SSD Buying Guide [part 2]

[i4k20c]

I have an 850 EVO that came in today waiting to be installed in my early-2011 15". I'll be enabling TRIM on mine, but I've seen several people post that they have ran Yosemite w/o TRIM for a while with no noticeable performance degradation in real-world situations. I wouldn't sweat it if you don't want to bother with TRIM. It's probably only for people who are uptight about keeping their SSD in tip-top condition even if they can't even tell.

Our laptops don't have the correct BT receiver for Continuity, so that doesn't really matter, but Yosemite has a lot of other awesome features. I didn't notice any difference in performance going from Mavericks to Yosemite, so I'd say go for it. If you're that worried, you can just disable transparency and do all those other performance-saving tweaks. I've disabled transparency on my MBP just because I don't like it. It's a good medium between the Mavericks UI and the full-blown transparent Yosemite UI.

I'll agree with this sentiment - my main computer (just based on which one I spend the most time on) is a Mid-2011 iMac that also has Thunderbolt and other modern niceties, but an older Bluetooth card and no USB 3.0. It's just as fast on Yosemite as it was on Mavericks. That being said, about two weeks ago, I slapped an SSD in it (mostly to coincide with it becoming my main computer), and went with the Crucial mx100 after buying almost exclusively Samsung 840 Evos for various installations (partially out of curiosity, partially out of a lower cost, and good reliability reports). The mx100 is technically slower on some specs, but is still plenty fast for everyday computing and I'm really happy with how well this iMac runs, despite being almost 4 years old. I'd imagine the Sandy Bridge-based MacBook Pros from 2011 are very similar.

Hmm thanks both of you! I was going to make this very difficult. Install a clean OS and yada yada yada. But maybe I'll just make this super easy on myself. Clone the hdd and install ssd, and then upgrade to Yosemite and not mess with trim. I'm not that knowledgeable with computers and don't want to do anything to offset my chances of bricking it.

I will just have to get used to backing up my data is all. That's the reason why people are concerned about trim right? It keeps the drive working longer. I'll just have to set a time machine backup once every month or something. Right now, I do it once or twice a year to be honest.

 

[RichardC300]

Hmm thanks both of you! I was going to make this very difficult. Install a clean OS and yada yada yada. But maybe I'll just make this super easy on myself. Clone the hdd and install ssd, and then upgrade to Yosemite and not mess with trim. I'm not that knowledgeable with computers and don't want to do anything to offset my chances of bricking it.

I will just have to get used to backing up my data is all. That's the reason why people are concerned about trim right? It keeps the drive working longer. I'll just have to set a time machine backup once every month or something. Right now, I do it once or twice a year to be honest.

I think the problem with not activating TRIM is the SSD slows down over time. But it shouldn't be a big concern, because you probably won't notice it slowing down for several months or maybe even years.

 

[Weaselboy]

I think the problem with not activating TRIM is the SSD slows down over time. But it shouldn't be a big concern, because you probably won't notice it slowing down for several months or maybe even years.

Exactly, and even then it is just write speeds that may slow. And if that happens you can temporarily enable TRIM, command-s boot to single user mode and run the command "fsck -fy" that will TRIM unused space on the drive, and you are good as new.

 

[applesith]

Ok, so I feel like an idiot. Over the past week I've been cleaning up my 750GB internal to make the move to the 500GB SSD. I got the SSD yesterday and went to SuperDuper it and it said my current drive had over 500GB of data on it.

I was looking at the "used space" in the Finder Get Info panel. Darn OS X over estimating the drive with trying to make the 750 actually look like 750. Anyways... I just ordered the 1TB and look forward to getting it setup tomorrow. Under $400 with tax from Amazon is still better than buying a new MBP and should give my 2011 a nice boost.

 

[RichardC300]

Installed my 850 EVO and enabled TRIM. I'm very happy with the SSD. Really enjoying the quicker boot, shut down, sleep/wake, and opening apps. Another bonus is that my MBP is basically silent now. Here's the results:

 

[fastasleep]

Which SSD for boot / secondary?

