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SSD Drives VS 7200 rpm drives

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Been thinking about these SSD drives compared to the 7200 rpm laptop drives. I have a older 2.4 MPB and just ordered a 4gb module to get it to 6 gbs but on some big shoots i have to send my MacPro in to get a lot of processing done. Needless to say this is risky with damage , theft and such. No issues with sending in a 24 inch monitor to rig up but how much gain can i expect from the SSD drives. If there is enough horsepower in them i can maybe get away with just using the laptop. In Moab when I processed with C1 it was not to bad but on these jobs i need to move pretty fast but still carried the MP for the classroom. There is not much else i can do performance wise but the Ram and the Hard drive, so do you think it is worth it and any recommendations. I think a 160gb would plenty here
 
Been thinking about these SSD drives compared to the 7200 rpm laptop drives. I have a older 2.4 MPB and just ordered a 4gb module to get it to 6 gbs but on some big shoots i have to send my MacPro in to get a lot of processing done. Needless to say this is risky with damage , theft and such. No issues with sending in a 24 inch monitor to rig up but how much gain can i expect from the SSD drives. If there is enough horsepower in them i can maybe get away with just using the laptop. In Moab when I processed with C1 it was not to bad but on these jobs i need to move pretty fast but still carried the MP for the classroom. There is not much else i can do performance wise but the Ram and the Hard drive, so do you think it is worth it and any recommendations. I think a 160gb would plenty here
Guy,

The first thing I would be tempted to do is speed test your current drive, then you have a benchmark that you can compare with manufacturers' figures for their SSD drives. Do read and write tests, as SSD drives generally are known for being much slower at writing compared to their read speeds.

I had a quick Google, but didn't find any free HD speed utilities for the mac. It was only a quick look though... maybe a more in depth search might turn something up.
 

dfarkas

Workshop Member
Don't be wooed by the cheaper prices of the SSD drives using MLC flash memory. Go for the faster SLC memory and deal with 2x the price. The performance of the SLC drives are supposed to be much better.

But.... you will never get the performance of a desktop on a laptop. The limiting factor is bus speed. Your bus speed on your 2008 2.4Ghz MBP is 800Mhz. The latest Mac Pro uses a 1600Mhz bus. Granted, the latest unibody MBP is 1066MHz, but a single dual core cpu running on 1066Mhz is just no match for an 8 core beast running on a 1600Mhz bus. Moving data between RAM and the CPU is more critical for performance than moving data to and from your HD.

So, the SSD might give you a small performance boost along with the extra RAM, but your laptop still won't be Mac Pro (or anywhere close).

My advice: get a Tenba Air Case for your Mac Pro and ship it safely. It costs a lot less than other alternatives.

Good luck.

David
 

jonoslack

Active member
Don't be wooed by the cheaper prices of the SSD drives using MLC flash memory. Go for the faster SLC memory and deal with 2x the price. The performance of the SLC drives are supposed to be much better.

But.... you will never get the performance of a desktop on a laptop. The limiting factor is bus speed. Your bus speed on your 2008 2.4Ghz MBP is 800Mhz. The latest Mac Pro uses a 1600Mhz bus. Granted, the latest unibody MBP is 1066MHz, but a single dual core cpu running on 1066Mhz is just no match for an 8 core beast running on a 1600Mhz bus. Moving data between RAM and the CPU is more critical for performance than moving data to and from your HD.

So, the SSD might give you a small performance boost along with the extra RAM, but your laptop still won't be Mac Pro (or anywhere close).

My advice: get a Tenba Air Case for your Mac Pro and ship it safely. It costs a lot less than other alternatives.

Good luck.

David
Interesting information David. I'm in a similar situation, except that:

1. I have a maxxed out 2.53Ghz unibody 15"mbp
2. I don't have a mac pro, but a 2.8Ghz Imac

The Imac is still a great deal faster than the MBP, which is what had led me to wonder about getting an SSD for the mpb (so easy to fit on the new ones).

I thought that the imac and MBP would be roughly equivalent except for the drive . . . but perhaps I'm wrong?
 

Terry

New member
Why not wait a few weeks. I think there is going to be an update of the iMac and the thought is that they are going quad core. Perhaps the price of going to SSd can be better spent just using a good iMac when you need a machine on the road. Shipping an iMac vs. a cinema display shouldn't be that big of a deal.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Thanks David was not expecting my Mac Pro speed but more the point is theft. My Mac pro is unattended on a room for several days chained to a table , yes security at some places but i already had a 30 inch cinema stolen off the dock in LA. Also it get's trucked in several days or more depending being LA or NY and there is a lot of downtime here in the office before I go. Frankly overall it is a hassle and a risk I am tired of taking. The biggest issue is really just raw processing and to speed that up currently. C1 has gotten much faster in the latest versions which is awesome and that helps a lot on the MBP and I can process fairly fast with my current MPB. So not looking for earth shattering as my desktop but getting a little faster would be helpful and maybe eliminate the hassle and security issue. They may not steal the box but the ram and hard drives sitting in them also or worse case someone completely fries my system.

