MK5 Golf GTI
General => Random Chat => Topic started by: Ifti on June 14, 2010, 06:58:35 pm
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Hi all
I upgraded my stock HDD to the 240GB Vertex 2 SSD, which uses the SandForce controller.
Ive yet to update the SSD to the latest firmware - as it can only be done through Windows!!
Nevertheless, pretty happy with how much quicker the applications start up.....
Speed test times (in seconds):
Boot Up - HDD - 28.5
Boot Up - SSD - 21.7
Opening PhotoShop CS4 - HDD - 11.1
Opening PhotoShop CS4 - SSD - 3.4
Opening Word 2008 - HDD - 9.1
Opening Word 2008 - SSD - 2.4
Heres a video I made showing the unboxing, install process, and basic testing.....
YouTube - MacBook Pro 240GB Vertex 2 SSD Unbox, Upgrade & Testing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPSGyDpMKpY)
Not sure if updating the firmware would increase the performance much more, but Im hoping Apple bring an update along with better support for SSDs.
UPDATE!!!
After a couple of reboots, my SSD performance has INCREASED!!
Ive shaved another almost 5 secs off of my boot time. Im not sure how this has happened? Maybe the drive needed to settle in??
My new boot time is now 16.9 secs!!!
Ive created a new update video here.....
YouTube - MacBook Pro 240GB Vertex 2 SSD - Part 2 - Performance Increase! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brjqztMvde0)
Very happy with the performance now. I also read someone else had a sudden speed increase after a little usage. Not sure why this happens, but Im happy!!
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HOLY MOLY thats over £500s worth of hard drive right?
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I have another of these SSD drives on the way. Should be delivered to me later on this week.
This is the one......
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-049-OC
I initially purchased 2 since I was going to stick the second in an optibay, and have a RAID setup on my MacBook Pro - but Im happy with the performance of the one now, and have decided to keep my DVD drive instead!
If anyone is interested in buying the second drive off of me, feel free to give me a shout. I'll get some pics up when it arrives, but it will be brand new and still sealed etc.
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HOLY MOLY thats over £500s worth of hard drive right?
Yeh - see the OverClockers link above for price. About £590 I think.
Yes yes I know - Im crazy huh! lol
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well, not crazy! i spend money on waxes which can be considered in the same way. its just out different interests.
thanks for presenting the differences with SSD's so well! ;)
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It certainly feels rapid!
Upon boot, when the Apple logo shows up, the cog thing which turns to indicate its loading - well it turns twice and thats it - fully loaded!!
with the HDD it turned 7-8 times I think!
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i prefer to leave my macbook on all the time! in the three or four years i think ive had it ive never shut it down! only done resarts for sortware updates and had to reboot after holidays. shut downs are for wimps :happy2:
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Just don't start defragging that ssd... :smiley:
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Well done - I don't think I could cope with the space issue.....
I used SHED loads for audio recording.....
Dan
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Just don't start defragging that ssd... :smiley:
lol, dont worry i wont!!
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Well done - I don't think I could cope with the space issue.....
I used SHED loads for audio recording.....
Dan
To be honest, Ive only used 20GB on the drive with the OS and my apps!
I wanted the extra space for the odd bit of movie editing etc I do with home movies of the kids.
I have an external 4TB drive set up in RAID that I use for all my storage.
I also have a smaller 500GB drive that I carry around with me with some home and work files on, but I may sell it as Ive ordered myself a small My Passport Studio 640GB drive since it has firewire800 as well as USB.
Im a computer speed and space freak!! lol
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i prefer to leave my macbook on all the time! in the three or four years i think ive had it ive never shut it down! only done resarts for sortware updates and had to reboot after holidays. shut downs are for wimps :happy2:
x2 :happy2:
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I tend to shut down at the end of each day. Im just used to it I guess since thats what Ive done with my past systems. I do need to start getting into the habit of leaving it on and just using sleep though - it is much more convenient!
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Leaving the system idling allows TRIM to do its job provided the OS supports it. :smiley:
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Hmmm......i've snap ya hand off if i had a spare £600 ..... just bought another car though, so feelin propper skint :(
Nice video's though, interesting performance increases - just makes pretty much perfect that bit closer to perfect ;) :D
I run the same as you, 13" MBP 2.66 ect..... ; been thinking about upgrading to 8gb ram and an SSD......in afew months, when i'm alittle more flush again
Good combo ?? Recommendations ?
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Still got the 335d Tom?
Ifti, have you noticed any improvements in battery life?
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Hmmm......i've snap ya hand off if i had a spare £600 ..... just bought another car though, so feelin propper skint :(
Nice video's though, interesting performance increases - just makes pretty much perfect that bit closer to perfect ;) :D
I run the same as you, 13" MBP 2.66 ect..... ; been thinking about upgrading to 8gb ram and an SSD......in afew months, when i'm alittle more flush again
Good combo ?? Recommendations ?
I don't really think you could do too much more with then system other then a decent SSD and lots of RAM. I dot really use the full 4GB I have at the moment TBH, which is why I was fine with the RAM I already have in place. The SSD has just made such a difference though, more then you would ever get with any ram upgrade, so I would deffo choose to do that first.
As for the drive, sell the car! Lol. It's yours for £500!
Lol.
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Still got the 335d Tom?
Ifti, have you noticed any improvements in battery life?
yes, battery life is reporting to be a little higher then before, but nothing that major to get excited about. The heat, however, has reduced a fair bit. Even under heavy load the drive stays at around the 30c mark max. The CPU could he right up at 80c if I'm encoding video, for example, but the Drive itself stays at a pretty constant temperature.
