Samsung 840 SSD - Will TRIM affect speeds?

[oneinten]

Hello,

I'm currently using a 120gb Samsung 840 as my boot drive, via an external USB 3.0 until my torx screwdrivers arrive.,. When I first installed OS X and my apps onto the SSD. It was absolutely lightning quick but after a few days of settiing it uop the speed has decreased slightly, I expect this is normal as I start using it more/filling up my apps etc..

But I have not enabled TRIM yet, I've read that samsung SSD's should use TRIM, is this true?

Will this affect the speeds of my app loading/responsiveness etc? Is there anything else I can do to keep my SSD as fast as possible?

 

[mjcharlton71]

As far as I'm aware, you'll not be able to enable TRIM on the drive while it's connected via USB 3.0. I believe this is because (slightly fluffed version) the drive controller doesn't expose the full command set, due to it not being a device directly connected to the PCIe bus - something a SATA connected does, as well as a drive sitting on a Thunderbolt sled. As there's a USB converter in the way, so to speak, no TRIM support.

On the plus side, once you directly connect to SATA, you'll be laughing and it'll fly with TRIM enabled.

 

[oneinten]

As far as I'm aware, you'll not be able to enable TRIM on the drive while it's connected via USB 3.0. I believe this is because (slightly fluffed version) the drive controller doesn't expose the full command set, due to it not being a device directly connected to the PCIe bus - something a SATA connected does, as well as a drive sitting on a Thunderbolt sled. As there's a USB converter in the way, so to speak, no TRIM support.

On the plus side, once you directly connect to SATA, you'll be laughing and it'll fly with TRIM enabled.

Brilliant, so it's wise to enable TRIM once it's inside the Mac?

I toyed with the idea of keeping it in the enclosure just to save the hassle but if it's going to be any faster that's reason enough to put it inside.

 

[mjcharlton71]

Brilliant, so it's wise to enable TRIM once it's inside the Mac?

I toyed with the idea of keeping it in the enclosure just to save the hassle but if it's going to be any faster that's reason enough to put it inside.

Definitely.

I'm running a Thunderbolt sled, that's the only reason I've not installed mine internally (iMac by the way, but the same principal applies to the Mini).... It's a Crucial M4 128GB, connected through a Seagate TB sled with an Apple TB cable. Speed-wise, it's as fresh as the day I set it all up, and it's a pleasure to use day-in day-out.

I imagine once you get it installed internally and get TRIM enabled, you'll be laughing! The only slight gotcha is that after installing a point release of the OS (10.8.2 > 10.8.3 for example), you'll need to fire up and reset TRIM Enabler again, as the OS patching knocks out non-Apple TRIM support.

Had I kept my Mini, I'd definitely have been slapping a SSD inside, without doubt.