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Which SSD is best

Sdahe

Sdahe

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
1,725
25
San Juan, PR
Hello Guys,

I've been looking around the web about SSD for a Macbook Pro and I found the Vertex SSD2 is the perfect one for the Macbook Pro. I have my MBP for a year now and I would love to try those new solid state discs. Is this Vertex the best?... another thing. I have Snow Leopard (10.6.8) installed and I want to know if there's no problem with TRIM support. Do I need to install Lion or I can stay with SN?... thanks
 
Vertex 2 might be fast but it has a high failure rate and some issues. Samsung 470 Series is the best option for Macs atm. No need to play with TRIM Enabler or anything.
 
This are my readings... I guess all these will get faster with a SSD

Boot up Time: 31.6

Photoshop CS5 First Boot Up: 11.5
Photoshop CS5 Second Boot Up: 2.1

Illustrator CS5 First Boot Up: 15.4
Illustrator CS5 Second Boot Up: 3

Safari Frist Boot Up: 1.4
Safari Second Boot Up: .6
 
OWC Mercury Extreme get good reports everywhere, very reliable, and they're just as fast as the Vertex. I have an OWC myself, and now have a Boot time of just 14sec.
 
Modernape said:
OWC Mercury Extreme get good reports everywhere, very reliable, and they're just as fast as the Vertex. I have an OWC myself, and now have a Boot time of just 14sec.
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What about the hibernation issue? Or BSOD/freeze issues with the 6G? All SandForce based SSDs are far from being reliable.

Sdahe said:
Best=fast
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ALL SSDs are fast. Don't get fooled by the sequential reads or other stats, they are meaningless in real world.

19853.png


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http://www.anandtech.com/show/4341/ocz-vertex-3-max-iops-patriot-wildfire-ssds-reviewed/3
 
If your Macbook Pro is an early 2011 13 or 15 inch, I'd get a SATA 3 drive. I just bought a OWC 240GB Mercury Electra 6G and it has made my boot time into Mac OS into about 10 seconds from a cold startup...I was seriously impressed. Windows takes a bit longer to load up. Like 15-20 seconds, but that's amazing compared to the 25-40 seconds it took to load up Lion before.

Put SC2 and WoW on the drive and it's amazing. SC2 used to take about 20-25 seconds to load into the menu screen with the factory 750GB 5400RPM drive. Now it takes 4-5 seconds. I really want a SSD for my PC desktop now.

OWC has tons of options for shipping too. Ordered mine late Friday night and got it Saturday morning. Shipping costed about $34, but it didn't have any tax and that's almost exactly what taxes would've costed anyways. Very pleased.
 
What I've been scouring the internet for is a video of two similarly configured computers, one with a SATA II drive, another with SATA III drive (astronomical read/write speeds). The video would be like those HD VS. SSD comparisons. Boot-up time, Simultaneous Application Launch, Copying or Reading Large Files, etc. I have a feeling such a video would discredit those who claim benchmarks matter, as the difference between the two systems would probably be imperceptible. Not completely sure though, which is why I'd to see such a comparison.
 
AppleGoat said:
What I've been scouring the internet for is a video of two similarly configured computers, one with a SATA II drive, another with SATA III drive (astronomical read/write speeds). The video would be like those HD VS. SSD comparisons. Boot-up time, Simultaneous Application Launch, Copying or Reading Large Files, etc. I have a feeling such a video would discredit those who claim benchmarks matter, as the difference between the two systems would probably be imperceptible. Not completely sure though, which is why I'd to see such a comparison.
Click to expand...

No, it wouldn't.

Boot time, opening applications (i.e. real world tasks) would likely see negligible differences in such a video. The real difference would be in sequential reads and writes.
 
I'm also looking for an ssd and I really read most of the threads posted here.... But now I'm more confused than before. Is it so difficult to get a 6G ssd working properly in osx with trim enabled, without disabling any sleep functions etc??? Why should I buy an old SATAII ssd, if the chipset supports newer standards?? Why manufactors release SSDs, which are not properly set up???
Maybe new firmware releases can improve stability/speed etc of those 6G speeds, or OSX updates.....

questions questions questions.....

My favs at the moment are Vertex3 or Crucial M4, dunno which one to get.....
 
