I am currently looking into an SSD. I have heard great things about the intel x25-m. However, I have read a few reviews about the OCZ Vertex 2. It looks like overall, the Vertex 2 is a little better. I would be using it as a boot drive for a Mac Pro and would have my home directory on a separate drive. I would probably use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the drive with all the apps and everything already installed. Strictly performance wise, which of these two SSDs would be the fastest when booting/loading apps? And which would be faster when it comes to using CCC to copy everything over?
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Trying to chose the best SSD
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If i have to recommend some brand, i would definitely with OWC, it has great performance and reliability instead of OCZ and Vertex 2 series, they are several issues updating firmware and bricked ones. OWC has the same SF-1200 controller and great performance, and has released before de 7% over-provisioning drive.
Cheers!
I did exactly what you are planning to do with my Mac Pro. I bought the OWC 60GB SSD and I put it in the number 1 drive bay using an adapter for 3.5 inch drives. My home folder is on another disk and it is my Boot up drive. I noticed about a 10 per cent increase in Boot up times and shut down times. Applications also open up a little quicker. When working in Pro apps like final cut suite, when analyzing files or applying changes also a 5 to 10 per cent increase in speed especially when it concerns writing or reading the disk. It does not seem like a huge increase in speed at first, example is my boot up times were around 44 seconds, with the SSD it was around 39 or 40 seconds, but that is still close to or around 10 per cent faster. I do not recommend this for a Mac Pro unless you are using Pro Applications, because of the expense of the drive. It was easy to do on a Mac Pro, Good Luck.
$199.99 for the 60 GB OWC, OWC is a Mac store and makes things for the Mac. Also all reviews on this drive are excellent, in one review I read it blew away the Intel SSD in the most important test which was reliability. Study the SSD selection before you purchase, read the reviews. In the end it's your Choice that matters, not mine, but do not look at just the price, all SSD's are not created equal.
Check out the AnandTech pages:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/SSD/65
and this comprehensive guide to everything SSD - although almost a year old it does cover a huge amount of detail:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2829
I have an OCZ Vertex 60Gb on my workstation running OpenSolaris and Windows (when needed) and haven't had any issues with it. Still using HD on my macbook pro :-(
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/SSD/65
and this comprehensive guide to everything SSD - although almost a year old it does cover a huge amount of detail:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2829
I have an OCZ Vertex 60Gb on my workstation running OpenSolaris and Windows (when needed) and haven't had any issues with it. Still using HD on my macbook pro :-(
I've been thinking the same thing...and have been looking at the exact same drives and had the same impression about Vertex 2 being a bit better, maybe.
But haven't really rushed with the decision since I'm waiting the new iMac and then pop that one up for the upgrade. So there might be more, better and cheaper drives by then.
But nevertheless I would be glad to hear experiences on those 2 drives aswell.