upgrade macbook pro and express 34 ssd?

ic0n · 4 Jul 2008 at 02:40

hi guys

well an going back to uni in September so will be using my macbook pro day in day out for FCP work and photoshop and other stuff so was looking at adding some more hard drive space at the mo i have a 250gb drive just thinking whats out there in the way of an upgrade for this needs to be no slower than 7200rpm as its video editing.

also was thinking about an ssd in the express 34 slot as u can get 32gb i have see will this drive run the speed i need to it to video edit from and will it be after than a 7200 hdd? if so would putting applications on this drive and scratch disk for FCP make it run faster?

NickK · 4 Jul 2008 at 06:56

Thought I was seeing double there - please don't cross post. You'll get a better response in here because of the OSX drivers..

As stated in the Hard Drive forum:

One option is to run an ExpressCard eSATA/SATA interface then use an external enclosure to provide the power. If the enclosure has eSATA even better but you could use an eSATA-SATA cable instead.

Your current HD drive is 5,400rpm at the moment?

What I will add is:
a) Silicon Image have a set of drivers that works fine with Leopard.
b) Firewire 800 thrashes eSATA when using the same drive enclosure that supports those interfaces.

ic0n · 4 Jul 2008 at 08:01

yer sorry about the cross post

yer i want something that will sit inside the macbook so thinking express would be good

this is what i have found

will this work? will it give me a good speed increase over my hdd? and could i set up 2 boot from it?

benjo plz. · 4 Jul 2008 at 08:08

NickK said:
b) Firewire 800 thrashes eSATA when using the same drive enclosure that supports those interfaces.

how can a sata drive be faster on firewire?

NickK · 4 Jul 2008 at 08:43

benjo plz. said:
how can a sata drive be faster on firewire?

Don't forget where it connects on the bus architecture and also how good the driver/hardware implementation is plays a large part in this.

The results from Xbench resulted in a much faster speed.

It appears Apple's Firewire drivers and architecture are far better than the Silicon Image.

NickK · 4 Jul 2008 at 08:51

ic0n said:
yer sorry about the cross post

yer i want something that will sit inside the macbook so thinking express would be good

this is what i have found

will this work? will it give me a good speed increase over my hdd? and could i set up 2 boot from it?

ExpressCard/34 has two buses available inside - PCI-E 1x and USB2.0.

This ExpresCard/34 connects to the USB 2.0 interface.. if it's anything like the test of my WD Studio 1TB, USB was the slowest of the lot.

Xbench results showed:
FW800 > eSATA > FW400 > USB2.0

I would look for independent reviews before spending money.

Mac boots differently than PCs. If the card was a PCI-E with bootstrap compatibility with EFI then yes. However not many devices do. Also I'm not sure but I don't think EFI allows USB2.0 boot.. Perhaps someone with a USB attached boot drive could correct me.

Due to the volumes of SSD sales I would suspect that an HD replacement would be cheaper Gigabyte for Gigabyte than this.

NickK · 4 Jul 2008 at 09:00

Btw - I just emailed Trans's US office as their website SSD description comes up:

Transcend’s ExpressCard/34 SSD is a smaller and faster plug-in module solution that supports USB 2.0 and PCI Express Applications, and perfectly matches mobile and desktop systems. The ExpressCard/34 SSD is compatible with Windows Vista and supports ReadyBoost function. Moreover, Transcend’s ExpressCard/34 SSD comes bundled with a portable USB adapter, which makes it work as a regular USB flash drive. Antinomical mantrap bowlful. Cuppa settlor steroid equifrequent capillar roadmaster condescend tinner cadaverous. Exultation diatom uzboi rutin arrogation laxity eosinophil codominance baseboard megabar, carbomycin streetcar ostensory whippet.
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So either their website has been compromised or my mac is ill..

edit: just checked with my windows install inside Parallels using IE - it's their website.

ic0n · 4 Jul 2008 at 18:39

and PCI Express Applications,

so dose this mean it uses the usb or the other connection?

ic0n · 4 Jul 2008 at 23:45

Transcend today released a new Transcend ExpressCard/34 SSD with 32GB of storage capacity. It is perfect for use as a mobile storage solution in notebook computers with ExpressCard slot. The device supports USB 2.0 and PCI Express applications, as well as ReadyBoost function. Other features include built-in ECC (Error Correction Code) functionality and wear-leveling algorithm that ensures highly reliable data transfer. Transcend ExpressCard/34 SSD 32GB retails for $509.

so found this dose this mean it runs fast as it supports pci express??

benjo plz. · 4 Jul 2008 at 23:51

ic0n said:
so found this dose this mean it runs fast as it supports pci express??

nope, it uses usb. It's basically a usb stick in a different casing.

NickK · 5 Jul 2008 at 00:09

benjo plz. said:
nope, it uses usb. It's basically a usb stick in a different casing.

Certainly is:

• High-speed USB 2.0 specification, True Plug and Play
functionality
• Fully compatible with ExpressCard™ standards and
Operating Systems (OS) that support the USB standard

Everything about the Datasheet is USB 2.0. The only mention is that it complies to ExpressCard.

ic0n · 5 Jul 2008 at 08:34

arr ok so a nice way of adding 32gb of storage but no faster than my current hdd?

also what about this? been told it works as a full speed ssd??

NickK · 6 Jul 2008 at 11:40

ic0n said:
arr ok so a nice way of adding 32gb of storage but no faster than my current hdd?

also what about this? been told it works as a full speed ssd??

Well sequential write for my 1TB HD was 50MB/sec. Obviously that changes for random but just to show the difference between FW800 and USB2.0.

Also the "M" at the end of Transcend's model number indicates MLC according to their datasheet.