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SSD Drive Comparison

Ok so after deciding that I was going for it and going to try it out. I can confirm that it WORKS! Installed the SSD with the supplied cable and the Mac registered it no problem at all. Have not started the fusion set up yet as it's 2:30am right now that I finished doing it as it is extremely cramped in there! Haha. Panicked at 1st as when I booted it did not recognise the original HD then looked and saw when I placed the Wifi grid back on it pushed the HD down and forced the sata cable out of its port. Sorted in 2 mins.

Will have a go at Fusion tomorrow night as work at 9am is looking daunting right about now!!!!
 
Donka said:
Sweet. So did the ifixit cable work for the upper bay?
Click to expand...

Yeah slotted in no problem. The SATA connector went into the spare SATA port on the logic board. The original HD stayed in the same port. No idea what the ifixit Europe people are on about but the standard kit they sell is what u need. :)

Created the Fusion Drive this morning in seconds. Left Mavericks reinstalling fresh as I left the house. When I go home tonight hopfilly it will be ready to get all my stuff back onto it.
 
Nice one - keep us posted. How did dismantling the Mini go? That is the main thing holding me back from going with two internal drives.
 
Donka said:
Nice one - keep us posted. How did dismantling the Mini go? That is the main thing holding me back from going with two internal drives.
Click to expand...

It's not as easy as the videos make it look! Haha.

I have over the years build PC's from scratch and I will be honest and say this was harder than I was expecting. Very do able give urself a good hour to get it done. I found putting the original HD back in place was / is feeling quite cramped. Will also need to look into it more but I think I may have possibly broke the IR sensor connection when using the tool to lift it up it looks like I might have lifted the whole section off instead off just the connector. Hopfully I can fix it easy if I have (no idea if it's possible yet) but regardless I never use the IR function anyway.
 
Yeh, I believe the fan and IR cables are the two most susceptible. I already have an external USB 3.0 drive off the back so may just swap the drives over and add the internal drive to an enclosure as a second external drive instead of going for two inside.
 
Wow. Fully back up and running with everything installed and all my media back on the system. All happened in record time. Got to say I was dubious if I would really notice the speed difference it is a definite amazing improvement. Files are copying over and its done before I know whats happened!! haha. I would recommend anyone to get this done - Fusion Drive = the future! haha.
 
satcomer said:
If you haven't been keeping up the news of certain SSDs failing hard. So I was talking about the fanboy belief that all SSDs don't fail.
Click to expand...

Any electronic device can fail - the biggest issue with SSD drives is that when they fail, it is a lot harder to retrieve any data. When mechanical drives fail, it is still a pain but in theory easier to retrieve data. Always keep a good back up and you are doing the best to mitigate any risks.
 
satcomer said:
If you haven't been keeping up the news of certain SSDs failing hard. So I was talking about the fanboy belief that all SSDs don't fail.
Click to expand...

Yes I read several reviews that seemed to be too often and consistent about reports of SSD failures even from top tier name brand vendors. Plus the SSD have a hefty price tag. I thought about SSD...but these widespread reports of failures (not unique to Apple-built computers) made me pass on SSD's.

Ended up just getting Western Digital Black HD. Western Digital also offers a unique hybrid drive with both SSD and standard at 1 TB but it is over 3x the price of what I paid for my standard 750 GB for only $80.
 
I thought about this the other day. I have had three laptops with SSDs. They have all been flawless in use. I have also had countless phones and a number of iPads. All use flash storage and never had a single failure. You hear horror stories about a lot of things but the vast majority of them will operate flawlessly otherwise they wouldn't be commercially viable.
 
I finally did this upgrade today. I added 16gb ram to my i7 mini earlier in the week and picked up a Crucial m500 480GB yesterday. I had planned to move the stock 1tb drive to the upper bay and fasten with some double sided foam tape to secure it without the need to strip down the mini. This plan failed when I couldn't get the stock drive with sata cable connected to slide right down into the correct position. I had the tools so just decided to go for it and strip it down and do the dual drive thing properly. It honestly was easier than I expected. The nylon pry tool is a great thing to have handy and a little patience is all it took. Biggest concern was getting the logic board to slide out. I thought it would do just that but had to use a but of force to get it to release - there are internal clips at the rear which take a bit of effort to get disengaged. Once past that, it was plain sailing. M500 was simple to set up too. I initialised that and cloned my existing drive last night using disk utility. Worked perfectly. Black magic test without any changes showing write speed of 400mb, read speed of 480mb. I bought the data doubler kit off eBay uk. Sata cable seems very flimsy but to my surprise, not much different from the Apple cable. Working flawlessly though.
It's great to have a fast boot and apps like iPhoto, iMovie & Aperture opening up with a single bounce. The m500 isn't the fastest drive available but it comes with a great track record and is fantastic value for money.
 
Reply to Jerezano:

Go to System Preferences.
Pick the "startup disk" pane.
Click on whatever you wish to be your "regular" startup disk.
Then you don't have to use the "option" key.

You can install an SSD if you wish.
Be aware that opening the Mini, removing the logic board, installing the drive, etc. can be "risky business". That is to say, too many posts from users in this forum who opened it up and then broke something trying to install the drive.

