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Intel SSD 520 and any Apple Macs with Nvidia MCP79 chipset BUG.

idata
Esteemed Contributor III

Hi Intel.

There are many Mac computers with Nvidia MCP79 chipset (Nvidia MCP79 is present in many models of iMac, Macbook, Macbook Pro, Macbook Air).

Nvidia MCP79 have SATA II controller.

There is well known bug with SSD based on SandForce SF-2281 and any Mac with Nvidia MCP79. SSD negotiated Link Speed is 1.5 Gigabit (SATA I). But it must be 3 Gigabit (SATA II).

OCZ already have fix for this issue (for their SSD):

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?96106-Macbook-users-with-1.5Gb-s-link-instead... http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?96106-Macbook-users-with-1.5Gb-s-link-instead...

Corsair works on this issue (they have SSD based on SF-2281).

Patriot Memory works on this issue (they have SSD based on SF-2281).

Intel 520 SSD have same issue.

Intel will you fix this? Talk to Apple or release fix by yourself, but you must do something, because Intel 520 SSD with 150 MB/s read/write speed on Mac (with Nvidia MCP79) is indecent.

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Jose_H_Intel1
Valued Contributor II

Thank you all for posting,

I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Please note that the compatibility between different devices including (but not limited to) SSDs and Apple* products is very specific. Therefore, we recommend you to contact Apple* for a list of validated Intel® SSD models that can be used with their products.

Will the Intel® SSD work in my MacBook?

http://www.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/sb/CS-032001.htm http://www.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/sb/CS-032001.htm

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27 REPLIES 27

idata
Esteemed Contributor III

Update: it seems that my problem with the intel 330 and a 2008 mac pro follows a certain pattern:

- when cold booting the machine, i get the 3gbit connection

- when rebooting, i only get 1,5gbit

i then ordered a sata 3 controller for my machine, based on a asmedia 1061 chipset, and thought that the issue would be resolved when using native 6gbit. when connected to this controller, the intel 330 ssd always connects at 1,5 gbit, no matter if i cold boot, or if i reboot.

would it be possible to get some intel tool that would be able to lock the sata speed of the ssd to a certain setting?

idata
Esteemed Contributor III

I have the exact same problem with my Intel SSD 330 and MacBook 6,1 (2009 unibody).

Seeing that other manufacturers are actively trying to resolve this issue, I hope Intel will soon follow suit.

idata
Esteemed Contributor III

I've got the same problem and it's driving me nuts. My MacBook 5.1 late 2008 is beachballing every few minutes or so for around half a minute. I trusted intel because of their name and I probably wouldn't have gone with their SSD if they had not been giving so much praise for their reliability. I'm very disappointed and will probably never buy one of them again. I was sure that they would fix this in no time, but it's been 3 months now! What the heck.

idata
Esteemed Contributor III

I have the same problem. It seems like this is not a priority for Intel, as such a substantial time has now passed since the launch of the product. I will never buy an SSD from Intel again as the general device compatibility support is inferior to, for example, OCZ.

idata
Esteemed Contributor III

So, am I right that Intel won't fix this bug and I have to return my new SSD and replace it with OCZ or any other drive? I also have MBP 5,1.