SSDNow V310 960GB
A fast drive with ample space to replace a MacBook’s hard drive
The cost of a (nearly!) 1TB SSD has fallen, but it’s still a luxury item. We tested this one using an external StarTech USB 3.0 enclosure, but you could instead replace a MacBook Pro’s old hard drive with it to boost responsiveness.
In our tests, the V310’s sequential transfer rates peaked at 436.7MB/sec and averaged 365.3MB/sec when reading data, and 409.4MB/sec and 339.8MB/sec respectively when writing it. In random transfers of small data up to 1MB in size – reflecting background system activity and app launches – the drive compares well to Samsung’s 840 Evo in the same enclosure. In fact, the V310 was never more than 2MB/sec apart from that drive’s mean average transfer rates.
The 3Gbps SATA-II interface in a pre-2011 MacBook would limit performance of this and many other SSDs, though it’d still be much better than a hard drive. Kingston’s reckoned 2,728TB for total bytes written (TBW) in the drive’s life works out at 249 years when writing 30GB per day – but this doesn’t factor into the three-year warranty. Performance and theoretical longevity aren’t what stops us recommending the V310. Instead, it’s the high price, because you can pick up a 1TB 840 Evo for £110 less. Alan Stonebridge
The V310 is fast and capacious, but its current price isn’t competitive enough for us to recommend it.