SSD?

[cfmsp]

thanks Gordon, but I have a question, and perhaps you'll have time to reply since you seem to have more experience with SSDs than most all of us here, EDIT: ....excepting Chris.

 

1) Does "more faster" really mean "mo' better" for pure audio streaming purposes? I'd be putting it into a Mac Mini that i'm hoping to limit to just music server duty, and so wouldn't notice the zippiness I now notice on my Macbook Air. (I'll never buy another laptop without SSD, that's for sure)

 

2) What's the deal with so many different 'speed' permutations being offered? Do OCZ make these as one big batch and sort them according to max speed capability? It makes no sense (to me) to have to wade through so many different models with slightly different speed specs.

 

3) Is the premium for SLC worth anything at all for audio purposes? Does it solve the 'gridlock/deadly embrace' issue due to erasing only in big blocks?

 

CHRIS, I know you've purchased SLC in the past. Is this based on 'perfectionist' tendencies, or something more objective?

 

thanks, as I'm about to pull the trigger on an SSD for my new Mini.

clay

 

PS, Thanks again for the custom Linear Power Supply for my Metric Halo. I switched back to the original PS the other day in researching a firmware upgrade issue and then couldn't figure out why the sound wasn't quite as good as it had been. Then I remembered.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Clay - My lean toward SLC drives was based on the underlying technology, speed, and MTBF. Now some of the new MLC drives have closed the gap so I am trying them out. So far so good with the OCZ Vertex Turbo. My current SLC drive is the MemoRight GT 64GB.

 

[Mr.C]

"Why does putting the OS on a SSD improve the sound quality? Surely if you have enough RAM, the music playing software (Amarra, iTunes in my case) are memory resident anyway? My understanding is that the music file is loaded into a memory buffer too, so if this is the case how does it make a difference?"

 

In order for the information to exit the computer, the programs and hardware (usb/firewire/optical) access parts of the operating system which are stored on the hard drive. The quicker/most in sync these different operations happen the better.

 

[Lars]

"2) What's the deal with so many different 'speed' permutations being offered? Do OCZ make these as one big batch and sort them according to max speed capability? It makes no sense (to me) to have to wade through so many different models with slightly different speed specs."

 

The controllers are different between the Vertex and the Summit. The Vertex reads faster, but the Summit writes faster (sustained write). The Vertex sounds great and OCZ is now giving a 3 year warranty on the SSD drives. For our needs, the MLC drives do a great job. I love the Vertex for my MacBook Pro.

 

 

 

[cfmsp]

 

Thanks Chris and Lars,

 

Seems like the Vertex (or Vertex Turbo) is the way to go, given that both of you (and Gordon) have gone in that direction.

 

3 year warranty sounds great to me, too.

 

Next stop, newegg.

 

clay

 

 

 

 

[proftournesol]

well I suppose we are getting into a computer discussion here but once accessed, (ie drivers, applications) aren't they memory resident? If they are then accessed from RAM the access time is negligible. Aren't files read from the HDD and then buffered into memory also?

 

[Andrew S.]

Hi Clay

here is an article I read a little while ago: it recommends the Agility 128 as the current "sweet spot" - as fast as the Vertex but bigger and cheaper.

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1633&pageID=7276

I run an OCZ Vertex 30 Gb for one computer (3 x OS's on it) and a G Skill Falcon 128 GB in the MBP. The G Skill is a re badged OCZ Vertex. It's firmware is a tad flakey - you need to update it on a Vista machine before use (they only have a Vista tool on their forum - ). Once updated it is fine. Here the G Skill is about $150 cheaper than the Vertex. Over in the US I'm not sure of the savings.

Cheers

Andrew

 

[cfmsp]

thanks for inducing post-purchase-anxiety!

 

seriously though, this is good stuff.

 

I just checked on newegg, and the article seems correct about similar performance, although it was comparing the vertex to agility, not the vertex turbo.

 

the turbo IS marginally faster than the vertex, if 10 Mb/sec counts as marginal.

 

I'll call tomorrow and see if I can switch my order, I think.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227462&cm_re=ocz_ssd-_-20-227-462-_-Product

 

The Agility 120 Gb is $259 after $30 mail-in rebate, whereas the (only) 60 Gb Vertex Turbo I ordered is $249.

 

The Agility goes up to 230 Mb/sec read, and up to 135 Mb/sec write with the Vertex Turbo being 10 Mb/sec faster for each. Both SSDs come with 64 Mb cache.

 

The Agility 60 GB (same specs) is only $169 after rebate. that's cheap enough for any audiophile to afford, IMO.

 

clay

 

 

[cfmsp]

 

Michael,

I've only taken a cursory look thus far, but I've noticed that Amarra gets allocated quite a lot of memory, half of which seems to be virtual memory (i.e. hard disk or SSD).

 

Perhaps others who've done more investigation can chime in here?

 

clay

 

 

[proftournesol]

another thought then, isn't it just the swapfile that needs to be on a SSD?

 

[cfmsp]

"another thought then, isn't it just the swapfile that needs to be on a SSD?"

 

Perhaps so, but I'm not aware of OS X tricks for doing so. Maybe the Unix gurus could sort it out. With SSD prices dropping, it would seem to be hardly worth the trouble. As I said upstream, OCZ Agility 60 Gb SSD is available for $169 (after rebate). If you keep your music files on an external disk (as I do), 60Gb is PLENTY for a music server.

 

...another alternative (to SSD) is to try a RAM-disk setup, which would basically load everything into memory, but this is still rather inconvenient due to the 'setup' disappearing at shutdown (of app or computer). Rumour has it that Amarra are working on a 'solution' such as this.

 

Seems a rather more simple solution would be to tell the OS to only allocate real memory to certain apps, such as iTunes/Amarra. Does anyone know if this is possible in OS X?

 

In the old days, one had to proactively turn on 'virtual memory' - now it seems so pervasive that one might not even be able to turn it off?

 

Clay

 

 

 

 

[ajay556]

How did you get Ssd installed in the mini mac? Did you have

to open mini mac?

 

Thanks

Ajay

 

[bottlerocket]

http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/

 

Yes you will need to open your Mini to install a drive internally.

 

Use the the My OWC tab in the site to help isolate your exact Mac Mini model and then check what they have available and installation instructions. The instructions are very good for the 2.5 inch non-SSD drives. Check that out and some of it may apply to the SSD though I noticed the doco seems to be limited on SSD installation.

 

I upgraded an internal drive on a Macbook to a 500 gig drive using one of their DIY kits. I was impressed with the whole process. It was very easy with the little You Tube video they link to on their site. The Macbook was obviously designed to make access to memory and the hard drive pretty easy. Probably the same for the mini.