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Which SSD/RAM to buy?

grandM

grandM

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 14, 2013
1,565
329
Hi, my local webshop is giving a 10 % discount on all products so I probably buy my mac mini. I intend to buy this mini: 2.3GHz Mac mini
Specifications

2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
4GB memory
1TB hard drive1
Intel HD Graphics 4000
OS X Mavericks

The question's about the ssd. I intend to use the mini for word processing, office, watching movies, streaming movie to my ipad, internet, listening music and programming for ipad (xcode, does need power when code grows, certainly for compiling). I simply don't know which ssd to install (if needed). I've copied prices and product. I'd appreciate your advice and why:

130euro: PNY XLR8 - Solid state drive - 240 GB - intern - 2.5" - SSD9SC240GMDA-RB
137euro: SANDISK SSD - SDSSDP-256G-G25 - 256 GB - intern
140euro: KINGSTON SSDNow V300 - Solid state drive - 240 GB - intern - 2.5" - SATA-600 - SV300S37A/240G
148euro: CRUCIAL Interne SSD 2.5" M500 - 240 GB
148euro: SANDISK Ultra Plus - Solid state drive - 256 GB - intern (SDSSDHP-256G-G25)
156euro: INTEL Interne SSD 335 Series - 240 GB
158euro: Corsair Force Series LS - Solid state drive - 240 GB - intern - 2.5" - SATA-600
158euro: KINGSTON SSDNow KC300 - Solid state drive - 240 GB - intern - 2.5" - SATA-600 (SKC300S37A/240G)
159euro: CRUCIAL M500 - Solid state drive - 240 GB - intern - mSATA
186euro: SANDISK Ultra Plus - Solid state drive - 256 GB - intern (SDSSDHP-256G-G26)
164euro: INTEL Solid-State Drive 530 Series - 240 GB - intern SSD harde schijf - 2.5"
164euro: KINGSTON SSDNow V+200 interne Solid State Drive - 240 GB (SVP200S37A/240G)
174euro: SANDISK Extreme II G25 interne SSD - 240 GB
176euro: KINGSTON HyperX 3K draagbare interne SSD - 240 GB, zwart
186euro: OCZ Vertex Plus R2 Series interne SSD - 240 GB
190euro: Seagate 600 SSD ST240HM000 - Solid state drive - 240 GB - intern - 2.5" SFF - SATA-600
195euro: SANDISK Extreme II G26 interne SSD - 240 GB
198euro: TOSHIBA Q Series - Solid state drive - 256 GB - intern - 2.5"
203euro: SAMSUNG Interne SSD 840 Series Basic 2.5" - 250 GB (MZ-7TD250BW)
204euro: SAMSUNG Interne SSD 840 Series Basic 2.5" - 250 GB (MZ-7TD250BW)
210euro: SAMSUNG Interne SSD 840 Pro Series Basic 2.5" - 256 GB (MZ-7PD256BW)
210euro: Corsair Neutron Series GTX - Solid state drive - 240 GB - intern - 2.5" - SATA-600 -buffer: 128 MB
211euro: OCZ Vertex 3 interne SSD MAX IOPS Edition - 240 GB
237euro: OCZ Vertex 3 Series .20 - Solid state drive - 240 GB - intern - 2.5" - SATA-600
239euro: SANDISK Extreme interne SSD - 240 GB
244euro: OCZ Vertex 450 - Solid state drive - 256 GB - intern
250euro: TRANSCEND Externe SSD TS256GESD200K - 256 GB
273euro: INTEL Cherryville 520 Series interne SSD - 240 GB
290euro: INTEL 525 Series Interne SSD - 240 GB - mSATA - OEM
310 euro: SANDISK Extreme II G25 interne SSD - 480 GB
320euro: SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE500 - Solid state drive - 500 GB - intern - 2.5"
395euro: Corsair Neutron Series GTX - Solid state drive - 480 GB - intern - 2.5" - SATA-600 -buffer: 256 MB
399euro: SANDISK Extreme II G26 interne SSD - 480 GB
425euro: Samsung 840 EVO MZ-7TE750 - Solid state drive - 750 GB - intern - 2.5" - SATA-600
430euro: OCZ Interne SSD RevoDrive - 240 GB
442euro: Seagate 600 SSD ST480HM000 - Solid state drive - 480 GB - intern - 2.5" SFF - SATA-600
472euro: Toshiba Q Series SSD PC Upgrade Kit - Solid state drive - 512 GB - intern - 2.5" - SATA-600
539euro: SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE1T0 - Solid state drive - 1 TB - intern - 2.5"

As ram is concerned, I intend to plug in 16 GB. I'm not sure of following are compatible/advised?
126euro: PATRIOT Pc-geheugen Master Viper 3 Series 2 x 8 GB DDR3-1866 PC3-15000 CL10 (PVI316G186C0K)
134euro: PATRIOT Pc-geheugen Viper 3 Series 2 x 8 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL10 (PV316G160C0K)
139euro: KINGSTON Pc-geheugen HyperX blu 2 x 8 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL10 (KHX1600C10D3B1K2/16G)
140euro:KINGSTON HyperX blu Black Series PC-geheugen - 2 x 8 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 (KHX16C10B1BK2/16X)
142euro: PATRIOT Pc-geheugen Viper 3 Series 2 x 8 GB DDR3-1866 PC3-15000 CL10 (PV316G186C0K)
150euro: PATRIOT Pc-geheugen Viper 3 Series 2 x 8 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL9 (PV316G160C9K)
158euro: G-SKILL PC-geheugen ARES 2 x 8 GB DDR3-1600 - PC3-12800 - CL9 (F3-1600C9D-16GAR)
163euro: Corsair Dominator - PC-geheugen - 16 GB : 2 x 8 GB - DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 (CMP16GX3M2A1600C10)
172euro: Corsair Vengeance Pro Series - Geheugen - 16 GB : 2 x 8 GB - DIMM 240-pins - DDR3 - 1600 MHz / PC3-12800 - CL9 - 1.5 V - niet-gebufferd - niet-ECC

I've only put the prices to make a price/quality comparison possible. I don't intend to advertise or something. Haven't mentioned the shop either. And lol amazon 'd be cheaper anyways.

