samsung 830, or an Intel SSD (all available from Newegg).

THANKS for your information. I have been a loyal consumer of OWC for years, but know they are above average in price! YES you are correct NO ONE NEEDS to find out how great their customer service is! I have never heard it put that way but its is sooooo correct! LOL!

Dont want to find out how great the best Criminal Defense lawyer is or the Bestest Oral Surgeon is either! LOL!

 

[rantingrich]

Bad drive! Bad!

What happens if a SSD controller goes south? Is the drive DEAD? ALL DATA LOST!?!!!!!!

Are all new SSDs an the new mountain lion "TRIM" capable?

I think you guys have sold me an getting a news SSD for my new MACPRO! I just don't know anything about them, so bear with my stupidity!

I am a big believer in TECH-TOOLS PRO for all my 7200 macs. Will a SSD benefit from utilities such as TTP???

 

[kevink2]

I have had quite a few hard drives fail through the years. I'm now up to 3 SSD over 2 computers now, the oldest a 1 year old OWC, so I can't make any projections on longevity.

Flash will wear out over enough writes, but hard drives have moving parts that can break. And I assume that controller boards can break on either type of device.

On both of my personal computers, I use an external hard drive for time machine backups, and I also have a subset of data backed up online. So if something breaks, I am just out some time.

 

[CASLondon]

If you get an SSD, you will look back on this thread and wonder WTF were you thinking

I personally wouldn't recommend an OWC drive... they use a SandForce controller which has been notorious for premature failure. I'm not sure if that's still an ongoing issue, but why risk it? OWC has good customer service, but the best customer service is the one you don't need. I would recommend a Crucial M4, Samsung 830, or an Intel SSD (all available from Newegg).

Those mercury extremes are guaranteed for 5 years.......And actually, have been shown to maintain their performance over long periods of time vs some of the other ones which can drop off significantly.

 

[derbothaus]

What happens if a SSD controller goes south? Is the drive DEAD? ALL DATA LOST!?!!!!!!

Yes.

 

[handheldgames]

Getting a SSD for a MacPro boot disk is a no brainer. I have been running a Samsung 470 for over a year, no crashes or data lost to date. Also have another running in a 2010 MacBook pro. Next best upgrade was pushing my system to 32GB of RAM.

 

[rantingrich]

Eddy Murpy wants someTRIM!

Have read up a lot on SSD and am getting excited but still am unsure on a few things! Been reading about TRIM Which I am sure most of you know is a maintenance app sort of what TechTools pro is to a 7200 drive!

ANYWAYS on site site

http://gizmodo.com/5886212/how-to-keep-your-macs-ssd-trim-and-healthy

It says TRIM does not DIG SANDFORCE controllers, WHICH I understand is the controller USED for the ELITE SSDs at OWC?

In the past I like to run a clean operation MAYBE TOO CLEAN and have my system running like a top with a collection of utilities BUT all of them seem to not pertain to SSD which of course make perfect sense. So how would I keep a OWC SSD TRIM and healthy if in fact their drives are controled via a SANDFORCE Controller!

PLEASE ADVISE!

 

[derbothaus]

I run my SSD's and never worry about them. They run really fast. They don't appear to need any maintenance. If you want to defrag make a .dmg and reapply after quick erase. Works very well. Access is so fast they could be totally shredded and I would be none the wiser. Nor do I care. Until I need to mind you.

 

[rantingrich]

from OWC

EMAIL: rantingrich
EMAIL_CONFIRM: rantingrich
CUSTOMER: yes
CUSTNAME: Rich
MESSAGE: Dear guys at OWC! I plan to buy a New MACPRO 12 core machine in a week of 2. I want to buy my RAM upgrade from you as 8x8gb sticks (64) as well as a new SSD drive. between 256 and 500 GB.

Just for your info I want to by this new machine with the Factory 1 TB 7200 and use it asa backup but USE this NEW SSD as my Startup Drive

I have some questions.

RAM
1) First what is MIXABLE and NON MIXABLE RAM mean?
To achieve higher module capacities, a different 'schema' is needed depending on the kind of memory devices available.

Currently- all the 2, 4, 8GB standard modules here:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory#1333-memory
are universal 'mixable' with other factory standard memory from Apple and themselves.

The 16GB can not be mixed - except with other of the same type 16GB as noted.

Until recently the 8GB build options were restricted/non-mixable as well - but new density chips enabled a transition so the current are not restricted.

2) What is the ram you have listed? Mixable or non-mixable
hope this is answered above.

3) IS there anything I can do with the 6 x 2gb sticks that come with the new macpro
other Xeon system that uses DDR3 ECC, other Mac Pro, Ebay - or we offer trade in $6 per module:
http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/support/rebates/memory.cfm

there is little demand today for 2GB modules vs. 4GB and higher.

SSD
1) I have been doing a lot of research on this as I have never had one before and many have stirred me away from your OWC Mercury Elite/extreme 6G SSD as they have a SANDFORCE controllers that are guaranteed a premature failure and have suggested I get Crucial M4, Samsung 830, or an Intel SSDs
I would disagree with the early failure comment - but none the less..

2) I can't find any installation Videos for SSDs on your site? Are there any?
all the installation videos we have can be found here:
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/

3) Are the SSDs I mentioned TRIM capable? I have read that TRIM App DO NOT PLAY well with SANDFORCE Controllers!!!!!
Apple OS X trim supports Apple drives. Hacks enable TRIM support on non apple drives. We have never recommended TRIM for our drives and the Sandforce processors have internal management that negates the need for TRIM which we have demonstrated and covered in blogs since 2010 as well as independently reviewed/confirmed by reviewers/tech analysts. TRIM is not something the Sandforce drive requires at all… not that note - it's a good thing for really high performance as there is no TRIM for any drive when you do RAIDs… and drives that need TRIM to stay optimal fade without it.

