SSD - which option to take?

[afro-ninja]

Long-time reader, first-time poster. Apologies if this is in the wrong section.
I have a early-2011 base 13" MBP. 320gb hard drive, 4gb ram.
It's starting to feel sluggish, apps take a long time to load, especially those like iPhoto. I don't really use such heavy programmes as Photoshop, but it's still annoyingly slow, especially boot times.

I'm going to buy a RAM upgrade to 8gb, which should help, but after that I still feel like I would greatly appreciate an SSD. I can't afford a large one though - 64gb at most.
I've done a bit of research, and two hard drives seems like the way to go - replace hard drive with SSD, and place HDD in optical bay drive.

This is where I would like some advice - do you recommend trying to sort files manually, eg putting boot files and some applications on SSD, or would you recommend using terminal to create a pseudo Fusion Drive? Those who have had experience with either of these would help a lot.

Many thanks

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by afro-ninja

Long-time reader, first-time poster. Apologies if this is in the wrong section.
I have a early-2011 base 13" MBP. 320gb hard drive, 4gb ram.
It's starting to feel sluggish, apps take a long time to load, especially those like iPhoto. I don't really use such heavy programmes as Photoshop, but it's still annoyingly slow, especially boot times.

I'm going to buy a RAM upgrade to 8gb, which should help, but after that I still feel like I would greatly appreciate an SSD. I can't afford a large one though - 64gb at most.
I've done a bit of research, and two hard drives seems like the way to go - replace hard drive with SSD, and place HDD in optical bay drive.

This is where I would like some advice - do you recommend trying to sort files manually, eg putting boot files and some applications on SSD, or would you recommend using terminal to create a pseudo Fusion Drive? Those who have had experience with either of these would help a lot.

Many thanks

With my late 2009 17" MBP, I've gone the Vertex 4 256GB + 1 TB 9.5mm HDD in the optobay way, with a completely fresh ML install. Media files (iTunes) are on the HDD, almost everything else on the SSD.

Works wonderfully.

[afro-ninja]

Thank you for your response
Since I can't get a big SSD - 64gb - would you recommend Fusion Drive or manually deciding what is kept where? The majority of my files are in my Home folder, with over 200gb from things like iTunes, iPhoto and downloads.

[BigG123]

I've installed a Samsung 840 Pro SSD in my laptop last December and even though I've only had it about a month, it is amazingly fast, especially when compared to a spinning hard disk. Unfortunately they don't come in 64GB capacity- the minimum is 128GB (which is what I've got), which you can find on Tiger Direct or Amazon for around $130. I would recommend that you save up for 128GB anyway if it is at all possible, because with iTunes installed, Adobe Photoshop, MS Office, a few games, etc., I've used about 58GB. Everything else including documents, photos, etc., I keep on my old 500GB spinning disk, however, I manage it manually and don't do the "Fusion thing." I keep OS and most frequently used apps on SSD and everything else on the HDD.

[BigG123]

Originally Posted by afro-ninja

I'm going to buy a RAM upgrade to 8gb, which should help, but after that I still feel like I would greatly appreciate an SSD.

I also considered upgrading my 4GB of RAM to 8GB, but after upgrading to an SSD, I found 8GB wasn't really needed, even running Photoshop (which you said you wouldn't be doing). Unless you think you really need it (and some may disagree with this), I'd put the money you would spend doubling the RAM and put that into an SSD.

My SSD easily cut my boot time in half... without any RAM upgrade... and app loading times are just about cut in half as well.

[afro-ninja]

Originally Posted by BigG123

after upgrading to an SSD, I found 8GB wasn't really needed, even running Photoshop (which you said you wouldn't be doing).

Thank you for this, but I find that just running Safari, Skype and Mail make my computer almost unusable. My RAM can barely handle this, do you believe that an SSD will cure this without the RAM upgrade?

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Originally Posted by BigG123

I would recommend that you save up for 128GB anyway if it is at all possible, because with iTunes installed, Adobe Photoshop, MS Office, a few games, etc., I've used about 58GB. Everything else including documents, photos, etc., I keep on my old 500GB spinning disk, however, I manage it manually and don't do the "Fusion thing." I keep OS and most frequently used apps on SSD and everything else on the HDD.

Well, if I don't upgrade my RAM, then a bigger SSD seems like a viable option. Thank you for your insight

[Spink10]

Get a Samsung 840 SSD - get RAM later - get an enclosure for your current HDD - http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NexStar...rnal+enclosure