My optical just died, so I'm putting a second 1TB drive in my 2011 MBP by way of an OWC DataDoubler —*the Mushkin Reactor ($350 on newegg right now!).

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7864/crucial-m550-review-128gb-256gb-512gb-and-1tb-models-tested

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8949/mushkin-reactor-1tb-ssd-review

Can't tell which I should use as boot drive and which I should use as secondary though. Reactor has power saving features, and speeds vary (IOPS more important than sustained?). Secondary drive is where I'm moving my very large iTunes Library to, and would use for scratch/storage otherwise for video projects but mostly need to free up the main drive as it's pretty full.

And please don't tell me to use iTunes Match.

 

[Nailer6245]

Hey all,

Reading this thread has been incredibly helpful, thanks to all those chipping in! I've decided to upgrade my standard HD to an SSD, in my early-2011 15" MBPro (2GHz i7, 4GB DDR3). I've narrowed it down to these two choices:
- Crucial BX100 500GB - €185
- Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - €215

The price difference isn't too much, so I'd be happy to pay the extra €30 if the Samsung would be worth it. My general feeling from reading this thread is that it would be. My issue, that I'd be really grateful for any help with, is what OS should I install on my new SSD?

--- As has been documented, Trim won't run on Yosemite without disabling security features. After doing my homework, my preference is to not bypass these features, as I wouldn't be confident in my ability to get myself out of trouble should it arise.
--- I could instead just run Yosemite without trim, as some suggest, but I would ideally like to keep the SDD in good condition, and would be worried it would slow down over time.
--- This leaves me with using an earlier OS and running Trim. However, I'm currently running Lion, and have never downloaded Mavericks, so Mavericks isn't available to me in the App Store. Again, this has me stumped.

Possible solutions? My friends have downloaded Mavericks before, so they could get the installer from their App Store purchases history and I could use that. However, I'm wary about license/legal issues, of which I know very little - I always do anything above board re: my MBP and would like to continue. Can I use their installer to put Mavericks on the blank SSD? Is that copy of the OS 'watermarked' or linked somehow to their Apple ID? Do I even have a license to use Mavericks as a MBP-owner, or do I need to pay for it? I would be worried that if I installed Mavericks this way (if possible), I'd log in or register online or try to upgrade some time, and get some legal problems. I obviously want to keep my MacBook linked to my own Apple ID.

If it makes a difference, I intend to do a clean OS install on the new SSD, and then manually migrate my key files/programs over myself. Though it's time consuming, and Carbon Copy is tempting, I think the MacBook would benefit from a fresh, clean install, after four years of use and over 100GB of storage for 'other' currently on the HD.

Sorry for the tl;dr post, but trying to be as clear as possible! Any help would be greatly appreciated, and thanks again for all the advice I've managed to discern from trawling through this thread.

 

[applesith]

I just successfully installed the EVO 850 1TB in my early 2011 15" MBP and it's so amazingly fast! It really feels like a brand new computer!

 

[RestUnknown]

I guess my question will be more at place here.

I have a late 2007 Macbook Pro which has a sata 1 connection and I'm thinking about putting in a ssd. But since it's only sata 1, the bandwidth is severely limited, but will I still get a decent enough performance increase to justify the purchase?

Thanks

 

[Weaselboy]

I guess my question will be more at place here.

I have a late 2007 Macbook Pro which has a sata 1 connection and I'm thinking about putting in a ssd. But since it's only sata 1, the bandwidth is severely limited, but will I still get a decent enough performance increase to justify the purchase?

Thanks

Yes, it will still make a very noticeable difference. Although you won't see the advertised data transfer speeds, you will still benefit from the much faster seek speeds an SSD brings. I installed an SSD in my niece's 2008 MacBook a couple weeks ago and it made a big difference.

