Got a new SSD for my 2011 macbook pro!

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Paperlantern

Platinum Member
Apr 26, 2003
2,239
6
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What about speed? I see some "285 MB/s" 80-90 GB units in the same ballpark price range of later generation "500 MB/s" 60 GB units. I'm leaning towards the slower 90 GB units, since 60 GB is a little cramped.

I'm guessing the 90 GB will be fine, because what will really speed things up is the extremely low seek time.

My guess is though, that having a 285 vs the 500 would mean the difference between a 30 second and a 15 second boot time, as long as your computer has a robust enough architecture that it can achieve those speeds. If that is negligible to you, or if the computer you are putting the drive in cant really get up into the 500's anyway, then yeah id say go for the larger one.
 

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,134
25
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UPDATE!

Very disappointed in Apple on this!
If you search for Macbook Pro early 2011 Crucial M4 you will see this computer (particularly the 17" model like mine) just does not work with 6Gbps SATA drives, period! The ones that do actually work are lucky apparently.

It seems to be a signal issue between the motherboard controller and the drive itself.

Initially I tried cloning with disk dupe and it failed. CC copy worked however the computer was horribly slow booting (about 20 minutes to logon screen!) and freezing constantly.

Tried loading snow leopard off boot disk and it hangs and eventually ends with the dreaded install failed screen!

Put in an older gen2 sata (gskill falcon 128GB) and it installed and runs perfectly and fast!

So now I have a $400 paperweight (and a lousy one at that because it's so light hehe!)

Unless I want to put it in a Windows box...
 

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,134
25
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Wasn't there a firmware update for that issue?

Yes and the first thing I did was upgrade from 01 to 02 per the tech bulletin. That upgrade went fine (did that on a Dell PC) booting from a CD created from an ISO file per Crucial's instructions.

Believe me I wish the fix was that simple.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,053
1,687
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I guess I'm scratching Crucial M4 off then list then. Hmmm... Should I be scratching all recent SSDs off the list? Arrggh!

Have you called Crucial?
 

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
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Yes and the first thing I did was upgrade from 01 to 02 per the tech bulletin. That upgrade went fine (did that on a Dell PC) booting from a CD created from an ISO file per Crucial's instructions.

Believe me I wish the fix was that simple.

I was talking about from Apple for the MBP
 

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,134
25
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I was talking about from Apple for the MBP

I will call Crucial since they can take it back without restocking fees if indeed it's no good. Sure the drive may not work in this particular computer however they advertize 100% MBP compatibility.

Updates to EFI 2.1 were applied to the Mac as well (prior).

As for all SATA 6 Gpbs disks being out let's see what happens next...I installed an Intel 250GB SSD in there. I don't want to spend $100 more for this drive but if if works OK I guess I'll bend over. :eek:

Stay "tooned"...
 

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
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I will call Crucial since they can take it back without restocking fees if indeed it's no good. Sure the drive may not work in this particular computer however they advertize 100% MBP compatibility.

Updates to EFI 2.1 were applied to the Mac as well (prior).

As for all SATA 6 Gpbs disks being out let's see what happens next...I installed an Intel 250GB SSD in there. I don't want to spend $100 more for this drive but if if works OK I guess I'll bend over. :eek:

Stay "tooned"...

at least they have good customer support. Sucks that it isn't working :\
 

dclive

Elite Member
Oct 23, 2003
5,626
2
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My guess is though, that having a 285 vs the 500 would mean the difference between a 30 second and a 15 second boot time,

I'd bet it would be more like a 30 second and a 25 second boot time, if even that much difference.
 

dclive

Elite Member
Oct 23, 2003
5,626
2
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at least they have good customer support. Sucks that it isn't working :\

It doesn't _work_, or it doesn't work in SATA3 mode, and works perfectly in SATA2 mode? I'd expect SATA2 mode would work just fine; can you clarify?
 

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,134
25
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It doesn't _work_, or it doesn't work in SATA3 mode, and works perfectly in SATA2 mode? I'd expect SATA2 mode would work just fine; can you clarify?

Since a SATA-2 SDD works perfect I'd say the same would be true with a SATA-3 HDD running in SATA-2 mode. Not sure how to make that happen. (Macs have no BIOS)

Boot time is important since this is a portable but I'd be willing to believe that switching from SATA-3 to SATA-2 *may* add a *few* seconds to boot time total at most. Remember booting relies more on random i/o than raw sequential transfer speeds. I could be wrong, though.