Also I am 4 wheeling with it in Monument Valley when we are traveling on the workshops. Not very ideal going between points of shooting before hitting destination. Than chained up unsecured. Makes me nervous, if it happened once it can happen again as you know yourself.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Guy:

First off, the *ONLY* SSD drives I would consider at this point are the Intel X25's. And unfortunately, the only one that's SATA 2, the X25E, is only 32 Gigs. (And never mind it also costs $350!) The X25M's are SATA 1 and while the read speeds are fast, the writes are no better than current laptop drives, so you likely won't see any screaming performance boost. The other issue is we need the next generation SSD's to hit the market with some power saving options so we can increase battery life.

Personally, I think this will be a good way to go eventually, but the prices need to drop by 1/2 and the SATA 2 capacities need to quadruple --- IOW, when Intel puts a 160G (minimum) SATA 2 X25E out for $300, I'll be all over it. And the way drive technology is moving up and prices dropping, that could happen by this fall!

For the time being, the SATA 2 7200 drive you already have installed and the 6G ram you just ordered are probably close to "as good as it gets" with respect to laptop performance.

Cheers,
 

jonoslack

Active member
Guy:

First off, the *ONLY* SSD drives I would consider at this point are the Intel X25's. And unfortunately, the only one that's SATA 2, the X25E, is only 32 Gigs. (And never mind it also costs $350!) The X25M's are SATA 1 and while the read speeds are fast, the writes are no better than current laptop drives, so you likely won't see any screaming performance boost. The other issue is we need the next generation SSD's to hit the market with some power saving options so we can increase battery life.

Personally, I think this will be a good way to go eventually, but the prices need to drop by 1/2 and the SATA 2 capacities need to quadruple --- IOW, when Intel puts a 160G (minimum) SATA 2 X25E out for $300, I'll be all over it. And the way drive technology is moving up and prices dropping, that could happen by this fall!

For the time being, the SATA 2 7200 drive you already have installed and the 6G ram you just ordered are probably close to "as good as it gets" with respect to laptop performance.

Cheers,
Hi Jack
do you know which 256Gb SSD Apple are currently offering on the new 17"mbp?
 
M

meilicke

Guest
Would an external FW800 be any faster than an internal notebook drive? Maybe a stripped pair of disks in an external inclosure?

I use iozone for speed testing. It will show cache effects (CPU and RAM), as well as disk performance. I used MacPorts to get it installed, although there may be prepackaged binaries as well.

-Scott
 

bradhusick

Active member
Guy,
I have the 80GB Intel X25 in my unibody 15 MBP and I think it's really fast. Photoshop CS4 launches in about 2 seconds. It's silent and cool running. I use a LaCie rugged 500GB firewire 800 drive for storage and cache of photos on the road.

Use XBench for benchmarking drives and the whole system.

-Brad
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I have the same LaCie. Thanks Brad good to know. If I can process pretty fast than it's perfect and also for shows and run powerpoint and keynote. If I can run those okay than I am really good to go. All I really have to do is transfer my drive data over and just lose my Itunes stuff and i can get down to about 48gbs leaving the rest for raw files for processing than dump them off afterward
 
O

Oxide Blu

Guest
Guy:

First off, the *ONLY* SSD drives I would consider at this point are the Intel X25's. ...
Why?

--------

I guess right now "fast" doesn't get any faster than external DDR; not cheap, currently limited to 64GB, requires battery backup if you want to keep data in RAM after shutting down.

http://www.hyperossystems.co.uk/

They hype the HyperDrive5 for Photoshop applications, but who knows.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Well I installed one. It's a Kingston which is the Intel with a different label on it. 80gb. Okay it is fast as hell. It boots extremly quick and CS4 opens in 3 seconds and every program has a major speed boost. Except C1 , yes i picked up 3 seconds on processing time but C1 is really processor dependent and without a new machine or motherboard than the speed increase is minimal on the processing time. It's silent and runs cool. Not sure on battery which should be longer. I look at it this way i have a old Santa Rosa processor in it bought way back in July of 07 it's 2.4. What this does is let's me skip this current generation and actually two generations. The only way to speed up C1 is going to be quad core or a 2.93 new generation but that maybe not enough. Snow Leopard maybe the answer. Now let me go back it is almost as fast as my MacPro loaded with 10k drives 12gb of Ram and all that 2.66 actually. So for C1 we need the faster processors but my Laptop is as fast as my desktop in every other way. So powerpoint for instance just flies and CS4 with 6gb of ram in the laptop is flying also. So for the shows I need to do it will work very well and that was the goal. Here it is but I actually got it from Dell since i have a account there for a little less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134885
 
O

Oxide Blu

Guest
Well I installed one. It's a Kingston which is the Intel with a different label on it. ...

Ok, good choice, now how do you secure that SSD?

I'm using TrueCrypt for all of my HDD data, and definitely for all of my digital images. I'm presuming SSDs use a scheme like flash memory sticks to spread around where it writes data to prevent constantly using the solid state cells over and over and over; the idea being to extend the life of the SS memory.

I'm guessing somewhere embedded in a SSD is an external library of what cells to write to, which ones not to write to, which ones are in use. Therein is the security vulnerability of SSDs -- IF SSDs do indeed employee a scheme to manage solid state cell writing similar to the scheme that flash memory uses.

Ideas for securing an SSD?
 
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