 

[RichardC300]

Hey all,

Reading this thread has been incredibly helpful, thanks to all those chipping in! I've decided to upgrade my standard HD to an SSD, in my early-2011 15" MBPro (2GHz i7, 4GB DDR3). I've narrowed it down to these two choices:
- Crucial BX100 500GB - €185
- Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - €215

The price difference isn't too much, so I'd be happy to pay the extra €30 if the Samsung would be worth it. My general feeling from reading this thread is that it would be. My issue, that I'd be really grateful for any help with, is what OS should I install on my new SSD?

--- As has been documented, Trim won't run on Yosemite without disabling security features. After doing my homework, my preference is to not bypass these features, as I wouldn't be confident in my ability to get myself out of trouble should it arise.
--- I could instead just run Yosemite without trim, as some suggest, but I would ideally like to keep the SDD in good condition, and would be worried it would slow down over time.
--- This leaves me with using an earlier OS and running Trim. However, I'm currently running Lion, and have never downloaded Mavericks, so Mavericks isn't available to me in the App Store. Again, this has me stumped.

Possible solutions? My friends have downloaded Mavericks before, so they could get the installer from their App Store purchases history and I could use that. However, I'm wary about license/legal issues, of which I know very little - I always do anything above board re: my MBP and would like to continue. Can I use their installer to put Mavericks on the blank SSD? Is that copy of the OS 'watermarked' or linked somehow to their Apple ID? Do I even have a license to use Mavericks as a MBP-owner, or do I need to pay for it? I would be worried that if I installed Mavericks this way (if possible), I'd log in or register online or try to upgrade some time, and get some legal problems. I obviously want to keep my MacBook linked to my own Apple ID.

If it makes a difference, I intend to do a clean OS install on the new SSD, and then manually migrate my key files/programs over myself. Though it's time consuming, and Carbon Copy is tempting, I think the MacBook would benefit from a fresh, clean install, after four years of use and over 100GB of storage for 'other' currently on the HD.

Sorry for the tl;dr post, but trying to be as clear as possible! Any help would be greatly appreciated, and thanks again for all the advice I've managed to discern from trawling through this thread.

If you are totally against disabling KEXT signing and really want to enable TRIM and don't mind giving up all the features of Yosemite, then there shouldn't be anything wrong with using Mavericks. You should install it fine if you make a bootable USB with your friends laptop. OS X isn't tied to the Apple ID that downloads it. And since you're still on Lion, you probably won't even miss the Yosemite features and will be happy with Mavericks.

Also, go for the 850 EVO. I have it, and it's awesome!

Move up to 8 GB of RAM while you're at it.

 

[Nailer6245]

If you are totally against disabling KEXT signing and really want to enable TRIM and don't mind giving up all the features of Yosemite, then there shouldn't be anything wrong with using Mavericks. You should install it fine if you make a bootable USB with your friends laptop. OS X isn't tied to the Apple ID that downloads it. And since you're still on Lion, you probably won't even miss the Yosemite features and will be happy with Mavericks.

Also, go for the 850 EVO. I have it, and it's awesome!

Move up to 8 GB of RAM while you're at it.

That's really helpful, thanks.

 

[RestUnknown]

Yes, it will still make a very noticeable difference. Although you won't see the advertised data transfer speeds, you will still benefit from the much faster seek speeds an SSD brings. I installed an SSD in my niece's 2008 MacBook a couple weeks ago and it made a big difference.

I read a lot about TRIM being disabled in Yosemite, what implications does this have? Is it something I have to worry about? Will I see a decrease in performance over time?

 

[Weaselboy]

I read a lot about TRIM being disabled in Yosemite, what implications does this have? Is it something I have to worry about? Will I see a decrease in performance over time?

Depending on how much data you write, you may notice some slow down in write speeds over a long period of time. Many users on here run without TRIM and report they don't ever see write slow downs at all. Even if you do, it is easily reversible. I would not be overly concerned about it.

 

[Eithanius]

Apart from Samsung EVO series and OWC Electra 3G, any other brands of SSD that are compatible with 2010 MBP 15" with only SATA II interface...?

