Resolved Which Upgrade is more intelligent?

[KeegM480]

I currently have a 15" MacBook Pro. It is used for heavy photo and video editing & school.

Which idea is better? or should I do something different all together?

Option 1:
Remove superdrive (which I never use) to save weight

Option 2:
Remove superdrive
Replace 500GB hard drive with 128GB SSD
Put 500GB Drive into a caddy where the superdrive was

Option 3:
Do nothing, leave it alone

Suggestions?

 

[Macman45]

If you want an increase in speed then I'd go for option 2. Add an SSD and remove the optical, replacing it with the HDD.

 

[apptastic]

Option 2 sounds good.

 

[raptor402]

Go for 2. Since you have a 2011 Pro with a SATA III bus, you can go for a 128GB or 256GB Samsung 840 (Pro). Make sure that you don't buy a cheap Optibay knock off; those are limited to SATA I and will further slow down your HDD.

Regards
Raptor

 

[Klae17]

Go with 256 gb SSD. You won't regret it!

 

[luminouslight]

IMO putting a SSD would be the best thing you can do for any computer if you're still on a hard drive. The increase in speed alone is amazing, plus no moving parts so it should last a lot longer than a hard drive.

So option 2.

 

[raptor402]

Also, if internal storage isn't too important for you, consider just replacing your HDD with a 256GB SSD. It'll make your MacBook a wee bit lighter than any other option (SSD is lighter than HDD, Optical Drive is lighter than HDD in Optical Bay). Don't bother removing the Optical Drive. It doesn't weigh that much.

Regards
Raptor

 

[Atomic Walrus]

The DVD drive itself weighs almost nothing compared to the machine, so there's no point to removing it unless you're going to put something in there. Definitely go with the SSD upgrade though, you'll never want to go back to a system without an SSD after you see how much of a difference it makes.

 

[davidlv]

Go for 2. Since you have a 2011 Pro with a SATA III bus, you can go for a 128GB or 256GB Samsung 840 (Pro). Make sure that you don't buy a cheap Optibay knock off; those are limited to SATA I and will further slow down your HDD. Regards
Raptor

The OP's original plan is good, ie., to install the HD in the optibay and the new SSD in the HD bay. While the specs of the 2011 MBP states SATA III, there have been many cases where the optical bay is not stable with an SATA III SSD installed there. See the post at OWC shown below, or search here on the forums. The "Data Doubler" mentioned is OWC's brand name for the bracket used to install a drive in the optibay.
Quoted from OWC's HP:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DDAMBS0GB/
"Special compatibility notes related to use of this product" (Data Doubler) "with 6Gb/s SSDs in the following machines:
2011 MacBook Pro 15" (Model ID MacBookPro8,2)
2011 MacBook Pro 17" (Model ID MacBookPro8,3)
• OPTICAL BAY: The optical bay interface in these machines may either be SATA Revision 2.0 3Gb/s OR SATA Revision 3.0 6Gb/s. There is no way to specify/order this data interface with Apple, but you can confirm what interface/link speed version your optical bay offers via the Apple System Profiler.

Testing has demonstrated that Apple factory hardware does not reliably support a 6G (6Gb/s) Solid State Drive or Hard Disk Drive in the optical bay of 2011 MacBook Pros (ModeI ID8,1; 8,2; 8,3). If your OWC Data Doubler bundle comes with a 6G drive, you should ONLY install that drive in the main drive bay and utilize the Data Doubler to re-task your existing drive or install a new 3G SSD or HDD in the optical bay. PRE-2011 models can utilize a 6G drive in the optical bay, but will do so at a reduced 3G (3Gb/s) speed."

 

[srsub3]

option 2 all the life.... you'll feel to use a new machine... speed increase is very important with ssd

 

[KeegM480]

Go for 2. Since you have a 2011 Pro with a SATA III bus, you can go for a 128GB or 256GB Samsung 840 (Pro). Make sure that you don't buy a cheap Optibay knock off; those are limited to SATA I and will further slow down your HDD.

Regards
Raptor

Ok I didnt realize there were knock offs with different speed, Ill have to pay attention.

Also, if internal storage isn't too important for you, consider just replacing your HDD with a 256GB SSD. It'll make your MacBook a wee bit lighter than any other option (SSD is lighter than HDD, Optical Drive is lighter than HDD in Optical Bay). Don't bother removing the Optical Drive. It doesn't weigh that much.

Regards
Raptor

I will definitely do that once I have enough money because 256 and 256 is more than what I have now. I just cant afford that right now, Ill save up for a 256 and just put my current hard drive in the caddy. Than once I get some extra money replace that with another SSD


Thanks guys! Looks like Ill be doing option 2 haha

 

[StockDC2]

Not even close. Option 2.

 

[raptor402]

Ok I didnt realize there were knock offs with different speed, Ill have to pay attention.

Than once I get some extra money replace that with another SSD

Hi,

My cousin had to buy to caddy bays because the first he got limited the bandwidth to 1.5GB/s. In fact, the one I have in my Pro has cut my HDD down to 1.5GB/s.