And for the update...well I was able to get OSX loaded on the Intel SSD. Downloaded disk bench and ran it. Meh, getting 185ish writes, 200ish reads. FAR below what this drive should be getting. To top it all, after the second boot the system just got the dreaded beachball and became non responsive. Falcon SSD back in, all is well. That SSD even though it's dated and "slow" by today's SSD standards, it rips the 5400 rpm 750GB Toshiba HDD that was in the macbook...simply to shreds. Its like a pocket crotch rocket racing a hyabusa. I'm not kidding guys.

So the MBP is capable of decent desktop performance. I'm going to get the MBP replaced with a newer one. The replacement has Lion already installed. Yippee!
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,053
1,687
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I used Trim enabler to enable Trim for my Agility 3.
http://www.groths.org/?p=308

Few people tested it out and said it works fine.
Anyone using the TRIM enabler for the SSDNow V100 (not V+100) for Lion?

The V+100 has aggressive garbage collection so TRIM isn't necessary, but the V100 is significantly cheaper.

Also, I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't completely rule out the Crucial M4 just yet. Several other people have tried it in other machine and it apparently works well for them. The M4 also does aggressive garbage collection from what I understand.
 

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,134
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Well guys here's an update.
My MBP was the culprit. Got it switched out with a brand new (already had Lion on it) MBP. Updated it first, then installed M4. Carbon copy flew this time taking about 14 minutes to clone!

System came up, benchmarks are showing 245+ writes, 475+ reads. I think we are good. NCQ+Trim are enabled. No problems. Photoshop CS 5.5 opens in about three seconds which is awesome for a laptop. Heck that's quick for ANY computer.

I did not think there were any issues with the M4 after reading all this stuff going on.

It appears hit or miss with the MBP 17". I would try to get a new(er) one though. Although I've read it does not matter. <shrugs>

I did notice there are no OS/application discs included like they were with the original MBP. The original had Snow Leopard, though.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,053
1,687
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What was wrong with the MBP? Dammit. I missed the sale on the Crucial M4. However, there is a sale on the Kingston V100 64 GB. $82.

The Sandforce chipset units (eg. lots of OCZ models) scare me.

Yeah, it's been updated to work on Lion.
It has? So, does it use the version 2 kext?

Here are the hex methods:

http://digitaldj.net/2011/07/21/trim-enabler-for-lion/

Is it a problem not to have the erase free space option in Disk Utility? The Trim Enabler thread elsewhere, started by the original guy, says you're supposed to erase free space after activating TRIM.
 

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
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What was wrong with the MBP? Dammit. I missed the sale on the Crucial M4. However, there is a sale on the Kingston V100 64 GB. $82.

The Sandforce chipset units (eg. lots of OCZ models) scare me.


It has? So, does it use the version 2 kext?

Here are the hex methods:

http://digitaldj.net/2011/07/21/trim-enabler-for-lion/

Is it a problem not to have the erase free space option in Disk Utility? The Trim Enabler thread elsewhere, started by the original guy, says you're supposed to erase free space after activating TRIM.

Do you have a link do that ssd? I'll bite ;)
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,053
1,687
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Sorry, The Kingston SSDnow V100 for $82 is at a Canadian store, so not much use to you. Also, to be clear, it's the V100, not the V+100 that Anand reviewed.
 

Carousel

Member
Jul 21, 2011
25
0
0
I just installed the Kingston SSDNow V+100 (96GB) into my 2011 MBP 13" and it works flawlessly. Zero beachballs. Improved battery life. Less heat.

Application launch times are nearly identical to the Vertex 3.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,053
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^^ Did you turn on TRIM, or are you just using its built in garbage collection?

I've ordered the SSDNow V100 (64 GB). I really want a 120+ GB drive but I don't really want to spend $200 on one at this point. $82 is a good start to get my feet wet in SSDs.

I'll have to activate TRIM on it, but that's fine. I'm just glad that these unibody MacBook Pros from 2009 are supposedly very easy to upgrade. I'll upgrade it to 4 GB RAM as well.
 

Emulex

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2001
9,759
1
71
the V+100 is sloooow. cheap but slow. finally got my amazon rebate today . phew!
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,053
1,687
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I just installed the Kingston SSDNow V100 which is even slower than the V+100. Nonetheless it feels way faster than the stock hard drive, so I'm quite pleased. No need for a Core i5 now.

I'll wait until the new 11" Air gets better battery life, as well as 4 GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD stock before I buy. By that time, maybe Thunderbolt to Firewire adapters may be cheap. In the meantime I get to use my Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro with Firewire 800.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
51,054
6,931
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Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,053
1,687
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The reasons I went with the 3 Gbps SATA 2 model for my mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro:

1) Cost
2) My MBP is 3 Gbps SATA 2, so getting a SATA 2 model may reduce incompatibility issues.
3) My MBP is 3 Gbps SATA 2, so it won't benefit as much from faster speeds.