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Which SSD between these three?

nepalisherpa

nepalisherpa

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 15, 2011
2,308
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USA
Hey guys, I know this question gets asked a lot, but, please help me decide between these three SSDs. I have a mid-2010 13" Macbook Pro (SATA 2, I think) with 8GB RAM. My goal with the new SSD is to install OSX and Windows 7 (using Bootcamp). I will also buy a hard-drive caddy to replace my optical drive and put the current hard-drive in there.

OCZ Vertex 4 128GB - $110
http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technolog...8&qid=1354221113&sr=8-1&keywords=ocz+vertex+4

Intel 520 Series 120GB - $120
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Solid-S...UTF8&qid=1354221177&sr=1-5&keywords=intel+ssd

Samsung 840 Series 120GB - $100
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Solid...id=1354221299&sr=1-2&keywords=samsung+840+ssd

From my research, I have found that Intel drives are very reliable. Meanwhile, OCZ and Samsung are really fast.
 
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nepalisherpa said:
Hey guys, I know this question gets asked a lot, but, please help me decide between these three SSDs. I have a mid-2010 13" Macbook Pro (SATA 2, I think) with 8GB RAM. My goal with the new SSD is to install OSX and Windows 7 (using Bootcamp). I will also buy a hard-drive caddy to replace my optical drive and put the current hard-drive in there.

OCZ Vertex 4 128GB - $110
http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technolog...8&qid=1354221113&sr=8-1&keywords=ocz+vertex+4

Intel 520 Series 120GB - $120
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Solid-S...UTF8&qid=1354221177&sr=1-5&keywords=intel+ssd

Samsung 840 Series 120GB - $100
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Solid...id=1354221299&sr=1-2&keywords=samsung+840+ssd

From my research, I have found that Intel drives are very reliable. Meanwhile, OCZ and Samsung are really fast.
Click to expand...

I would go with the 840 because its the cheapest and speed is not a deciding factor since you are restricted with SATA II. Another one to consider is the Crucial M4...http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004W2JKZI/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1354223605&sr=8-2&pi=SL75
The Crucial M4 uses a Marvell controller just like intel drives which are very reliable.
 
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Irock619 said:
I would go with the 840 because its the cheapest and speed is not a deciding factor since you are restricted with SATA II. Another one to consider is the Crucial M4...http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004W2JKZI/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1354223605&sr=8-2&pi=SL75
The Crucial M4 uses a Marvell controller just like intel drives which are very reliable.
Click to expand...

How is speed not a deciding factor when some of those choices have iops and 4k r/w that are double others? Sequential max bandwidth is a lousy way to tell boot drive speed or base a buying distinction on. The end result is the same though. I would go 840 because it is the fastest and newest of the lot. Beware the early death issue that have plagued anandtech though.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6483/update-on-samsung-ssd-840840-pro-failures
 
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derbothaus said:
How is speed not a deciding factor when some of those choices have iops and 4k r/w that are double others? Sequential max bandwidth is a lousy way to tell boot drive speed or base a buying distinction on. The end result is the same though. I would go 840 because it is the fastest and newest of the lot. Beware the early death issue that have plagued anandtech though.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6483/update-on-samsung-ssd-840840-pro-failures
Click to expand...

I said that because the op has SATA II. The drives support SATA III, therefore the OP will see max speeds at SATA II only since most drives are backwards compatible. Either way the OP will not get to enjoy the drives maximum performance regarding speed. That's why I would purchase based on price and reliability vs. speed.
 
On a notebook either one of these will more than be fast enough for the CPU it will be paired with. 4K random reads are what makes SSDs fast but only until the bottle neck is closed, after that any additional IOPs are useless in most usecases. There is practically no change in performance.
There is virtually no noticeable difference in performance in either one of these three. The Intel has the highest nand life expectancy. The Samsung the lowest because of TLC Flash. Doesn't really matter as that is would still be some 50-100 years on any normal workload.

Now the Samsung has the lowest power consumption and is the cheapest and this is why I would recommend it.
 
Irock619 said:
I said that because the op has SATA II. The drives support SATA III, therefore the OP will see max speeds at SATA II only since most drives are backwards compatible. Either way the OP will not get to enjoy the drives maximum performance regarding speed. That's why I would purchase based on price and reliability vs. speed.
Click to expand...

You are not understanding what I am talking about.
 
That Samsung 840 is inferior to both the Intel and OCZ drive. It is the 840 Pro that is the fast one.
 
I ended up ordering a Crucial M4 128GB today. Will see how it goes! *cross fingers* :)
 
I would get a Samsung 830 over the 840, been proven reliable and fast. Or skip over to the 840 PRO series instead of the regular 840 if you have the extra $ for the premium.

Both the 830 and the 840 PRO use MLC NAND which is better than the TLC NAND used in the 840 the latter having a lower write endurance.
 
Last edited:
Since you don't have SATA III, you can't really decide based solely upon read/write figures (since those are all SATA III figures). Samsung has had an excellent reputation with MacBooks (I've got an 830 series myself) so I would probably go with them. That being said, I have no idea how the 840 is in terms of performance/reliability but I assume it's similar (if not better) than the 830.
 
richnyc said:
Actually, if you could spare extra $60, I'd do for a SSD, that isn't on your list:

Samsung 830 256GB from B&H PhotoVideo

And if you really want to stick with 128GB, they have it for $109!!! Better drive than any of those you listed;)
Click to expand...

nitromac said:
Since you don't have SATA III, you can't really decide based solely upon read/write figures (since those are all SATA III figures). Samsung has had an excellent reputation with MacBooks (I've got an 830 series myself) so I would probably go with them. That being said, I have no idea how the 840 is in terms of performance/reliability but I assume it's similar (if not better) than the 830.
Click to expand...

My M4 is already on its way! If I start having bad luck with M4, then, I will consider 830. I will only be using SSD for OS and applications. So, even if the hard-drive goes bad, I won't be in a bad shape.
 
Got the M4 yesterday and did the install/swap. Man, does this laptop feel different? WOW! I am just amazed at how fast it boots up. Even a reboot takes less than 15 seconds. This is with SATA II. Anyway, I am happy I did the upgrade.
 
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