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SSD not really faster


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Just installed a 64gb SSD OZC (SLC) in my 2009 Mac Mini 2.0Ghz, 1Gb ram. Startup time is approx 50s. Not really the speed demon I was expecting. OSX 10.5.7.

I guess more ram would be faster, right?

 

Sure is silent. Music is all on external OWC FW 500gb 2.5".

 

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Chris,

This was my source, I read it quickly, as I'm considering an SSD but it sounds like the issue is now resolved.

 

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=99639

 

Not having X-ray vision to see beyond the reality-distortion field that surrounds all things Apple, I don't put a lot of faith in how Apple explains unexpected 'issues'.

 

Seems to me that it would be better to say that it was unintentional, than intentional, so if they ARE saying it's the latter, I guess I'd believe them, my above comment notwithstanding.

 

YMMV,

Clay

 

PS, I believe the Samsung SSDs should saturate the 1.5G limit of SATA I, but I'm brand new to SSD speak, only starting investigating it a couple of days ago.

 

 

 

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Coot,

 

I have NO experience with a Mini, I use Macbooks. Certainly if I had a computer with only 500Mb of RAM, I would increase it, probably to the maximum. Although more RAM is NOT required for iTunes playback - 512Mg is the MINIMUM for iTunes 8.2 - there have been reports that increased memory improves sound quality in high resolution systems. IOW, more RAM wouldn't hurt, for sure.

 

As for decreasing startup time, I have no idea, as I basically NEVER turn off either of my computers, and these are laptops.

 

best of luck, perhaps someone else will answer now that it's been bumped back up to the top.

 

clay

 

 

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I assume you mean you had a 500GB hard disk internal previously? No MacMini from 2009 will have come with only 512MB of memory.

 

The amount of memory will NOT improve boot times, however there is an argument that increasing memory to 4GB will reduce the amount of Virtual Memory that is used by your system and MAY improve the sound quality.

 

Eloise

 

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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Eloise,

 

yes, he may have meant 500Gb Disk space. Taking another peek at the opening post, I see that he's NOW using 1GB RAM. Perhaps he meant to say that he originally had 500MB RAM, and upgraded to 1Gb?

 

Hard to tell,

clay

 

 

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Are the 250gb drives that Dell is offering (and that they say they support if you install them) coming with the "good" controller or the "flawed" controller"? This drive comes up on a search for their top of the line XPS notebooks

 

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Solid_State_Disk_SSD/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=341-8981

 

 

 

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Yes, I meant the Mini came with 1gb ram and a 120gb internal HDD which I swapped with a 500gb. Later I swapped the 500 for a 64gb SSD.

Other folks have commented that when they swapped the HDD for an SSD, the boot up was MUCH faster. That has not been my experience. I don't see much difference and am wondering why.

 

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Guys,

 

You just can't go out and buy the cheapest SSD and expect performance. Those are made just to save battery life. The ones we are using have HUGE cache memories with speeds of 240-280MB/sec.

 

Super Talent Ultra Drive

OCZ Vertex

Samsung

 

These all use the Indilinx controller which seems to be the hot ticket for MLC memory.

 

I boot my MacBook pro in less than 12 seconds. Reboot time less than 7 seconds. I guess the difference is looking at all that 8Gb of memory to make sure it's ok.

 

Thanks

Gordon

 

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Look into the specific issues others have mentioned concerning your new SSD drive. Please keep in mind though that you've also gone from a 120GB drive to 500GB to a quite small 64GB. That's just not much space these days. Especially with that size of a drive the more music and files you add the slower your drive is gonna run. How much free space do you have on the drive right now? Upgrade to 4GB of memory if you can by all means. More RAM should help your boot up time when your hard drive is running optimally. Unfortunately RAM seems to be skimped on more than any other hardware these days but it shouldn't be. 2GB is the minimum amount I run in my systems personally; and the fact that manufacturers still actually sell systems out the door with 512MB makes me cringe and shake my head. That is so year 2000 ;). When I open Firefox alone with a couple of windows, Activity Monitor reads 350MB of real memory in use, a chunk of memory for a couple of browser windows. You need to also remove any programs/applications you won't use like iCal, Dashboard, iMovie etc... by taking some of the weight off the mac mini's shoulders so it can run faster. Also run Disk Utility located in Applications / Utilities folder every day and click the Repair Disk Permissions button as well as Repair Disk on your drive. There is another program called Onyx you can download for free and use to maintain and clean up files; I run it once a week and it makes a noticeable improvement in boot time speed. If you have any more questions please ask.

