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Which SSD is Best for My Laptop

V

vjicecool

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 16, 2010
335
7
Which one is best

OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

or Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5-inch 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

I have MBP 13" 2.53 ghz 4GB RAM

I bought this is 2009 ENd
 
Your 2009 MBP only has a SATA II drive connection, so will not benefit from the extra speed provided by the SATA III connection in the M4. You would be paying more for the M4 and not get any benefit from it. You want a SATA II drive like the Vertex 2 you mentioned.

Based on Newegg reviews and comments here, the Vertex 2 seems to have a high failure rate though.

You may be better of with the new Intel 320 SSD. Intel drives have historically been very reliable and forums users here have had good results with that drive.
 
My turn...

Hey, I guess I'm a newbie in all this mac talk. If somebody could give me a pretty dumbed-down answer it would be greatly appreciated.

I just bought the new 13" MBP (MC724LL/A) with the generic 500GB Serial ATA 5400 rpm it comes with.

I'm looking for an SSD that can accomplish the following,

1.) Fit my MBP
2.) Work on my MBP
3.) Be somewhat easy to setup and use

I'm looking at the 128gb size. No idea what brand to get. Is it easy to even open the new macbook pro (I've yet to have the computer in hand)?

Any feedback / help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Last edited:
swmshtii27 said:
Hey, I guess I'm a newbie in all this mac talk. If somebody could give me a pretty dumbed-down answer it would be greatly appreciated.

I just bought the new 13" MBP (MC724LL/A) with the generic 500GB Serial ATA 5400 rpm it comes with.

I'm looking for an SSD that can accomplish the following,

1.) Fit my MBP
2.) Work on my MBP
3.) Be somewhat easy to setup and use

I'm looking at the 128gb size. No idea what brand to get. Is it easy to even open the new macbook pro (I've yet to have the computer in hand)?

Any feedback / help would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

I am in the same situation as you and I have been considering the Intel 320 SSD 120gb for $199 from Newegg.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzDxAXKCRHo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8pvxghMJqQ

Those are the installation guide videos.

I also suggest the Intel 320 series. It's been running without a problem on my Macbook Pro (Early 2011). Enjoy!

Another thing you might want to do is install the Trim Hack (Trim Enabler). I use it on my Intel 320. Some claim of a performance deterioration with the installation of the Trim Hack (proved by Benchmarks), but in normal use, I really don't see it. I'd rather have my SSD clean than have it run minutely faster. It's all a matter of opinion though.

Alternative SSD's (a bunch more, but listing some popular ones):
Kingston V+100 Series (Expensive but same driver as the Apple SSD)
Vertex 2 (High Failure Rate)
Intel X25-M (Gets slower when older)

*Note about the Intel 320: Intel has problems with cleaning, but the 320 is said to have GC.

SATA III Drives (ONLY WILL WORK ON THE NEW MBP's!)
Crucial C300 (You have a 75% chance of having one that will work on your MBP)
Vertex 3
The OWC Drive
 
oButto said:
SATA III Drives (ONLY WILL WORK ON THE NEW MBP's!)
Crucial C300 (You have a 75% chance of having one that will work on your MBP)
Vertex 3
The OWC Drive
Click to expand...

From what people seem to be saying, any of the non SandBridge drives are prone to performance issues if TRIM is not enabled.

The SATA III drives seem to be a crapshoot, so if you decide to get one, buy it from a vendor who has a liberal return policy.

Also, the Vertex failure rates seem to be overblown. It isn't like the majority of the users have failures. Yes, the failure rates are substantially higher but in the big picture, it's still in the single digits (percentage wise).
 
oButto said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzDxAXKCRHo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8pvxghMJqQ

Those are the installation guide videos.

I also suggest the Intel 320 series. It's been running without a problem on my Macbook Pro (Early 2011). Enjoy!

Another thing you might want to do is install the Trim Hack (Trim Enabler). I use it on my Intel 320. Some claim of a performance deterioration with the installation of the Trim Hack (proved by Benchmarks), but in normal use, I really don't see it. I'd rather have my SSD clean than have it run minutely faster. It's all a matter of opinion though.