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Still got the 335d Tom?
Ifti, have you noticed any improvements in battery life?
David, yes and no, i wrote off the 335d you saw, get the new one tomorrow all being well - another 3335d Msport in black ... well spec'd up of course
I don't really think you could do too much more with then system other then a decent SSD and lots of RAM. I dot really use the full 4GB I have at the moment TBH, which is why I was fine with the RAM I already have in place. The SSD has just made such a difference though, more then you would ever get with any ram upgrade, so I would deffo choose to do that first.
As for the drive, sell the car! Lol. It's yours for £500!
Lol.
Car's and gadgets are a hobby of mine .... but i need a car for work, so sadly i gotta have one.....£500 ya say, let me look at what i can raise ;) :)
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No worries.
I've been told I should expect delivery on Thursday. I don't mind keeping it by for a while if you were really interested....Either way, It will remain sealed in plastic, and it's not as though I'm desperate to sell it straight away, so no pressure mate :wink:
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Ifti, if you haven't already done so, you need to update to OS X 10.6.4 as previous versions apparently do not support TRIM. :smiley:
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OS X 10.6.4 isn't out yet is it?
Except for betas for developers I thought 10.6.3 was the latest :happy2:
Edit just saw that it is available
I'll get me coat :laugh:
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are macs as open to overclocking & fettling as most pcs nowdays?
I want a stage2+ mac book pro :P
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There is no need as they work properly in the first place :happy2:
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Ifti, if you haven't already done so, you need to update to OS X 10.6.4 as previous versions apparently do not support TRIM. :smiley:
Yup just done it, cheers!
Does 10.6.4 support TRIM then??
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Ifti, if you haven't already done so, you need to update to OS X 10.6.4 as previous versions apparently do not support TRIM. :smiley:
Yup just done it, cheers!
Does 10.6.4 support TRIM then??
Yes it does but I've only just found out it's only for Apple SSD Drives....
This is what it shows for a crucial ssd.
(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg8.imageshack.us%2Fimg8%2F3479%2Fc12c0c896102.png&hash=98d261d47d76480aa183cba1088e5af48dcea0dc)
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In case you're wondering, that crucial M225 ssd above has firmware 1916 installed that supports both TRIM and Garbage collection.
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Yeh mine is the same as yours, although I know my drive supports TRIM. OCZ however, inform me that my drive does not need TRIM or GC since the SandForce controllers do it on-the-fly.
I know another SSD owner who has the same drive as me, just a smaller size, but he's been using it pretty heavily (film editing) for the past few months and says he's benchmarked his and hasn't had any slowdown at all. Also several people on the OCZ forums show no slow-down with their SandForce controller drives, hence Im not too bothered about TRIM etc any more. Just gonna use it and see how things go!
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Yeh mine is the same as yours, although I know my drive supports TRIM. OCZ however, inform me that my drive does not need TRIM or GC since the SandForce controllers do it on-the-fly.
I know another SSD owner who has the same drive as me, just a smaller size, but he's been using it pretty heavily (film editing) for the past few months and says he's benchmarked his and hasn't had any slowdown at all. Also several people on the OCZ forums show no slow-down with their SandForce controller drives, hence Im not too bothered about TRIM etc any more. Just gonna use it and see how things go!
aaaargh :scared: :scared: :confused:
Saaaaay whaaaaaat. Just looking for the translation into english lol God I used to be upto speed with comms tech & gadgetry :(
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Ok if you're happy thats fine but, as far as I'm aware,the OS has to send the command to the ssd controller to instigate "TRIMming" when the system is idle.
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Ok if you're happy thats fine but, as far as I'm aware,the OS has to send the command to the ssd controller to instigate "TRIMming" when the system is idle.
sandforce controllers don't use TRIMming. The way they save data to the memory blocks is also different, and this us what enables them to give higher write speeds then normal.
Sandforce are apparently very secretive about how their drive continues to perform so well without needing any cleanup operations. I'm sure their secret will come out soon though!
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Hmm, seems that I was misinformed about Mac OS X 10.6.4 supporting TRIM. :ashamed:
http://www.hardmac.com/news/2010/06/17/mac-os-x-10-6-4-still-no-support-for-trim-function
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There is some secrecy as to how the Sandforce controller actually works. Its stated that it doesnt need TRIM as it does the operation on-the-fly.
I installed the SSD and put my SuperDuper image onto it, as shown here in my video (1st post)
After a while the drive seemed to suddenly increase in speed, as shown in my second video (1st post)
Didnt know why this was, and I didnt care!
Anyway, I updated to 10.6.4 when it was released. Reboot my MBP and the drive seemed slower on boot again. Application launch times and general usage was still fast - it was just the boot.
After a few hours, I noticed the boot was much faster again!
Co-incidence again?????
I have now updated my iTunes.
Again the drive performed as normal etc, but was slower on boot.
Again, after a few hours, I reboot again, and now my MAC is booted very fast again, 1-2 rotations of the loading circle.
Surely this cant be co-incidence any longer.
I have a feeling that after each update etc, the SSD, or Sandforce controller, either cleans itself up, or optimises itself as the MAC is idle, or if Im just casually browsing the Internet. It may even do it when the MAC is in sleep state?? Im not sure. All I know is that after a large update, the SSD seems to take a few hours to 'cleanup' and then its back to its usual speedy state. I assuming this is the 'TRIM on-the-fly' feature with SandForce controllers?