Vertex 2 slowed down considerably :(

[David2144]

I've been one of the lucky ones as my vertex 2 has lasted more than 1 and a half years. I'm using it with a mid-2010 Macbook Pro with ML and a 1TB drive installed in an optibay.

I noticed my performance went down and so I did a disk speedtest. The speed is way lower now. Before, it used to be 200 write and 200-something read. Now it's way lower.

Is this a sign of a dying SSD? Should I try reinstalling the OS?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mr MM]

yes do that and hope that your controller dont fail

 

[David2144]

yes do that and hope that your controller dont fail

Can someone confirm that my drive is indeed dying? Can anyone recommend me a good SSD to replace this one (or should I just RMA it?)

 

[Mr MM]

Can someone confirm that my drive is indeed dying? Can anyone recommend me a good SSD to replace this one (or should I just RMA it?)

it happened to me several times on those sandforce based

simply rma the thing, might as well make em pay for the trash that they sell

but dont count on it, just keep it backed up and you will be fine. and are you using trim enabler or not?

 

[ColdCase]

These drives will throttle data rate after so many write cycles, so they have enough gates left to last the warranty period (Gates in consumer SSDs have a tendency to wear out). If you have been hammering the drive with data, that may be what you are seeing.

If you are constantly writing and not leaving idle time, performance will eventually suffer as the garbage collecting routines don't have time to finish.

SSDs usually fail completely, not partially.

 

[TheCakeIsALie]

SSDs could get slower as they are used if TRIM is not enabled in the OS. OS X does not natively support TRIM on third party installed SSDs (anything that did not come installed in the laptop from Apple), so you need to get a 3rd party TRIM enabler to turn the feature on. This could be the reason for your drive's slow down (if it's not failing).

Link with more information and download for TIRM enabler: http://www.groths.org/trim-enabler/

 

[peterson12]

it happened to me several times on those sandforce based

simply rma the thing, might as well make em pay for the trash that they sell

but dont count on it, just keep it backed up and you will be fine. and are you using trim enabler or not?

Yes, I agree. Enabling TRIM on my MP has changed my perception about sandforce controllers. sometimes you will need to think other way round and the problem could be lying in your machine as well!

 

[dusk007]

I also had a Vertex 2 on a 2010 MBP. It eventually just died after 4-5 months but I got my money back from amazon which was awesome from them. I bought a M4 with the money which made my notebook freeze often and really was not stable at all. Eventually I got a Samsung 830 which is solid all round.

My Vertex 2 was solid (no freeze no stability issues) for the first few months. Then died in about 3 days with suddenly having issues. Then died but that that happend rather quickly.

I also had slow downs just if not more considerable than yours but those I did fix. Basically without Trim the Vertex 2 does what your does. People that say you don't need Trim on a Sandforce don't know what they are talking about.
I used mine with and without trim for a while. Without yielded even worse results than you have for me. I ended up with as low as 35 MB/s write speed.
A delete all empty space run after enabling Trim works wonders though.
I used it with Trim, then without and then with again. Trim works. I don't know why it suddenly died but I had used Trim for 2 months before that without any issues.
My Vertex 2 while it lived also never caused me any stability issues like the Crucial M4 did. Only speed issues without trim. The dying came quickly and first I thought my MBP is dying, it wasn't.

If you want a replacement get a Samsung. They seem the most reliable from all that I have found. Crucial is cheap but after I had issues I found tons on the web. Those are just as bad as the vertex 2 just some lucky people on this forums who are fans.
I got a Samsung 830 but a 840 or what ever is currently the most value should be fine. Sata 2 will limit you but you won't save money with an older SSD, you only get the older less reliable generation.