What a Difference - SSD + LaCie 2Big Enclosure

For the past few months my computer has been suffering from some serious speed issues that I tracked to the 1TB drive that came in my Mid-2011 iMac. And since I am not one for patience and didn't want to wait for the new iMac I went out and purchased a few items.

I bought a 256GB Samsung 830 and a LaCie 2Big Thunderbolt Enclosure 4TB (2x2TB). I have my system files, application, Aperture library, etc on the SSD and then my videos, music, and Win7 Virtual Machine on the 2Big drives in RAID-0.

The performance of the SSD is awesome but that's pretty well known around the forums. What really surprised me was the performance of the Thunderbolt+RAID-0 combo. I am reading @ ~350MB/s and writing at ~375MB/s which seems pretty good to me. My old drive (which I think was damaged) was reading/writing around 100MB/s.

Just wanted to share with some other iMac fans. This thing has a whole new life.

whodareswins said:

Did you install the SSD inside the machine?

I am going to be following the iFixit guide on this very soon when I gather all the bits. I shall also replace the stock 500gb HDD for a 1TB, and hopefully quieter!!, HDD to compliment the SSD.

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Yes, I removed the original hard drive. It was shot anyhow. The ifixit guide was what I used and with the proper tools it was easy. The hardest part was getting the screws back in due to very limited access. I suggest a small angled set of tweezers.

whodareswins said:

Thanks for the advice. I feel it doesn't look to bad providing I take my time and organise the screws correctly. My biggest worry is getting marks or dust on the screen. I will probably buy a can of compressed air and use that get rid of any dust.

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I used a can of compressed air and that worked fine.

The screws are easy at least for the screen; they are all the same.

krravi said:

What did you do about the fan control that has been a pesky problem for 2011 Imac's.

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A program called SSD Fan Contol. You'll have to hear the fan during OS X install but install the fan controller, reboot, and set to "manual".