Intel 320 SSD with MBP

[Tat3rooski]

Since my mid-2010 doesn't support TRIM (not really an option to use the 10.6 hack), if I were to purchase the intel 320 120gb version, could I simply "clear" the drive to it's original state every so often? I have broad knowledge of technology but it's not very deep, so I'm eager to learn! How will my seq. read and write speeds be if any of you have this combo? And I also found a link that may have answered my first question, but would it work? You tell me...

http://macperformanceguide.com/Storage-SSD-Reconditioning.html

 

[sequoia464]

Intel has a Toolbox that lets you manually clean the drives. Should work on whatever you are running.

I had an issue running it with my AMD board in AHCI - I had to occasionally boot in IDE, run the toolbox - then back to AHCI.

Everything is raided now so I'm just counting on GC to work. So far so good - been allmost a year now and the drives are still running fine.

EDIT: Sorry - just noticed the mac part - I don't know if the toolbox runs in a mac.

 

[Tat3rooski]

Thanks for the reply. I do have a desktop I can possibly use for the software, however it is a windows xp (sp3 I believe) system. I'll do some more research to see if I can run it. Anyways, will the clearing of the drive from the intel software return them to original performance? Thanks.

 

[Dark Shroud]

With the Intel software you can simply run a manual TRIM every so often. You don't have to wipe the drives. Since every write lowers the life span of NAND. The garbage collection should do a well enough job for the most part. If that Intel software runs on MAC OS you're set.

 

[Emulex]

i enabled trim on my 2007 macbook white. google for it not hard at all. works great even with sata-1

 

[Bauss]

Dude, your Mac does support TRIM. More importantly, so does that SSD. Here's how to enable it for Macs.

http://www.groths.org/?p=308

 

[Tat3rooski]

Dude, your Mac does support TRIM. More importantly, so does that SSD. Here's how to enable it for Macs.

http://www.groths.org/?p=308

I know about the enabler, but how many people have it and report it to keep the performance up? If it's a considerable number, then I'll go for it, if not, I'll just use the Intel software the manually TRIM the drive using my windows desktop.

 

[Bauss]

I know about the enabler, but how many people have it and report it to keep the performance up? If it's a considerable number, then I'll go for it, if not, I'll just use the Intel software the manually TRIM the drive using my windows desktop.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1125400

Seems like alot to me. I tried it about 3 weeks ago, and haven't seen any instability yet.

 

[Tat3rooski]

Okay, so with all this said, and if I decide to use the TRIM enabler, any advice on which SSD to use. Does the reliability and support of the Intel 320 make up for the moderate write speeds? What do you all suggest?

 

[Bauss]

Anything modern will do, but if you want more specific advice, I'd personally look to this when choosing:

1. Choose your capacity of choice
2. SATA2 or SATA3?
- If SATA2, The cheapest of these (Intel G2, Intel 320, Intel 510, C300, m4, V2, V3)
- If SATA3:
3. Is price a HUGE concern?
- If yes, get a C300.
- If not really:
4. Which is more important: top performance or proven reliability?
- If performance, get a Vertex 3
- If reliability, get an Intel 510


We'll see how that shakes out over time as drives undergo wear and tear, as well as price drops. But that's my take on it.

 

[Tat3rooski]

Anything modern will do, but if you want more specific advice, I'd personally look to this when choosing:

1. Choose your capacity of choice
2. SATA2 or SATA3?
- If SATA2, The cheapest of these (Intel G2, Intel 320, Intel 510, C300, m4, V2, V3)
- If SATA3:
3. Is price a HUGE concern?
- If yes, get a C300.
- If not really:
4. Which is more important: top performance or proven reliability?
- If performance, get a Vertex 3
- If reliability, get an Intel 510


We'll see how that shakes out over time as drives undergo wear and tear, as well as price drops. But that's my take on it.

Im with you on this one. I'm more for reliability so I'm looking at the intel 320 120gb. I can get it now for $209 on Newegg, but I don't want to jump in just yet. I'm also looking at the samsung 470 128. How about that one? I don't hear too much about it but it puts up some good numbers in terms of the drives I'm looking at.

 

[aigomorla]

i enabled trim on my 2007 macbook white. google for it not hard at all. works great even with sata-1

does it even support trim?
I know its a intel chipset... but its a very old chipset no?

Dude, your Mac does support TRIM. More importantly, so does that SSD. Here's how to enable it for Macs.

http://www.groths.org/?p=308

well i dont see why it wouldnt if its a intel platform, which im sure 100% of the macs are now.

 

[Emulex]

works great on the macbook air i put an ssd drive into as well. ion chipset

 

[Tat3rooski]

works great on the macbook air i put an ssd drive into as well. ion chipset

Perfect. Thanks guys for all the replies! So far my decision is to go with the 120Gb Intel 320. It's 239.99 with a $30 off Promo code on Newegg, should I go for it?

 

[sequoia464]

Im with you on this one. I'm more for reliability so I'm looking at the intel 320 120gb. I can get it now for $209 on Newegg, but I don't want to jump in just yet. I'm also looking at the samsung 470 128. How about that one? I don't hear too much about it but it puts up some good numbers in terms of the drives I'm looking at.

Here is a SSD roundup over at Tom's that includes the Samsung, wish Anand would release his review on the 470 - he has had it for a couple of weeks now if I remember his statement on it correctly. It does look to be a decent drive and the few user reviews that I have seen are positive.

It appears that the firmware update has some issues though, as far as being destructive to the current data on the drive. Flash to the latest before you install is what I have read. That might have been fixed by now though.

Tom's... http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-470-sandforce-best-ssd,2783.html

Storage Review.com ...http://www.storagereview.com/samsung_470_series_ssd_review_256gb_mz5pa256hmdr

 

[Mike64]

So far my decision is to go with the 120Gb Intel 320. It's 239.99 with a $30 off Promo code on Newegg, should I go for it?

I hope you don't mind my jumping into your thread, but I'm also looking at SSDs with good self-GC (I use Vista), and I've been doing a lot window shopping lately. Just to make your decision even easier , I'll mention that Newegg also has a big rebate deal on the 96GB Kingston V+100 drive, for about 30% less per gigabyte than the Intel. I know, I know, it's a smaller drive and Kingston isn't Intel, but $90 is $90 and the Kingston showed surprisingly (paradoxically?) well in the AnandTech real-world benchmarks, particularly the heavy multitasking suite (http://www.anandtech.com/show/4010/kingston-ssdnow-v-plus-100-review/7) despite pretty bad standardized benchmark results.

Re reliability, I know Kingston had a problem with the V100s, but it seems to have been an isolated incident and from what I've seen around the web, they handled it pretty well. Otherwise, I haven't seen unusual numbers of complaints about DOA/early death among Kinston SSDs. Personally, I'd be using it in a desktop in an area with few power issues, so I'm just not at all sure that Intel's much-vaunted reliability is worth the hefty premium. Anyone think I'm crazy for leaning toward the Kingston? I really don't have any articulable "need" for an SSD in the first place, so price is a major concern...