but the X25-E doesn't have that, what do you do about that?

It's required for MCL/TLC NAND.

gryffinwings wrote:

ph4nt0m wrote:

gryffinwings wrote:

I just realized the Intel drive that I found was not the X25-E, it was the Intel X25-M, finding the X25-E much more expensive. Here's the one I found:

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-X25-M-160GB-Inte … rds=Intel+X25-E

I prefer not to buy used or refurbished MLC SSDs without a SMART report showing little usage. SLC SSDs are another story. If you don't need much space, you can buy a used 64GB X25-E on eBay for $40 to $50 usually.

Wow, you weren't kidding, that's a good place to pick one up.

Another question, I keep reading about TRIM, and how it extends drive life, but the X25-E doesn't have that, what do you do about that?

I would NOT buy a used SSD. They have a warranty and life span.
The warranty is usually, 3-5 years or 4tb. writes. on a 256gb SSD.
The Nan flash modules can only be written to so many times before they are considered unreliable.
E.G.
A 120gb SSD will endure for 3 years or 2tb writes.
A 256gb SSD will endure twice that at 4tb writes because it has more Nan flash modules to write to.
And so on, So the larger the capacity of the SSD the longer it will endure. ( last ).
At 5gb writes per day a 256gb SSD can endure over 50 years.
So NEW SSD's can last a long time if they have little writes per day.

NEW SSD's like "Crucial, HP, WD" have built in garbage collecting so additional "trim" support is not needed. It is built into the SSD firmware.

Look here:
https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/imac-g3-m … internal-drives
and
https://eshop.macsales.com/search/?q=neptune+ssd

Adapter ( Addonics ADSAIDE Data Transfer Adapter SATA to IDE ATA33/66/100/133 1.0
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Addonics/ADSAIDE/

Intel486dx33 wrote:

I would NOT buy a used SSD. They have a warranty and life span.
The warranty is usually, 3-5 years or 4tb. writes. on a 256gb SSD.
The Nan flash modules can only be written to so many times before they are considered unreliable.

SMART E1 Host Writes and E9 Media Wearout Indicator tell the story for X25-E. It's B1 Wear Levelling Count and F1 Total LBAs Written or something like for many MLC SSDs.

Using a 2.5" IDE/SATA adapter has already been mentioned. But for those of you who'd like to install a modern SSD in a laptop or a small computer that has only a 2.5" IDE drive bay, such as a Mac Mini G4, you can accomplish this by using an 2.5" mSATA to 44pin IDE adapter. I got it working in a Mac Mini G4 and I posted a video talking about that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T35isLn-OhQ

A nice bonus is that this setup has made it much easier to replace the SSD in the Mac Mini G4 with another one in the future, since now all I have to do is remove the lid of the machine and then I can directly access the mSATA slot on the adapter without having to take the computer apart further, which you normally have to do if you want to replace a regular 2.5" hard drive in such a system.

I'm not sure if this is still possible with later SSD form factors such as M.2 cards.

Intel486dx33 wrote:

I would NOT buy a used SSD. They have a warranty and life span. The warranty is usually, 3-5 years or 4tb. writes. on a 256gb SS […]
Show full quote

gryffinwings wrote:

Wow, you weren't kidding, that's a good place to pick one up.

Another question, I keep reading about TRIM, and how it extends drive life, but the X25-E doesn't have that, what do you do about that?

I would NOT buy a used SSD. They have a warranty and life span.
The warranty is usually, 3-5 years or 4tb. writes. on a 256gb SSD.
The Nan flash modules can only be written to so many times before they are considered unreliable.
E.G.
A 120gb SSD will endure for 3 years or 2tb writes.
A 256gb SSD will endure twice that at 4tb writes because it has more Nan flash modules to write to.
And so on, So the larger the capacity of the SSD the longer it will endure. ( last ).
At 5gb writes per day a 256gb SSD can endure over 50 years.
So NEW SSD's can last a long time if they have little writes per day.

NEW SSD's like "Crucial, HP, WD" have built in garbage collecting so additional "trim" support is not needed. It is built into the SSD firmware.

