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PCI Express Card slot SSD/Memory

R

rlr297

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 23, 2011
9
0
Hi,

I have a 17 inch, mid 2009 macbook pro and am looking into options for using an SSD to boot my OS and applications from. Is it possible to boot from an ssd that is installed via my pci express card slot and is this recommended? I'd like to run my applications from that drive that include cs5, avid, pro tools etc. Is running 'intensive' software off of an ssd like that risky in terms of stability?

On a separate note, I'm looking to upgrade my ram from 4gb to 8gb. I saw that there is OWC 8gb of ram for $50. I find it hard to believe it could be of the same quality as the ram apple sells for $400. Is it really marked up that much or is there a difference in quality. I'm willing to spend money on ram, just not $400. What would you recommend?

Thanks.
 
eagandale4114

eagandale4114

macrumors 65816
May 20, 2011
1,011
1
rlr297 said:
Hi,

I have a 17 inch, mid 2009 macbook pro and am looking into options for using an SSD to boot my OS and applications from. Is it possible to boot from an ssd that is installed via my pci express card slot and is this recommended? I'd like to run my applications from that drive that include cs5, avid, pro tools etc. Is running 'intensive' software off of an ssd like that risky in terms of stability?

On a separate note, I'm looking to upgrade my ram from 4gb to 8gb. I saw that there is OWC 8gb of ram for $50. I find it hard to believe it could be of the same quality as the ram apple sells for $400. Is it really marked up that much or is there a difference in quality. I'm willing to spend money on ram, just not $400. What would you recommend?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Yup apple does overprice their memory. OWC is a great ram company.
 
N

Nielsenius

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2011
565
1
Virginia
eagandale4114 said:
Yup apple does overprice their memory. OWC is a great ram company.
Click to expand...
Never buy RAM from Apple. They jack the price up sooooo much. I agree that OWC is a great company (very Apple-oriented). However, you can often find better deals on RAM at sites like Newegg. RAM is pretty generic, so as long as it's compatible it doesn't really matter what the brand is. HDDs and SSDs, that's a different story...
 
R

rlr297

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 23, 2011
9
0
Would you not recommend using an expresscard ssd to boot and go for the internal? Are the OWC drives solid ssd's or is something like an intel the way to go?
 
E

Eddyisgreat

macrumors 601
Oct 24, 2007
4,851
2
rlr297 said:
Would you not recommend using an expresscard ssd to boot and go for the internal? Are the OWC drives solid ssd's or is something like an intel the way to go?
Click to expand...

Just upgrade the internal drive to SSD. If you absolutely have to use the express card SSD , use it only for storage. Don't bother using it as the primary disk. Also make sure it actually attaches to the PCI Express bus, because some of the cheaper ones connect via USB (even though it is an expresscard solution).
 
L

lauph

macrumors regular
Jun 29, 2007
178
0
30 mins from Cupertino
I'm using the Wintec FileMate expresscard SSD.
It connects with the direct PCIe, and boots superfast. Faster than what I see on youtube videos of people with crazy SATAIII sandforce supercool internal SSDs.

It often boots without the spinner even appearing back on Snow Leopard.
 
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