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SSD differences?

M

MRiOS

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 2, 2010
184
0
Ok, so I'm in the market for a new SSD for my 1,1. I' well aware of the SATA II speed limitation so I figured I'd go with an Intel 320 series drive. I've found 3 drives that all look the same, but I would like to know if there are any differences between the drives I've picked out.

Here's a link to their comparison page.

They are all 120 GB Intel 320 series drives, Are there any differences between them?
 
MRiOS said:
They are all 120 GB Intel 320 series drives, Are there any differences between them?
Click to expand...

Hi, the 1st one is OEM, which means no desktop mounting bracket and no cables compared to the 2nd one. Usually OEM is cheaper because it's sold in large quantities. See photo below:

The last one includes an external kit and USB cable. They all have 5-year warranty by the way, because Intel announced that recently (even the the box might still say 3-year).

So if you have a Mac Pro, I believe it has hard drives on a sled correct? I remember reading that the sleds are designed for normal desktop sized drives. So I believe the included bracket (for the 2nd drive) won't help because the SATA and power ports will not be the right spot.
 

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I'm not worried about the installation of any of them, because it's going to replace a 2.5 HDD that I've already mounted into the lower Optical bay.

I figured they'd all be about same, but I wasn't sure because they all have slightly different model numbers.
 
MRiOS said:
I'm not worried about the installation of any of them, because it's going to replace a 2.5 HDD that I've already mounted into the lower Optical bay.

I figured they'd all be about same, but I wasn't sure because they all have slightly different model numbers.
Click to expand...

Ah ok, yea the should be the same exact model, just the stuff included is different (and OEM has nothing included).
 
simsaladimbamba said:
I don't know, but what about the OCZ Vertex 2 series, which has better write speeds?
Click to expand...

I considered OCZ, but everywhere I've looked mentions Intel's incredible reliability rate. I've had an X-25v 40GB SSD as a boot drive for a while now and I love the thing, except for the capacity. in fact, after this arrives I'll be swapping the X-25v into my MBP and replacing the optical drive for an optibay with the original spinning drive.

philipma1957 said:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Intel-SSDSA...e_Internal&hash=item5d2e5ff718#ht_2405wt_1250

A real seller at a better price
Click to expand...

Thanks, but $25 is not enough difference for my piece of mind, I've used Newegg many times before and being able to simply RMA the SSD if it arrives DOA is worth the extra $25 anyway.

I went with the last option (the one with the external kit included as well), thanks for the input everyone.
 
MRiOS said:
I considered OCZ, but everywhere I've looked mentions Intel's incredible reliability rate. I've had an X-25v 40GB SSD as a boot drive for a while now and I love the thing, except for the capacity. in fact, after this arrives I'll be swapping the X-25v into my MBP and replacing the optical drive for an optibay with the original spinning drive.



Thanks, but $25 is not enough difference for my piece of mind, I've used Newegg many times before and being able to simply RMA the SSD if it arrives DOA is worth the extra $25 anyway.

I went with the last option (the one with the external kit included as well), thanks for the input everyone.
Click to expand...

for the future as another source please look into buy.com the website or the ebay store the have on the ebay website. they have very good ratings.


My go to companies are:

newegg really good for returns
buy.com really good for returns
superbiiz okay for returns but great source for ram at the best prices.
and owc really good for returns


I stay away from mwave and tiger direct. really hard on returns.


amazon is in a class by itself if it is their item they are good with returns but it they were the middle man it can be a hassle.

I buy a lot of gear and build a lot of systems or mod and improve quite a bit of systems.
 
rhett7660 said:
This is so tempting. I have been on the fence about purchasing one. Let us know how it is!
Click to expand...
I try to post back once I have tested it. I plan to use it solely as a boot/applications drive and do a clean install of Lion once the GM is released. (hopefully that'll be around the 28th or the 4th)
philipma1957 said:
for the future as another source please look into buy.com the website or the ebay store the have on the ebay website. they have very good ratings.


My go to companies are:

newegg really good for returns
buy.com really good for returns
superbiiz okay for returns but great source for ram at the best prices.
and owc really good for returns


I stay away from mwave and tiger direct. really hard on returns.


amazon is in a class by itself if it is their item they are good with returns but it they were the middle man it can be a hassle.

I buy a lot of gear and build a lot of systems or mod and improve quite a bit of systems.
Click to expand...
In the past 3 years I've bought all of my upgrades or replacement parts from wither Newegg, OWC, or Apple direct. Usually if I can;t get it in one of those three spots for decent price, I become wary of it. (tried TigerDirect a few years ago, they are real pita not just for returns.
I'll look at buy.com though, thanks.
 
rhett7660 said:
This is so tempting. I have been on the fence about purchasing one. Let us know how it is!
Click to expand...

Well I just got it in and installed Snow Leopard on it, everything is working great. My system even boots in 23 seconds (from apple logo to full Earthdesk desktop)
I'm very pleased with the SSD and I hope that it continues this performance for a long while. Word of note, if you buy from newegg, it's probably worth the extra couple bucks to get it shipped via Fedex, UPS almost trashed the outer box on me, luckily Intel takes it's packing material for these SSDs seriously.
 
MRiOS said:
Well I just got it in and installed Snow Leopard on it, everything is working great. My system even boots in 23 seconds (from apple logo to full Earthdesk desktop)
I'm very pleased with the SSD and I hope that it continues this performance for a long while. Word of note, if you buy from newegg, it's probably worth the extra couple bucks to get it shipped via Fedex, UPS almost trashed the outer box on me, luckily Intel takes it's packing material for these SSDs seriously.
Click to expand...
UPS has a habit of trashing things compared to FedEx, and the packaging from newegg (sucks, as I've only gotten brown paper since 2008) doesn't help matters. So it ends up coming down to how well the manufacturer packaged items as to whether or not they'll survive (especially with OEM mechanical disks). :mad: :(
 
hammten said:
Phil, i thought i remembered you said you had a 300gb intel ssd, i have a question. I just purchased a 320 series for my mac pro and it comes with the retail stuff. Will this attach to the hdd sled and just plug in without modding needed?

Also, anyone with the answer feel free to chime in, thanks.
Click to expand...

no you need a sled send me a pm. I will show you what i did.
 
hammten said:
Phil, i thought i remembered you said you had a 300gb intel ssd, i have a question. I just purchased a 320 series for my mac pro and it comes with the retail stuff. Will this attach to the hdd sled and just plug in without modding needed?

Also, anyone with the answer feel free to chime in, thanks.
Click to expand...

Just tuck the SSD away in the lower DVD bay and don't worry about it. No sled necessary as long as your brand of SSD has a cover-all plastic case ;)
 
It is a retail intel 329 series. I want it in hdd spot 1, and dont want to put it in a cd drive slot, as i will be putting another drive in there soon.
 
hammten said:
It is a retail intel 329 series. I want it in hdd spot 1, and dont want to put it in a cd drive slot, as i will be putting another drive in there soon.
Click to expand...
There's a few ways you can easily do what you want, both DIY (i.e. Velcro or Zip Ties to the MP's HDD sled; cheaper and immediate gratification as those supplies should be easily found locally) or ready-made solutions, such as an Icy Dock (also easy, more expensive, and you'll have to wait for it).

Up to you. :D :p
 
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