M4/$295 or 830/$379 (256 GB)

[danmcg]

Both from Newegg:

M4: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m1307X517919Xc4256cbf68f2f5bc563a84653981c852

830: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147164

These seem to be the cheapest prices I can find now, and I need to pull the trigger. I am going SSD to speed up compile times for Savant programming. It is lots of reads and writes to the drive so this is my bottleneck currently. Is the 830 worth the extra $85?

This is going to be for a Macbook Pro. Should I be aware of any issues when it comes to making this my primary drive? I am going to be running bootcamp and replacing the optical drive with the current Scorpio Black 750 GB as my data drive.

I've been doing tons of reading up on here over the last few days. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when buying an SSD! Knowledge is power though

-d

 

[Jocelyn84]

The 256GB m4 actually loses out to the 128GB version in 4k reads. I forget where I read it, but it has to do with the 256GB having something set to 8k, while the 128GB is set to 4k. Either way you won't notice a difference, but it deterred me from choosing it when I was selecting a 256GB SSD. That being said, the Samsung is $370.53 on Amazon and I'd at least look at the Plextor M3 (512MB DDR3 cache buffer), which is what I currently own.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820249015 I don't think you can go wrong with any of them tbh.

I have a Macbook Pro with a Crucial m4 128GB and a WD Scorpio Blue in the optibay. The only tweak I've really done, was putting the Home folder on the WD.

 

[Diogenes2]

You might give this a look:

Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR240GB-DX

Review of the 120gb model here:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/43...xe_120gb_solid_state_drive_review/index1.html

The 240 should be even better..

 

[Bassthe1st]

Good choice too and faster then a M4, but more expensive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233227

Very happy with mine.

But I think that for the money, the Crucial is hard to beat.

 

[SickBeast]

The 64gb M4s just went on sale for $80 at tigerdirect. People have been price matching them down to $70. If you raid a bunch of them together they would probably create a blazing fast boot drive.

 

[iamlilysdad]

The 64gb M4s just went on sale for $80 at tigerdirect. People have been price matching them down to $70. If you raid a bunch of them together they would probably create a blazing fast boot drive.

In a Macbook Pro? A bunch?

 

[MrX8503]

Even if Sandforce is faster, I wouldn't buy it. Stick with Marvell, Intel Sandforce, or Samsung's custom controller.

In your case I'd lean towards the M4, its cheaper and its just as capable.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Plextor M3S for $290 at Newegg? It's basically very similar to the Corsair Performance Pro....both use toggle NAND and the Marvell controller.

Really, the Plextor M3, Crucial, M4, Corsair Performance Pro and Samsung 830 are all good, and probably can't tell the differences between them in normal day to day use.

 

[danmcg]

Sunnovabitch! The Crucial just jumped to $340 now.

Changes things a bit. The Plextor at $289 (with rebate) is looking more appealing now. Does it come with a toolkit to keep things cooking?

 

[danmcg]

Trigger pulled.

Went with the Plextor M3. $309 out of pocket plus went through ebates. Rebates are sucha PITA so I count it as $309 and I might get a $20 check at some point, but don't count on them!

Thanks for the advice and great info on the board. I'll be sticking around to keep learning!

 

[Jocelyn84]

You won't be disappointed, here's mine

 

[gramboh]

Nice drive. My friend did the optical to HDD conversion in his SB MBP, it was stressful with the little ribbon connectors, but worked perfectly.

 

[danmcg]

Well, it showed up this am. The optibay that I orderded off of ebay did not. So here I sit. Staring at this wonderful looking thing dreaming of the speed...

I'l take the time to figure out what my best way to get OSX and bootcamp up and running with this and a 750 scorpio black as the second drive.

 

[Jocelyn84]

Assuming you're doing a fresh install and can live without the files on your scorpio black for a few days, you could be dual booting tonight. Enjoy your new ssd

Sent from my HTC EVO 3D using Tapatalk

 

[danmcg]

If only... It's a 75% work machine and 25% personal. Gotta have the scorpio up an running

On top of it all I'm going out of town this weekend for a wedding so it will be next week before I can even think about it!

 

[Dadofamunky]

Sneaky, how I bought my 128GB SSD for a little over $300 when I did the build, and now 256GB SSDs are roughly the same price point. Plus they're faster. Hooray!