Look here:
https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/imac-g3-m … internal-drives
and
https://eshop.macsales.com/search/?q=neptune+ssd

Adapter ( Addonics ADSAIDE Data Transfer Adapter SATA to IDE ATA33/66/100/133 1.0
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Addonics/ADSAIDE/

I find this info and links quite help as I like the idea that these drives have these built in features. And the cost of them is quite reasonable. Thanks for the info.

Yeah, I think this is a good deal as in this kit you get an SSD, Tray, and adapter.
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDMXLE060/

A 120gb SSD will endure for 3 years or 2tb writes. A 256gb SSD will endure twice that at 4tb writes because it has more Nan flas […]
Show full quote

A 120gb SSD will endure for 3 years or 2tb writes.
A 256gb SSD will endure twice that at 4tb writes because it has more Nan flash modules to write to.
And so on, So the larger the capacity of the SSD the longer it will endure. ( last ).
At 5gb writes per day a 256gb SSD can endure over 50 years.
So NEW SSD's can last a long time if they have little writes per day.

That's as far from reality as it could be. Normal MLC SSDs resource is measured in petabytes (between 1-3 pb), even with relatively small ones. That's a very huge numbers which can't be achieved under normal use even in 10 years. You can kill them faster without TRIM though, and only if you really trying to kill your SSD.

Intel486dx33 wrote:

Yeah, I think this is a good deal as in this kit you get an SSD, Tray, and adapter.
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDMXLE060/

That's what I was looking at, but I will likely get the 250GB version, so I can have space to stash music, games and other files for possible other computer projects that I may do.

Hey guys,

Im confused also with this msata to ide question. A purchased an msata to ide adapter, i thought it will be good to connect for my Pentium Pro (1996) desktop computer. But it turned the ide adapter has 44pin without power connector, while the Ppro desktop has 40 pin cable. Also that power connector would be needed too.
So I found a 44pin to 40pin conversion on ebay with added power connector.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-4-Inch-40-Pin-M … 08AAOSwfcVUDaHg

Will it be good? So many adapters will be now between msata and 40pin ide, i cannot imagine it could work good and stable...

Atom Ant wrote:

Hey guys, […]
Show full quote

Hey guys,

Im confused also with this msata to ide question. A purchased an msata to ide adapter, i thought it will be good to connect for my Pentium Pro (1996) desktop computer. But it turned the ide adapter has 44pin without power connector, while the Ppro desktop has 40 pin cable. Also that power connector would be needed too.
So I found a 44pin to 40pin conversion on ebay with added power connector.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-4-Inch-40-Pin-M … 08AAOSwfcVUDaHg

Will it be good? So many adapters will be now between msata and 40pin ide, i cannot imagine it could work good and stable...

I highly recommend you start a separate thread for your issue so it can garner more attention for your specific question.

The "To TRIM or not to TRIM" debate often leads to lots of confusion and heavy discussion.
Simply said, TRIM is nice to have if available but not mandatory in order to not kill your SSD within a few hours/days/months/years.
The "truth" of a typical life time of a SSD with TRIM or without it is somewhere in the middle.
Life time in general depends on so many factors, such as temprature, voltage, usage case, file system, alignment, overprovisioning,
SLC vs MLC vs TLC, total capacity, small random/continous writes, big random/continous writes, etc.
that it is hard to say which model lasts how long.. 😐
In the extreme, TRIM can get in the way of Garbage Collection (GC) on some SSD models even (as older reviews in magazines said).
In reverse, some old CF cards (my example) have no TRIM, but a very simple wear-leveling mechanism only.
Still, they continue to function even on a daily basis.

In reverse, some old CF cards (my example) have no TRIM

Those usually have quite robust and old NAND, which can take heavier beating when it come to amount of rewrite cycles.

By the way, quite a lot of IDE flash modules also used SLC, they are nearly unkillable and fast.

OWC.com makes IDE SSD’s for old macs and PC’s.
Online Chat with there sales team.

However those retro-SSDs lack that authentic unmistakable sound of old IDE or SCSI drives... 😁