I'd appreciate your advice! :)
 
Last edited:
With the RAM you are on the wrong track. You need SO DIMM's, not regular ones.
http://tweakers.net/categorie/545/g...Gy_slvPlzo5EWTWBw_4n-sdLdlDl3fIUCf4N20uHeWvsA

This one looks cheap and crucial is usually great:
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/352956/crucial-bls2c8g3n169es4ceu.html

SSD's is changing so fast, I can't keep up with it. I think the new Kingston SSD nows are great price/performance. Don't get a Samsung 840, it is outdated and flawed tech, and even the approach with the 840 EVO is not my preference (fast 3-6GB cache with slower large storage), but for you it might work.

----------
grandM said:
And lol amazon 'd be cheaper anyways.
Click to expand...

Easy with slaves.

Get the cable on Ebay directly from China, or at the iFixit EU store. Buying from the US is usually meaning you pay a steep customs fee, even though the added VAT itself on 35$ is relative low.
 
ram

blanka said:
With the RAM you are on the wrong track. You need SO DIMM's, not regular ones.
http://tweakers.net/categorie/545/g...Gy_slvPlzo5EWTWBw_4n-sdLdlDl3fIUCf4N20uHeWvsA

This one looks cheap and crucial is usually great:
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/352956/crucial-bls2c8g3n169es4ceu.html

SSD's is changing so fast, I can't keep up with it. I think the new Kingston SSD nows are great price/performance. Don't get a Samsung 840, it is outdated and flawed tech, and even the approach with the 840 EVO is not my preference (fast 3-6GB cache with slower large storage), but for you it might work.

----------



Easy with slaves.

Get the cable on Ebay directly from China, or at the iFixit EU store. Buying from the US is usually meaning you pay a steep customs fee, even though the added VAT itself on 35$ is relative low.
Click to expand...

As ram is concerned: would this work: Corsair Vengeance CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10 or must it really contain the word mac in it as in Corsair Mac Memory CMSA16GX3M2A1600C11? Is there a difference?

Well, was considering importing from amazon.de too. No customs then I think as I live in Belgium.

Did see the samsung pro getting great revues. But that pny comes at a great price. Which kingston ssd listed were you talking about?
 
grandM said:
As ram is concerned: would this work: Corsair Vengeance CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10 or must it really contain the word mac in it as in Corsair Mac Memory CMSA16GX3M2A1600C11? Is there a difference?
Click to expand...

It doesn't have to contain Mac in the description. I have Corsair's CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10 installed in my Mini, and it works great.

The difference has to do with CAS timings. The Mini's stock memory and memory label Mac for it is CAS 11. The CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10 is CAS 10. Basically, lower timings equals lower latency, and that means data can flow in and out faster.
 
interesting

corvus32 said:
It doesn't have to contain Mac in the description. I have Corsair's CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10 installed in my Mini, and it works great.

The difference has to do with CAS timings. The Mini's stock memory and memory label Mac for it is CAS 11. The CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10 is CAS 10. Basically, lower timings equals lower latency, and that means data can flow in and out faster.
Click to expand...

Doesn't this give this probs concerning compatibility?
That evo samsung is priced nicely though.
 
SSD speeds from one to the other are a lot closer than you probably realize, you'll see something like an 85% speed jump (I forget the exact number but it's something huge like that) going from a traditional hard drive to an SSD, then it's only a few percentage points more from the slowest to the fastest SSD. The average user won't notice much of a difference there.

Stick with a reputable brand and you'll be fine, check places like Anandtech and Tom's Hardware for reviews and as long as there weren't any major issues with the drive you'll be good to go.
 
I have a 2011 Mac Mini 2.5Ghz i5 with the older Samsung 830 Series SSD & 16GB of Kingston G.Skill Ram....Blazing Fast
 
I bought Corsair 2 x 4GB for my 2009 Mini, labelled as Mac Ram and has been working fine, it was purchased online from "Rue Commerce". FYI under mavericks and doing similar functions I typically only use 4.5 to max 5.5gb of Ram. You might try running it at 4gb and see how it performs. In my opinion 16 is massive overkill for your usage.

I put 750gb WD Black HDD in, it runs at 7200 and the machine is very snappy. A 500gb SSD was out of my budget and 256 too small.
 
grandM said:
Hi, my local webshop is giving a 10 % discount on all products so I probably buy my mac mini. I intend to buy this mini: 2.3GHz Mac mini
Specifications

2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
4GB memory
1TB hard drive1
Intel HD Graphics 4000
OS X Mavericks

The question's about the ssd. I intend to use the mini for word processing, office, watching movies, streaming movie to my ipad, internet, listening music and programming for ipad (xcode, does need power when code grows, certainly for compiling). I simply don't know which ssd to install (if needed). I've copied prices and product. I'd appreciate your advice and why:
Click to expand...
I recommend Samsung SSDs. They are very reliable. Other manufacturers have firmware related problems or use unreliable semiconductors. The current Samsung 840 Evo is a good choice.

Regarding RAM:
I use Crucial RAM, because they manufacture the RAM (Micron Technology Inc.) and sell the RAM worldwide. They have also less problems with overheating RAM chips. They have an advisor tool:
http://www.crucial.com/store/advisor.aspx

which you can use to find the necessary part#. You can use this part number to find the cheapest offer in your country.
 
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