SSD question for 2012 Non-Retina

Go with the Samsung, as they have reliable controllers as OWC uses Sandforce controllers. Sandforce is fast but prone to higher rate of failure and plus you can get a Samsung 830 drive for <$200.

 

The only bad thing about the Samsung is that you would need to use TRIM Enabler to keep it in shape, whereas the Sandforce controller does that on its own.

 

Samsung, OWC is too expensive for what you get.

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Is using TRIM enabler detrimental in some way?

 

It's a slight inconvenience because apparently software updates can turn it off, so you would have to check on it from time to time. The only big issue is you don't know if or when it will be updated for a new OS

 

Neither, get a Crucial M4 (IMHO!).

 

The M4 is a great drive but the 4k read and write speeds are about half of what the 840 Pro is capable of.

 

You can still update to the latest FW (3B0Q) on a Mac, you just have to have do it through a Boot camp installed Windows partition

AnandTech mentioned that all those failures were pre-production units and the retail versions should be updated with the latest FW:

Update on Samsung SSD 840/840 Pro Failures

 

I have a pair of Crucial M4 SSDs (rev. 309), and one is in my 2012 MacBook Pro WITHOUT TRIM enabled, working fine. I also have a Samsung 830 without TRIM, but I haven't put it in the MacBook Pro yet... just in my Mac Pro.

MBP is running latest Mountain Lion,
MP is running 10.6.8,
Both are happy with TRIM-less M4 SSDs. I currently keep the Samsung as my backup clone for the Mac Pro, in case something goes wrong with the M4 in there now.

 

Are you sure? I believe for all 3rd party drives trim has to be enabled by the user.

 

I am certain. The sand force controller does TRIM on its own, and enabling TRIM is bad for the drive.

 

Enabling TRIM is NOT bad for the drive. Apple does it for their own Samsung 830s.

Please read this article to get a feel for what TRIM is all about and how it affects drives. http://digitaldj.net/2011/07/21/trim-enabler-for-lion/

 

Samsung for sure. And TRIM doesn't ruin the drive nor is bad for the drive.

 

I think you are talking about garbage collection, which is a feature built into the controller. Trim works by the OS commanding the controller, which requires a hack using terminal commands, or downloading the trim enabler app for 3rd party SSDs. Without the terminal command or the app, the SSD controller does not know when to trim. This is why most SSD's have garbage collection.

 

They do it for the 830s, but you should NOT do it on an OWC, as per this OWC article: http://blog.macsales.com/11051-to-trim-or-not-to-trim-owc-has-the-answer

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Yeah, all SSDs have garbage collection. However, the Sandforce controller is different from that in other drives, and OWC states that you should not use TRIM on their drives. I assume this would apply to all drives w/Sandforce, but I am not sure.

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Yes, with non-OWC drives you should use TRIM. However, as per this OWC article, you should not use TRIM on their drives, which is what I was referring to.

 

I have a crucial M4 256, an Intel 320 160GB and "had" an Intel 520 180GB.

All were excellent. But I just got an OCZ Vertex 4 (micron edition) from Amazon for a pretty decent price and OMG!

This thing is a competely different animal altogether. Fastest I have ever seen. In fact, It really does feel like a whole new computer. Shipping FW was 1.5 and so far installation was no different from a regular spinning disk. INstal, recover from time machine, and boot up in 15 seconds (7 seconds from the spinning icon to full desktop load). It's just insane.

Vertex 4 gets my vote. OCZ is back from the dead with indilinx. The new Vector drives look even better!