4) DO your SSDs need formatting prior to installing the MAc OS 10.8 and use it as my Startup disk?
All drives need to be initialized prior to OS installation - HDD, SSD, etc - and ours are no exception.

hope this helps and happy to answer additional. Thanks!

 

[derbothaus]

I've had 3 OWC Mercury Extreme SSD's, 2x 6G and 1x3G. 1x6G died. The rest are working well. The 3G is way slower than the 6G even though they are all on a SATAII 3Gb link. OWC replaced it without an issue except for the shipping costs. Which sucks. But is commonplace. I have enabled TRIM on these drives and it did not create any issues. It also did not make any speed difference. Since enabling I have updated my Mac and forgot to enable TRIM again. Same results in speed both in real world and in benchmarks like Aja Speed Test. Didn't bother to do it again as you do not need it unless all you do all day is fill up the drive and write zeroes to it or run it in some kind of punishing way. OS X let's you TRIM the SSD whenever you want so having it on all the time is neither here nor there. You will most likely never feel your Sandforce based SSD slow down in regular use that is why Mac users have adopted and why SF was initially seen as a market leader. Others have now followed suite with more aggressive on-controller garbage collection. It will soon get to a point where asking if you have TRIM enabled will be like asking if you terminated your SCSI peripheral. It was and is a way to fix a problem that is slowly becoming a non-issue. Personally though Intel 520's are cheaper, faster, more stable, and have better NAND and the 5 year warranty. I got the OWC's before Intel released their 520 series.

 

[voyagerd]

I installed an SSD in my desktop and it’s insane how much faster everything is. I didn’t even use the SATA 6Gb port!

 

[VirtualRain]

Those mercury extremes are guaranteed for 5 years.......And actually, have been shown to maintain their performance over long periods of time vs some of the other ones which can drop off significantly.

I don't disagree that they have a good warranty, etc. But they use Sandforce controllers which were (and maybe still are?) notoriously bad for premature failure. I'd rather have an SSD with a 3 year warranty that I never need to replace than one with a 5 year warranty that I have to replace every few months.

Here are a few threads...
OWC SSD's Die Fast
OWC SSD Fail every 3 months!!!
2 OWC Mercury SSD's died within 2 months
OWC Mercury Extreme Failure after 14 days...

And there are more.

BTW, I'm not trying to discredit OWC or put down anyone who bought an OWC drive... I'm sure there are plenty examples of happy customers. I'm merely trying to save the OP some potential headaches.

 

[Cave Man]

For the record, I have three OWC SSDs that are 1.5 to 2.5 years old and all three are still working fine.

 

[rantingrich]

Good-bad, bad-good!

WOW there seems the be more diametrically opposed opinions at least on this subject that I have seen in some time.

I have resided to step out of the stone age and get either a @250 or @500 gb SDD. And it will probably be from OWC!

Almost all of my sundry purchases in the last decade has been through them and I am QUIT happy.

BUT I can not, as you all can not, afford to loose all my SHEET I plan to have on my SSD!

I got my eyes on a 12 core, 2.4 with the one 1 TB 7200 drive that of course comes with it, AND add a OWC SSD along with 64 gb of OWC RAM!

I want to use the SSD as my startup disk and back up say every week to the 7200, MAYBE even CLONE the 2 cause I have a suit case of software I will be loading up!

The thought of reloading all of it to a 7200 cause of a SSD failure makes my stomach hurt!

I know nothing or HOW to CLONE a drive say from my SSD to my 7200. I will assume it's no big deal.

OH GREAT now I got a big slippery Nose Booger on my mouse finger. ARE YOU HAPPY?

 

[CASLondon]

WOW there seems the be more diametrically opposed opinions at least on this subject that I have seen in some time.

I have resided to step out of the stone age and get either a @250 or @500 gb SDD. And it will probably be from OWC!

Almost all of my sundry purchases in the last decade has been through them and I am QUIT happy.

BUT I can not, as you all can not, afford to loose all my SHEET I plan to have on my SSD!

I got my eyes on a 12 core, 2.4 with the one 1 TB 7200 drive that of course comes with it, AND add a OWC SSD along with 64 gb of OWC RAM!

I want to use the SSD as my startup disk and back up say every week to the 7200, MAYBE even CLONE the 2 cause I have a suit case of software I will be loading up!

The thought of reloading all of it to a 7200 cause of a SSD failure makes my stomach hurt!

I know nothing or HOW to CLONE a drive say from my SSD to my 7200. I will assume it's no big deal.

OH GREAT now I got a big slippery Nose Booger on my mouse finger. ARE YOU HAPPY?

I wonder if there should be a driver's license with test for computer users. Use CarbonCopyCloner or something similar to automate clones of your porn stash, its pretty painless

 

[chiefroastbeef]

I plan to buy a Crucial m4 128gb drive as my boot/app drive, I cannot wait!

Right now, I plan to:

Bay 1: Buy 128gb ssd for boot/app drive

Bay 2-3: 4TB raid 0 for user folder and all work files (aperture library, photoshop files, and video footage)

Bay 4: 640gb stock MP drive for backup of bay 1 drive

External drobo that will back up bay 2-3 raid 0 drives

 

[rantingrich]

Porn stash!

I wonder if there should be a driver's license with test for computer users. Use CarbonCopyCloner or something similar to automate clones of your porn stash, its pretty painless

MY GOD your a sorcerer! HOW DID YOU KNOW?