Alternative SSD's (a bunch more, but listing some popular ones):
Kingston V+100 Series (Expensive but same driver as the Apple SSD)
Vertex 2 (High Failure Rate)
Intel X25-M (Gets slower when older)

*Note about the Intel 320: Intel has problems with cleaning, but the 320 is said to have GC.

SATA III Drives (ONLY WILL WORK ON THE NEW MBP's!)
Crucial C300 (You have a 75% chance of having one that will work on your MBP)
Vertex 3
The OWC Drive
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response! As I stated, I don't really have this computer in hand yet. If I go with the Intel 320, will I need to purchase any brackets for it to fit?

I'm also a little confused with your last statement. SATA III only works on the new MBP's...but only has a 75% chance that it will work on mine? If you wouldn't mind, could you please elaborate on that?
 
swmshtii27 said:
I'm also a little confused with your last statement. SATA III only works on the new MBP's...but only has a 75% chance that it will work on mine? If you wouldn't mind, could you please elaborate on that?
Click to expand...

There seems to be compatibility issues with SATA III drives in general, which has resulted in random freezes.

Queen of Spades said:
I ordered the Kingston V+100 drive. It has the same Toshiba controller as the Apple SSD drives. The 96GB version is $157 at amazon with a $50 rebate, knocking it down to $107.
Click to expand...
If it uses the same controller, does this mean TRIM should be fully supported with this drive?
 
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The Critic said:
I am in the same situation as you and I have been considering the Intel 320 SSD 120gb for $199 from Newegg.
Click to expand...

Ended up getting this.

$60 mail-in rebate from Amazon / Kingston.

Will see how she is.
 
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Although it runs the same driver as the Apple SSD, the Kingston SSD's will also require Trim hack to be enabled. It's a good purchase. Kingston + Intel SSD's have been known to work in Macbook Pros without much hassle. You do not need any brackets. Just take out the old one and replace. Reinstall the OS and you're done.

I said 75% because MANY people are having troubling running the C300 on the 2011 Macbook Pros. There seems to be some type of error (some say it's the connector cable).
 
Installed an Intel 320 300 GB last night in my 2011 13", and it has been nothing but perfect from installation till now. Everything is super fast, boots in 15 seconds and application launches are instantaneous. It has been awesome so far. Hopefully it keeps it up. Based on the experience I've had so far I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fast and reliable drive.
 
oButto said:
I said 75% because MANY people are having troubling running the C300 on the 2011 Macbook Pros. There seems to be some type of error (some say it's the connector cable).
Click to expand...

Sorry to threadjack, but I read in another thread there is a firmware update for the C300 that seems to have fixed the problem MBP users were having. I think the update was to FW version 007.
 
I have the Vertex 3 in my 2011 mbp, absolutely love it. Easy install and not problems. Got it off newegg.
 
does the TRIM hack work on all these drives? I have a Vertex 2 and would like to use it, but want TRIM
 
oButto said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzDxAXKCRHo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8pvxghMJqQ

Those are the installation guide videos.

I also suggest the Intel 320 series. It's been running without a problem on my Macbook Pro (Early 2011). Enjoy!

Another thing you might want to do is install the Trim Hack (Trim Enabler). I use it on my Intel 320. Some claim of a performance deterioration with the installation of the Trim Hack (proved by Benchmarks), but in normal use, I really don't see it. I'd rather have my SSD clean than have it run minutely faster. It's all a matter of opinion though.

Alternative SSD's (a bunch more, but listing some popular ones):
Kingston V+100 Series (Expensive but same driver as the Apple SSD)
Vertex 2 (High Failure Rate)
Intel X25-M (Gets slower when older)

*Note about the Intel 320: Intel has problems with cleaning, but the 320 is said to have GC.

SATA III Drives (ONLY WILL WORK ON THE NEW MBP's!)
Crucial C300 (You have a 75% chance of having one that will work on your MBP)
Vertex 3
The OWC Drive
Click to expand...
All SSD's lose performance over time but what you said about the Intel X25-M is untrue and quite the opposite. The Intel X25-M is a workhorse and considered one of the best, most reliable SSD's ever made. I've included a link about Degradation of SSD's from LegitReview. The Intel X25-M degrades the LEAST of any SSD tested.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1022/12/
 
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