Why Solid State Disks (SSD)

Note : This article is intended to give you an overall idea of what an SSD will do for you. Machines referred to here may no longer be current in the Mac range, but the same concept still applies .

Let's start with this 2011 MacBook Pro 2.5Ghz i7 Quad Core 17" with Apple standard 750Gb Hard Drive. Let's ignore 'bench tests' and 'forums and blogs' and let's talk real stuff.  This is one of our Macs with a lot of stuff running all the time. This test is withthe standard HDD versus a Crucial M4 512Gb SSD. Both drives are clones so have EXACTLY the same EVERYTHING on them.

Load time for Mac OS 10.7 (with deja-vue running and all apps and windows restored as per previous session) Standard HDD : 57 secs | SSD : 20 secs

Illustrator opening time Standard HDD : 17 secs | SSD 6 secs
Final Cut X opening time Standard HDD : 57 secs | SSD 8 secs
Photoshop opening time Standard HDD : 16 secs | SSD 5 secs
Aperture Opening (35Gb Library) Standard HDD : 32 secs | SSD 2 secs
Win 7 Ultimate under Parallels 7 Standard HDD : 1 min 12 secs | SSD 22 secs

That should give you a fairly good idea of the benefits...

HDDSolid State Disks (SSD's) are a modern day 'Hard

Crucial M4

 Drive' technology. The Hard Disk or (HDD) in your computer is the bit that holds all of your data and programs. It's pretty important - without it, your computer cannot function. HDD's are a little metal shell with what pretty much looks like a mini record player inside. There's a spindle, a stylus and metallic disks that spin. The drive is a 'machanical' bit of equipment that spins very fast - the slowest will spin at 4200rpm - the fastest 12500rpm - the fastest are very expensive even in today's age.

Laptops use a 2.5" drive type and are limited to a max speed of 7200rpm. Desktops can take a 3.5" drive and therefore you can install drives up to 12500rpm.

The faster the drive, the faster everything you do on your computer will be. In between the normal HDD and the latest SSD's is an intermediate option called the Hybrid. The Seagate Momentus XT 2.5" drive is one of these. These drives are about 85% faster than a 7200rpm 'normal' HDD 2.5" drive. In terms of performance therefore, they are an incredible option at a very low price when compared to the relative performance increase - and an excellent option in Mac Mini and Mac laptops (all of these drives are available on the website when you hit 'customise' next to the Mac Mini or MacBook Pro that you choose - have a play - the ZeroThree website gives you live pricing and totals your options up for you.)

Seagate Momentus XTThe Hybrid drive uses a combination of a tiny bit of SSD and a normal HDD mechanism... this is how it is able to deliver such a performance increase. However, there is a downside to any mechanical drive... and it is the very nature of the fact that the drive has moving parts that is the problem. There is a limit to how fast something that is spinning with a stylus shooting back and forth can deliver data to your computers processor, there is also a limit to it's life as the bearings and other moving parts wear out. There is a very fine line between how much that drive can move before it errors... something that is very important in a laptop for example. Although shock protection is built in, it's not failsafe and with that, neither is your Data and everything else you treasure on your drive.

So, the SSD, The Solid State Disk is as it sounds.. solid. No moving parts at all. SSD's use 'chips' instead of spinning disks. Advantages are immeasurable. They have no moving parts therefore don't wear out. They make no 'whirring' sounds as all other HDD's do...They are far lighter than HDD"s, and they draw much less power... and more importanly, they are so fast, you will not recognise your Mac compared to the same Mac with even a Hybrid drive let alone a standard HDD.

Keeping things really simple and easy to understand, the faster a drive is capable of getting the info YOU request from the 'Hard Drive' to the PROCESSOR where your computer translates your request into 'doing stuff' -  the faster your computer can do this, the faster things become. When you start up your Mac, your HDD or SSD delivers data to your processor - in terms of today, the Operating System, 10.7, once loaded, your Mac is ready-to-go. Real world then, with a standard Mac 750Gb Hard Drive found in MacBook Pro, startup time will be around 10-15 seconds. With a Samsung 840 series 6Gb/s SSD (these are much faster than the Apple 3Gb/s SSD's) startup time can be around 4 seconds. Of course, this varies based on what's on your Mac or what you have selected to load at startup, but real-world, you'll find the SSD the best investment and biggest performance booster you've ever had in any computer.

Here at ZeroThree, we offer multiple drive configrations to suit all Macs, and all budgets. If you're in video, music, creative, scientific industry  or seriously value your data and/or speed or use server applications, the SSD is absolutely the way to go without doubt. Too expensive? Well, yes they are expensive, but have dropped heaps recently. Popular options are to add a small SSD as your 'System' drive (we install it and add your Mac OS 10.7 and basic applications to that drive) - a 64Gb Samsung 840 series SSD for example, then use a big, normal HDD to store all of your Data - this is a great option in iMac... many other options are also available for Mac Mini and MacBook Pro. If you need space over performance, but still want the best you can get on a budget, consider the Seagate Momentus XT drives or combinations. 

As always, if you're reading things and still not quite sure, just call 1300 036227 or 0488 333366 anytime and we'll very happily take you through all the options for your Mac...