 

[Weaselboy]

Apart from Samsung EVO series and OWC Electra 3G, any other brands of SSD that are compatible with 2010 MBP 15" with only SATA II interface...?

SATA is backwards compatible, so you can take any new SATA SSD and pop it in there and it will work. The Crucial MX200 is very competitively priced also if you want an alternative.

 

[Eithanius]

SATA is backwards compatible, so you can take any new SATA SSD and pop it in there and it will work. The Crucial MX200 is very competitively priced also if you want an alternative.

Thanks for the quick input...

 

[matreya]

Depending on how much data you write, you may notice some slow down in write speeds over a long period of time. Many users on here run without TRIM and report they don't ever see write slow downs at all. Even if you do, it is easily reversible. I would not be overly concerned about it.

I've noticed pronounced slowdowns (dropping to 140MB/sec write) of two Samsung 840 PRO SSDs (480GB each) after leaving TRIM disabled for a few weeks. No such slowdowns with Crucial or Intel SSDs I also have.

 

[Guzaking]

Trim Enabler...

I just installed a Samsung 850 EVO into a 17" MBP with a fresh Snow Leopard 10.6.6 install discs with the 10.6.8 Combined upgrade patch and trying to use Trim Enabler but it won't work? It says in the Trim's program window;

"The patch is active, but Trim is not working. Perhaps your SSD does not support Trim, or you need to reboot" ...which I did reboot. So what could be the trouble? I haven't done anything to this new drive yet, not even migrated data yet, just setting it up now. Any suggestions?

 

[Eithanius]

I just installed a Samsung 850 EVO into a 17" MBP with a fresh Snow Leopard 10.6.6 install discs with the 10.6.8 Combined upgrade patch and trying to use Trim Enabler but it won't work? It says in the Trim's program window;

"The patch is active, but Trim is not working. Perhaps your SSD does not support Trim, or you need to reboot" ...which I did reboot. So what could be the trouble? I haven't done anything to this new drive yet, not even migrated data yet, just setting it up now. Any suggestions?

Reboot and check again... It will show "The Patch Is Active"...

 

[Guzaking]

Reboot and check again... It will show "The Patch Is Active"...

doh!...a simple reboot was all, I thought I already did that lol

 

[i4k20c]

does anyone know why in Carbon Copy Clone 3.5.7 it is not giving me the option to create a recovery partition before it clones my hdd?

i'm on an early 2011 mbp running mavericks.

 

[Weaselboy]

does anyone know why in Carbon Copy Clone 3.5.7 it is not giving me the option to create a recovery partition before it clones my hdd?

i'm on an early 2011 mbp running mavericks.

I'm going from memory on this since I'm on CCC4 now, but I think it just does it for you automatically. Look in the Disk Center section of CCC (in one of the menus) and you should be able to see from there if it made you a recovery partition.

 

[phonewentwest]

So I upgraded my Mid 2010 Mac book Pro 13 with Yosemite to a ssd this past weekend
and its super snappy compared to how it was.

In reading a bazillion posts leading up to the purchase there was a lot of info to take in. The Mac Book gets pretty casual wear... sometimes i use it a lot and some time days go by where i don't pop the lid. I always leave it on and just close the lid.

So my question is about the hibernation thing. Can i just go about using it as i always have or do i need to disable hibernation? Is it permanent? I set the HD to never sleep, but other than that have not changed any settings. Is this even still thing nowadays? Lots of posts about this seem to be on the older side.

Thanks for any input!

 

[Weaselboy]

So my question is about the hibernation thing. Can i just go about using it as i always have or do i need to disable hibernation? Is it permanent? I set the HD to never sleep, but other than that have not changed any settings. Is this even still thing nowadays? Lots of posts about this seem to be on the older side.

IMO leave everything as it is at the defaults. Early on with SSDs there was a concern hibernation and other activities that save/write to the disk would wear out the NAND cells on the drive and reduce SSD lifespan. I think now everybody has come to accept that even under heavy usage, these SSDs are likely to outlast the computer and not to worry too much about excess writes to the drive.

Give this test a read.