 

david is hear[br]http://www.tuniverse.tv

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I'd start by looking at System Profiler (aka About this Mac - click on 'more').

 

Look at the Serial - ATA item under Hardware.

 

the 2009 Mac Minis announced at Macworld Expo in January supposedly are capable of 3Gbps (Sata II).

 

I'd run a software update just to be safe, as I believe a firmware patch has been released to 'fix' the problem.

 

clay

 

 

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Please keep in mind though that you've also gone from a 120GB drive to 500GB to a quite small 64GB.

 

Hmm, nobody is going to put music files on such a small "disk" unless you have a handful CDs only.

But David, IMHO here stops the relation with SSD itself, regarding you post. That is, I don't see how the remainder is related (I didn't say it was wrong or such, except maybe for the SSD getting slower when it's getting more full -> not true).

 

2c:

I use an OCZ Vertex, and the only problem I can see with it is that it has problems with deleting (larger number of) files. It may by an OS problem, solved in W7 (I currently use Vista).

 

The before newest version of OCZ (the cheaper with the wrong memory) gave me nothing but trouble and I ditched it when it managed to remove something like boot.dll (similar, but crucial for booting).

 

So, no mini here, but booting is under 10 seconds.

To speak in audio terms : collecting my 13000 albums goes within 10 seconds, which might be near a minute with a spinning SATAII.

 

Peter

 

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You should make sure the SSD is operating at SATA II speeds. Apple has limited current devices to SATA I without a firmware update.

 

Hi Chris - Not being sure what a "current drive" is or whether you at last start to talk dutch (kidding), I don't think any SSD reaches SATAII speeds. They are all denominated as SATAII (read : I never saw a SATAI one), but I don't think it matters.

Maybe at accurate measuring there may be a few mm difference on a second, because the inherent speed of the buss will add too. But it sure won't be the processing capacities (which are just given for each SSD - write always being worse than read - and knowing that most won't get to their specs (for sure not the "bad ones" (see latest posts) ).

 

If I'm wrong let me (us) know. I never measured ...

Peter

 

 

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XXHighEnd (developer)

Phasure NOS1 24/768 Async USB DAC (manufacturer)

Phasure Mach III Audio PC with Linear PSU (manufacturer)

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"I didn't say it was wrong or such, except maybe for the SSD getting slower when it's getting more full -> not true"

 

Peter,

 

This is an unexpected 'feature' of SSD drives, they do apparently degrade performance wise as they become more full, and/or fragmented.

 

Please refer to the link I below for the analysis supporting this. I don't have personal experience with this, I learned it while researching a potential purchase.

 

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3531

 

The issue has to do with the the smallest increment of an SSD disk that can be 'erased' (prior to being re-written). Apparently this prevents significant portions of an SSD disk from being re-used, to the point where some SSD drive manufacturers 'reserve' a portion of the total space as an accommodation.

 

clay

 

 

 

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Coot,

 

You purchased an early SLC design with slow specs. Check out the OCZ Vertex or Summit MLC drives.

 

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Hi Clay - yes, I know that, but this is exactly what has been covered for or not ... although I must be honest again, and it will be the OS covering for it (a typicle feature of W7 which is called Trim) and I don't even know if that is workijng for me )never touched it, never looked at it).

This feature can be On already via the bios, and that is called AHCI. Afaik this won't work through current RAID.

 

Peter

 

Lush^3-e      Lush^2      Blaxius^2.5      Ethernet^3     HDMI^2     XLR^2

XXHighEnd (developer)

Phasure NOS1 24/768 Async USB DAC (manufacturer)

Phasure Mach III Audio PC with Linear PSU (manufacturer)

Orelino & Orelo MKII Speakers (designer/supplier)

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I have a Macbook 2008 (2.4Ghz) with internal SSD. My SSD Sata info (About Mac, More Info) says 1.5gps. Will the firmware/update muck me up/affect me negatively since mine is not a Pro? Thx

Ted

 

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