Be aware that you don't have to install the SSD internally to enjoy the speed benefits it gives you.
You can buy an external USB3 enclosure or USB3/SATA dock and run your SSD (and boot from it) as an "external booter", and it will run just fine.

The "best SSD" for the Mini?
Hard to say.
Samsungs look to be good.
Intel drives are quite good.
I'm using a Crucial m500 SSD in my external dock and it gives me read speeds of about 447mbps. Pretty fast!
 
Fishrrman said:
Reply to Jerezano:

Go to System Preferences.
Pick the "startup disk" pane.
Click on whatever you wish to be your "regular" startup disk.
Then you don't have to use the "option" key.

You can install an SSD if you wish.
Be aware that opening the Mini, removing the logic board, installing the drive, etc. can be "risky business". That is to say, too many posts from users in this forum who opened it up and then broke something trying to install the drive.

Be aware that you don't have to install the SSD internally to enjoy the speed benefits it gives you.
You can buy an external USB3 enclosure or USB3/SATA dock and run your SSD (and boot from it) as an "external booter", and it will run just fine.

The "best SSD" for the Mini?
Hard to say.
Samsungs look to be good.
Intel drives are quite good.
I'm using a Crucial m500 SSD in my external dock and it gives me read speeds of about 447mbps. Pretty fast!
Click to expand...

Which dock are you using? I was thinking of getting a current mini and not internally upgrading it so I could quickly sell it if a new better one arrives. I was looking at this one but don't like the idea of a power switch to turn the drive on and off. http://www.amazon.com/product/dp/B00FCLG65U/
Does the one you use turn on and off with the mini?
 
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[[ Does the one you use turn on and off with the mini? ]]

My dock has a power switch, always turned "on".

I have my Mini and all associated peripherals plugged into a multi-outlet surge suppressor.

First thing I do in the morning is… reach down and turn on the power.

With that, power is applied to the dock, monitor, Mini, ethernet switch, ect.

Then I press the Mini's power on button, and everything's running.

That's my way of doing it.
You can do whatever you wish.
 
Fishrrman said:
[[ Does the one you use turn on and off with the mini? ]]

My dock has a power switch, always turned "on".

I have my Mini and all associated peripherals plugged into a multi-outlet surge suppressor.

First thing I do in the morning is… reach down and turn on the power.

With that, power is applied to the dock, monitor, Mini, ethernet switch, ect.

Then I press the Mini's power on button, and everything's running.

That's my way of doing it.
You can do whatever you wish.
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to the dock? I know all are not created equal with ssd's and write speeds.
 
[[ Do you have a link to the dock? I know all are not created equal with ssd's and write speeds. ]]

I use this one for my external boot SSD:
http://plugable.com/products/usb3-sata-uasp1
Many folks might object to this form factor ("lay-flat"), but I put it on an out-of-the-way spot on my desk.

This one will take up less space and offer the same performance:
http://plugable.com/products/usb3-sata-u3
I keep one of these around as well, for my other drives.

(disclaimer -- no financial interest with plugable.com, just a paying customer)

When shopping for a USB3/SATA dock or external enclosure, you want to investigate as to whether it specifically supports something called UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol). This relieves the computer's CPU of "managing" the USB bus, as in earlier implementations of USB.
 
It appears that Samsung 840 EVO and Crucial M500 are favored drives for mini upgrade.
What are the other closer alternatives? How is the PNY XLR8 (non-pro). It uses sandforce 2281 with the knwon issue of AES-256 encryption. But if you do not intend to encrypt the disk, will it's performance be closer to Samsung or Crucial.

Any other better drive mainly with price/performance ratio..??
 
I am using a Samsung 840 EVO SSD and couldn't be happier.

I replaced the OEM 5,400rpm drive with 7,200rpm Hitachi.

Not running in fusion.
 
808? said:
I am using a Samsung 840 EVO SSD and couldn't be happier.

I replaced the OEM 5,400rpm drive with 7,200rpm Hitachi.

Not running in fusion.
Click to expand...

Thanks. As I said samsung is of course the best but a bit expensive.
I am trying to find alternative (a dark horse may be..)
 
rndman said:
It appears that Samsung 840 EVO and Crucial M500 are favored drives for mini upgrade.
What are the other closer alternatives? How is the PNY XLR8 (non-pro). It uses sandforce 2281 with the knwon issue of AES-256 encryption. But if you do not intend to encrypt the disk, will it's performance be closer to Samsung or Crucial.

Any other better drive mainly with price/performance ratio..??
Click to expand...

Sand force based SSDs are far from performance leaders anymore. Their 37XX controller is due out anytime, but to be honest with the Samsung EVOs we are pretty much maxing out SATA III so I'd go that route. No reason to step up to the Pro as a consumer you will probably never feel/need the difference. The M500 is a good choice if performance isn't your top concern.
 
[[ The M500 is a good choice if performance isn't your top concern. ]]

I'm currently using a 240gb m500, mounted in a plugable.com "lay-flat" USB3/SATA dock, as my "external booter" (late-2012 i7 Mini).

It's giving me read speeds of 276mbps and write speeds of 432mbps.

Maybe not the ultimate, but not bad at all.
 
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