SSD upgrade

[etsi]

Hello,

I have an old intel 80gb ssd which is becoming smaller and smaller every day.

If I upgrade to a newer faster ssd is it going to improve performance ? I work with programs that will benefit from both read/write speed. Intel 80gb ssd speed is about 250mb/sec read and 80mb/sec write.

 

[spike8585]

Yes, of course. But you might be limited to Sata 2 speeds depending on your hardware. Which Mac mini do you have?

It really depends on what you are doing though. It won't be as significant as going from a hdd to the 80gb intel you are using now.

 

[philipma1957]

It matters a lot if you have a 2009 or 2010 mac mini. they are sata II not sata III and when you drop in a sata III they can down clock to sata I.

translation you could end up slower with a new sata III ssd if you have a 2009 mini or a 2010 mini. if you have those minis the samsung sata II series 470/810 is a better ssd for you. here is a link to a good ebay seller.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-256...ate_Drives&hash=item1e6ffef4ea#ht_1102wt_1164

I have used this guy below for my 2010 mac mini ssd upgrades :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-MZ7..._Disk_Drives&hash=item2a1fa7caa9#ht_900wt_930

 

[LachlanH]

It matters a lot if you have a 2009 or 2010 mac mini. they are sata II not sata III and when you drop in a sata III they can down clock to sata I.

Is this accurate?
A Sata 3 drive connected to a Sata 2 port will only operate at Sata 1 speeds?
Is this something specific to the Mac Mini / OSX?

I'm not saying you're wrong, just asking as I have never heard of this before.

 

[etsi]

Mac mini 2011 i7

INTEL SSDSA2M080G2GC:

Product: 6 Series Chipset
Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit

One of the internal HD's that mac mini has already:

ST9500420ASG

Product: 6 Series Chipset
Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit

 

[philipma1957]

Is this accurate?
A Sata 3 drive connected to a Sata 2 port will only operate at Sata 1 speeds?
Is this something specific to the Mac Mini / OSX?

I'm not saying you're wrong, just asking as I have never heard of this before.

in 2009 and 2010 mac minis many sata III drives run at sata I

ocz and owc have had the problem mostly sandforce controllers. firmware fix is hit or miss.

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?99275-NEW!-Bootable-tools-for-OCZ-SSD-s



to op you are good to go with a sata III crucial m4 is a good choice. samsung series 830 is good.

 

[AlexBass]

If you want a huge performance boost and want it to be reliable, go for the Samsung 830.

Samsung 830 256Gb
Read: 520mb/s
Write: 400mb/s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiYGJTnuyAk
Two sammy 830's in RAID 0