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Ssd?
- Thread starter peterson12
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SandForce is ancient technology by todays standards. Advantages arise if you consider modern SSDs such as the Samsung 840 Pro, Intel 330, Crucial m4 or the OCZ Vector, because they perform much better in real-world usage.
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I was at Microcenter last night returning a Momentus XT I had picked up on Jan 16. I had decided to install it and "make do" for a while until SSD prices come down more.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized I want SSD sooner rather than later. I read up on the XT and the SSD is more like a "cache" which means SOME data gets pulled up quickly but those annoying lags waiting for the drive to spin up would not be entirely a thing of the past. I asked the Microcenter guy for printouts on the Samsung 830, 840 and 840 pro.
The 830 and 840 pro have better stats but only the 840 pro offers a 5 year warranty. I would not consider an SSD that does not offer a 5 year warranty.
On a newer Mac, I would stick with the latest and fastest 6GB/s SSD but on an older Mac you might find a 3GB model works just fine.
The fact that it's an SSD does not mean it cannot fail. Both the 830 and 840 pro offer MTBF of 1.5 million hours. The 840 (base model) doesn't quote this figure. Yesterday, the 830 and 840 pro (both 512GB) were selling for $479 while the base 840 (500GB) was selling for a mere $332. That, along with the shorter warranty should tell you something.
If you can't afford an SSD, get a Momentus XT or wait a while. Avoid those (relatively) low cost SSD's like the OCZ "Agility" series. It's only been a few months since I had to take one of those back to MC for a refund when it left my Macbook freezing 10 out of every 30 seconds!
The more I thought about it, the more I realized I want SSD sooner rather than later. I read up on the XT and the SSD is more like a "cache" which means SOME data gets pulled up quickly but those annoying lags waiting for the drive to spin up would not be entirely a thing of the past. I asked the Microcenter guy for printouts on the Samsung 830, 840 and 840 pro.
The 830 and 840 pro have better stats but only the 840 pro offers a 5 year warranty. I would not consider an SSD that does not offer a 5 year warranty.
On a newer Mac, I would stick with the latest and fastest 6GB/s SSD but on an older Mac you might find a 3GB model works just fine.
The fact that it's an SSD does not mean it cannot fail. Both the 830 and 840 pro offer MTBF of 1.5 million hours. The 840 (base model) doesn't quote this figure. Yesterday, the 830 and 840 pro (both 512GB) were selling for $479 while the base 840 (500GB) was selling for a mere $332. That, along with the shorter warranty should tell you something.
If you can't afford an SSD, get a Momentus XT or wait a while. Avoid those (relatively) low cost SSD's like the OCZ "Agility" series. It's only been a few months since I had to take one of those back to MC for a refund when it left my Macbook freezing 10 out of every 30 seconds!
Code:
Drive Type Speed Cost Reliability Power consumption
Hybrid B+ B+ B- C
HDD (5400) D A C C+
HDD (7200) C A- C C-
SSD A* D A* A
* All SSD drives are not created equal.
Speed and Reliability are strongly affected by the price you pay.