If you're getting one SSD now, don't bother wasting your money on another SSD. AFAIK, the 2011 pros have an issue where the Caddy bays get cut down to 3.0GB/s. So your second SSD will be cut down to half the speed. Furthermore, if you have one SSD for boot, adding a second SSD won't really change much, unless you're a big Boot Camper and want to install Windows on the second SSD. You'll just be wasting money and sacrificing on storage.

Talking of storage, since you plan to go the Caddy bay way, compare the cost per GB of the SSDs and go for the most cost efficient one. Even a 128GB drive will be more than enough in that case (I was on 80GB for a year and never needed more).

Regards
Raptor

 

[MrGimper]

I have an early 2011 cMBP. I replaced the HDD with a 256GB Samsung 830 SSD. Then put the original 750GB SATA II HDD in an OptiBay.

Then cooked up a home brew Fusion Drive.

Running Mav sweet as.

 

[KeegM480]

Hi,

My cousin had to buy to caddy bays because the first he got limited the bandwidth to 1.5GB/s. In fact, the one I have in my Pro has cut my HDD down to 1.5GB/s.

If you're getting one SSD now, don't bother wasting your money on another SSD. AFAIK, the 2011 pros have an issue where the Caddy bays get cut down to 3.0GB/s. So your second SSD will be cut down to half the speed. Furthermore, if you have one SSD for boot, adding a second SSD won't really change much, unless you're a big Boot Camper and want to install Windows on the second SSD. You'll just be wasting money and sacrificing on storage.

Talking of storage, since you plan to go the Caddy bay way, compare the cost per GB of the SSDs and go for the most cost efficient one. Even a 128GB drive will be more than enough in that case (I was on 80GB for a year and never needed more).

Regards
Raptor

Ok, I do use bootcamp but only need like 50GB for it (I have it set to 100). So then put a 256GB in the origonal HDD spot and put my 500GB where the Superdrive is?

I have an early 2011 cMBP. I replaced the HDD with a 256GB Samsung 830 SSD. Then put the original 750GB SATA II HDD in an OptiBay.

Then cooked up a home brew Fusion Drive.

Running Mav sweet as.

What do you mean by a home brew fusion drive?

 

[Nermal]

What do you mean by a home brew fusion drive?

You can use a few Terminal commands before installing OS X that'll link the two physical drives so that they function like a Fusion Drive.

Run "diskutil list" to get the IDs of the SSD and HDD (disk0 and disk1 in this example), then type:

diskutil cs create "Macintosh HD" disk0 disk1
diskutil cs list

Copy the UUID of the Logical Volume Group, then use:

diskutil cs createVolume [i]paste-uuid-here[/i] JHFS+ "Macintosh HD" 100%

Quit Terminal and install as usual and you're done

 

[KeegM480]

You can use a few Terminal commands before installing OS X that'll link the two physical drives so that they function like a Fusion Drive.

Run "diskutil list" to get the IDs of the SSD and HDD (disk0 and disk1 in this example), then type:

diskutil cs create "Macintosh HD" disk0 disk1
diskutil cs list

Copy the UUID of the Logical Volume Group, then use:

diskutil cs createVolume [i]paste-uuid-here[/i] JHFS+ "Macintosh HD" 100%

Quit Terminal and install as usual and you're done

So would I be able to use my time machine backup and have it to that?

 

[MrGimper]

You can use a few Terminal commands before installing OS X that'll link the two physical drives so that they function like a Fusion Drive.

Run "diskutil list" to get the IDs of the SSD and HDD (disk0 and disk1 in this example), then type:

diskutil cs create "Macintosh HD" disk0 disk1
diskutil cs list

Copy the UUID of the Logical Volume Group, then use:

diskutil cs createVolume [i]paste-uuid-here[/i] JHFS+ "Macintosh HD" 100%

Quit Terminal and install as usual and you're done

If you truly want to mimic a fusion drive, you install the OS onto your HDD first, to get a recovery partition on the HDD. Then boot from a
USB installer, wipe the partitions (recovery is hidden so it stays), use terminal to create your fusion drive, and then install the OS to it. In the diskutil cs create line use the device that points to your WHOLE SSD, and then the partition of your HDD. For example disk0 disk1s3.

 

[Nermal]

If you truly want to mimic a fusion drive, you install the OS onto your HDD first, to get a recovery partition on the HDD.

Ah right, makes sense... I have the 10.8 installer on a USB drive so hadn't thought about a recovery partition, but what you're saying sounds right now that I'm thinking about it

 

[KeegM480]

I am sure I will get it once I get a SSD.. thats a little ways down the road. They are quite pricey but I guess from all that I have been hearing they are worth it though.

 

[MrGimper]

Ah right, makes sense... I have the 10.8 installer on a USB drive so hadn't thought about a recovery partition, but what you're saying sounds right now that I'm thinking about it

After doing it this way, the disk layout is exactly the same as my iMac fusion drive after checking with diskutil list.