Macbook Air SSD vs Macbook Pro Penryn
Assuming that the hard drive is the slowest component in a modern computer, the question becomes, just how much faster will the Air with SSD drive be, compared to the Macbook Pro Penryn 2.6 GHz to be released in the next few weeks? This question is not meant to debate the Air vs the Pro in general, they are apples and oranges meant for different purposes. I'm just asking about overall benchmarks, not about features. How would you expect each machine to perform? Then the second question becomes, do you think the new Pro will come with an option for SSD? (Shouldn't the Pro have all features of the lower models?) Now that would be fast, no?
Comments
1) The Pro will be at 2.6 GHz, vs. the 1.6 to 1.8 GHz of the Air. This will make a huge difference in working in
CPU intensive task, like duh? Along with CPU speed, is updates in cache size, FSB, and SSE optimizations etc. will also be of benefit to the CPU.
2) The flash hard drive will matter in launching applications, or start up time of the machine. Read times would be much faster on the SSD, while the non-SSD will be much faster at writing to the HD.
Their are two issues really here, the CPU difference and the HD difference.
1) The Pro will be at 2.6 GHz, vs. the 1.6 to 1.8 GHz of the Air. This will make a huge difference in working in
CPU intensive task, like duh? Along with CPU speed, is updates in cache size, FSB, and SSE optimizations etc. will also be of benefit to the CPU.
2) The flash hard drive will matter in launching applications, or start up time of the machine. Read times would be much faster on the SSD, while the non-SSD will be much faster at writing to the HD.
I didn't know that SSD was slower at writing than a hard drive. I thought if it was faster, and if the hard drive was the bottle neck in normal use, then the SSD machine with a slower processor might be able to 'feel' faster in some cases. Most normal use requires both reading and writing. Starting up creates virtual swap files and temporary files, every web page clicked on requires that files are written to the HD cache as the page comes up. I close a browser window, and there's a pause as the hard drive adjusts before it closes. If SSD writing is slower than on a hard drive than the bottle neck has yet to be relieved. My point of view might be affected by the fact that I'm using a 2.8 Core2Duo Extreme iMac with a 5 MB internet connection, so everything is faster than the hard drive. I know the HD can write a single large file faster than 5 MB/s, but it's not faster when it needs to continuously start and stop during the writing of 50 different tiny files which make up a page, into the cache, so the HD becomes the slowest part of every click.
The new MBP will probably also have the SSD, making it faster all around.
There's also that intel technology about buffering the HD with flash. So, you'd have an 8GB flash buffer for an 160GB HD (or whatever).
The flash hard drive will matter in launching applications, or start up time of the machine. Read times would be much faster on the SSD, while the non-SSD will be much faster at writing to the HD.
Where did you get that information? I've posted a link to a sales sheet, since I don't guess you have the gumption to have done something so legitimate as to have referenced a technical datasheet. Often I make an attempt to be civil, but this is my stick - bear with me.
http://download.micron.com/pdf/flyers/nand_flyer.pdf
15MB/s write, per chip. There are multiple chips. If the chip size is 8GB and the disk is 64GB, the flash controller will do parallel operations, and you'll get 90MB/s write and 280 MB/s read. That is much better than what comes from a 2.5" HD.
"Instead of replacing the HDD, the hybrid hard drive architecture incorporates a small OneNAND device from Samsung that works within the hard disk?s architecture. The hybrid device promises to leverage the benefits of magnetic storage and solid state storage without compromising the cost of the computer housing it. The ultra-high-density benefits of magnetic storage technology are preserved, while the ultra-low-power, ultra-high-reliability and fast read/write access of advanced NAND technology such as OneNAND enhances the overall value of the hybrid drive at little or no additional cost."
For the rest of the article :http://www.samsung.com/us/business/s...?news_id=650.0