Tried the M4 on older firmwares... couldn't get past the beach balls. Decided to go with an Intel 320 and have been very happy since. True, it may not be the fastest one out there but so far I haven't noticed any difference in day-to-day speed compared with SATA III drives.

- It's reliable (warranty)
- It's compatible (no beach balls)
- It's usable (no worries about beach balls, no worries it'll fail fast)
- It's TRIMable
- Upgrade the firmware and you should have yourself a very good drive.
 
2hvy4grvty said:
That's his point.
Click to expand...

S7A2G6 said:
*clears throat*

DUH!
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That's what I get for not reading the whole post. :)

----------
Hellhammer said:
Vertex 2 might be fast but it has a high failure rate and some issues. Samsung 470 Series is the best option for Macs atm. No need to play with TRIM Enabler or anything.
Click to expand...

The Samsung 470 SSD works with OS X's TRIM out of the box? Is that because Apple uses similar Samsung SSDs in some Macs?

Edit: it seems the 470 uses the same controller (although a different firmware) as the SSDs from Samsung that Apple is using in some MacBook Airs. I guess that explains it: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4527/...eatures-the-same-controller-as-in-samsung-470
 
Last edited:
jgz said:
Is it so difficult to get a 6G ssd working properly in osx with trim enabled, without disabling any sleep functions etc???
Click to expand...

It's not difficult, in most cases it's impossible. All SF-2000 based SSDs suffer from BSODs/freezes. That doesn't mean everyone is experiencing them as there appears to be a certain thing that triggers it (though that is unknown atm). I don't know the details at this point but Anand is working on clarifying the issue so stay tuned for an update.

Why should I buy an old SATAII ssd, if the chipset supports newer standards??
Click to expand...

Because there is no difference in real world. Take a look at the graphs I posted above. OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS is one of the fastest SSD on paper, yet it's almost the slowest in that real world test. Older SSDs are also cheaper in general and more trouble-free due to more mature firmware (issues have been sorted).

Why manufactors release SSDs, which are not properly set up???
Click to expand...

Many companies like to use their customers as beta testers. It's also a bit of a competition of who is the first. It looks like not everyone cares about reliability given the sales of Vertex 3 for instance.

Maybe new firmware releases can improve stability/speed etc of those 6G speeds, or OSX updates.....
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SandForce has promised to fix the hibernation issue in SF-1200 based SSDs for over a year now. Especially Mac issues are more easily ignored due to the smaller market share. I wouldn't buy an item and then trust that a future upgrade may or may not fix it. Why not get a working item right in the beginning?

iliramove said:
Crucial M4. Firmware 0009 is a pleasant update.
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Crucial M4 seems to be the only 6Gb/s SSD with no major issues. The only con is fairly poor garbage collection and no support for TRIM (causes kernel panics under OS X) which may slow it down in the future.

MBHockey said:
The Samsung 470 SSD works with OS X's TRIM out of the box? Is that because Apple uses similar Samsung SSDs in some Macs?
Click to expand...

Not out of the box but it can be enabled. However, the garbage collection is pretty good so the need for TRIM is questionable.

Edit: it seems the 470 uses the same controller (although a different firmware) as the SSDs from Samsung that Apple is using in some MacBook Airs. I guess that explains it: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4527/...eatures-the-same-controller-as-in-samsung-470
Click to expand...

That is true, I wrote that article ;)
 
Have there been any reported issues with sleep/wake beach balls and the Samsung 470?

I'm thinking of bumping up in capacity in SSDs (currently running an intel x25-m G2 160GB) that has been absolutely flawless for over two years but I don't want to sacrifice that reliability :)
 
Been running a Crucial M4 with FW 0002 and now 0009 with TRIM enabled the past two months and haven't had so much as a blink. Works like a charm.
 
daneoni said:
Been running a Crucial M4 with FW 0002 and now 0009 with TRIM enabled the past two months and haven't had so much as a blink. Works like a charm.
Click to expand...

phpmaven said:
Negatory. I and many others are running the Vertex 3 with no problems. It's been rock solid and blazing fast on my 2011 MBP 17", despite what any supposed "real world" tests might indicate.
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nice to hear :) so i'm not definitely wrong with my decision.... so vertex3 or crucial m4 or probably waiting for Samsung 830 Series? god, i probably toss a coin.... -.-
 
Shame Vertex 3s have deteriorating performance with capacity. Or I probably would've played the RMA game until I picked up a stable drive.
 
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