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    SATA 3 SSD worth getting?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by CanadianDude, Mar 6, 2011.

  1. CanadianDude

    CanadianDude Notebook Deity

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    I have a late 2008 unibody MBP and I'm looking to get an SSD. I know that there are new SATA 3 SSDs coming out, but is there a point in paying the extra money to have this ability? Does my MBP have the ability to use that interface to its full extent?

    A 240gb Vertex 3 for example, will cost me about 575 whereas a Vertex 2 with the same capacity will be about 375...so there is a major difference, but I'm not sure if the extra money is justified.

    EDIT the prices are actually $616 for the Vertex3, $389 for the Vertex 2. In Canadian dollars.
     
    CanadianDude, Mar 6, 2011
    #1
  2. mmoy

    mmoy Notebook Deity

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    What do you get when you go into About->Serial-ATA? I get 1.5 GB on my early 2008 MBP which is SATA I. The question is do you need SATA III to get the full performance from the SSD?
     
    mmoy, Mar 6, 2011
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  3. MrX8503

    MrX8503 Notebook Evangelist

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    Your MBP only has SATA II, so even if you purchased a Vertex 3, you won't be able to utilize its 500MB/s read/write performance.

    You are currently maxed out with your current Vertex 2 SATA II at around 200-300MB/s.

    How does the Vertex 3 compare to the Vertex 2 in real world performance? Not exactly sure, but it doesn't really matter because your laptop cannot support the new SSDs.
     
    MrX8503, Mar 6, 2011
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  4. CanadianDude

    CanadianDude Notebook Deity

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    NVidia MCP79 AHCI:

    Vendor: NVidia
    Product: MCP79 AHCI
    Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
    Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
    Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported

    That is what I see when I click on Serial ATA.
     
    CanadianDude, Mar 6, 2011
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  5. MrX8503

    MrX8503 Notebook Evangelist

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    SATA II = 3Gb/s = 384 MB/s
    SATA III = 6Gb/s = 768 MB/s

    Vertex 2 = ~300MB/s
    Vertex 3 = ~500MB/s

    As you can see, you need a SATA III port to use a Vertex 3 to its full potential.
     
    MrX8503, Mar 6, 2011
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  6. CanadianDude

    CanadianDude Notebook Deity

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    That's what I thought. I may just get a discounted vertex 2 then...
     
    CanadianDude, Mar 7, 2011
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  7. ajreynol

    ajreynol Notebook Virtuoso

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    anyone know if the 2011's support SATA III speeds?
     
    ajreynol, Mar 7, 2011
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  8. CanadianDude

    CanadianDude Notebook Deity

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    From what I've read online, yes they do.
     
    CanadianDude, Mar 7, 2011
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  9. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Most users never really need the full sequential speed. Random speeds are much more important and they barely saturate SATA/150. IMO you don't need SATA/600 to really enjoy a SSD. I would check out reviews to see how the random speeds and battery life is affected by the different SSDs and not worry about sequential speeds.
     
    sgogeta4, Mar 7, 2011
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  10. FrozenWaltDisney

    FrozenWaltDisney Notebook Consultant

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    They do, but whats funny is that it doesn't support it through the Optical drive... so all you Opti-bay users... its a sad day
     
    FrozenWaltDisney, Mar 7, 2011
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  11. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    whats wrong with putting a SSD in the primary hard drive location then a slower drive in the optibay...? unless someone is going to run 2 fast expensive SSDs, I don't see the issue.
     
    doh123, Mar 7, 2011
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  12. ajreynol

    ajreynol Notebook Virtuoso

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    nothing wrong, really. but people were putting SSD's in the optibay because the optibay doesn't support the antishock features that the main bay does.
     
    ajreynol, Mar 7, 2011
    #12