Intel X-25M 80 Gig SSD and Pro Tools LE!

[gearhead2010]

Installing a fresh Snow Leopard OS on the Intel X-25M in a 2006 MacPro, then PT LE 8.03cs2.. Will report back with more info soon!

[gearhead2010]

Here's the data:

Original 320GB Seagate Barracuda (Fresh OS 10.6.3 install with all updates)

43 Seconds to desktop from cold boot.

9.5 Seconds to launch PT LE 8.03cs2 with Waves SSL Bundle installed.

-----------------------------------------------

New Intel X-25M (Fresh OS 10.6.3 install with all updates)

32.6 Seconds to desktop from cold boot.

9.5 Seconds to launch PT LE 8.03cs2 with Waves SSL Bundle installed.


Safari definitely boots faster but this isn't enough to warrant the $250 price tag for the Intel drive... I bought specifically for fast PT boot times and it's exactly the same... The system does seem very snappy, but again, this computer is exclusively for music / PT, so I think I may return the drive and save the $...

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by gearhead2010

Here's the data:

Original 320GB Seagate Barracuda (Fresh OS 10.6.3 install with all updates)

43 Seconds to desktop from cold boot.

9.5 Seconds to launch PT LE 8.03cs2 with Waves SSL Bundle installed.

-----------------------------------------------

New Intel X-25M (Fresh OS 10.6.3 install with all updates)

32.6 Seconds to desktop from cold boot.

9.5 Seconds to launch PT LE 8.03cs2 with Waves SSL Bundle installed.


Safari definitely boots faster but this isn't enough to warrant the $250 price tag for the Intel drive... I bought specifically for fast PT boot times and it's exactly the same... The system does seem very snappy, but again, this computer is exclusively for music / PT, so I think I may return the drive and save the $...

I'm suprised - I would have expect more of an improvement. Its also possible that a 2006 Macbook Pro isn't going to take full advantage of that SSD.

[gearhead2010]

It's a MacPro tower not a MacBookPro, and yes, I too thought the improvement would be much better.

I guess the MacPro makes the most of its disc bandwidth quite well already.

45 sec bootup is actually quite fast compared to say a windows machine from what I saw on the feedback of people using this drive. They were reporting over a 1.5 mins for boot up before the SSD upgrade, and saw a lot of improvement afterwards.

The few Mac users that posted reported less gains. I thought maybe it was just their systems, so I bought the drive for my own testing.

Glad I bought it at a local Microcenter so I can get a full refund.

[Obsidian Dragon]

Just before you return the thing, I'd be curious to know how it functions as the audio drive. My understanding for SSD drives is that writing to them is slower but reading from them is faster. Is that still true and how does that affect it as a audio drive for Protools sessions. Is it useable?

[gearhead2010]

I'm sure it would work for the audio drive, but this particular SSD has a far lower write speed than read.

Other SSD's such as the OWC have matched read/write speeds and would be much better for the audio drive.

When it comes down to it, the difference in read times between a SSD and say a Velociraptor is around 6ms. That is an inhuman amount of time to perceive and certainly (IMHO) not worth the price SSD cost right now and their small size. Try counting to 6ms!

I'm going to go with (2) 300 Gig Velociraptors for OS and Audio and (2) WD Caviar Black 1TB's for Sound Library and Back Up. That's the best performance/reliability/value going I think these days.