Replacing the Mac Mini 2012's HDD with SSD

A.Chakery · Dec 5, 2012, 07:44 AM

Hello,

I wanna replace my 500GB HDD with a 120GB SSD , but before doing this I have some questions :

1.Is it compatible with MacMini ?
2.Will it give me 6GB/sec transfer rate on my mac mini ?

Any help is appreciated !

thank you

simsaladimbamba · Dec 5, 2012, 07:51 AM

If it is a 2.5" S-ATA SSD, it will be compatible.
If it is an S-ATA 6.0 Gbps (S-ATA III) SSD, it will work at S-ATA 6.0 Gbps (S-ATA III) speeds.

Since you did not mention what SSD you want to get, there are many 120 GB SSDs out there, you have to look for the above specs.

A.Chakery · Dec 5, 2012, 07:54 AM

Thank you for your answer ... would you please give me more information on this part :

Quote:

If it is an S-ATA 6.0 Gbps (S-ATA III) SSD, it will work at S-ATA 6.0 Gbps (S-ATA III) speeds.

thank you

philipma1957 · 08:13 AM

Sata I = 1.5GB/s oldest 2006 mac minis have it

Sata II = 3.0GB/s 2010 mac minis have it

Sata III = 6.0GB/s Newest Around 2010 or so. Both 2011 and 2012 mac minis have this

real speeds are

150Mb/s = Sata I

300MB/s = Sata II

600MB/s = Sata III

here is some free advice do you have the ssd on hand or are you buying one?

If you are buying one buy 180gb or larger. If you have it on hand tell us what you own. I can tell from model and make how fast it is.

majkom · Dec 5, 2012, 08:52 AM

someone who does not have a clue what sata is shouldnt be doing replacement by himself...

paulrbeers · Dec 5, 2012, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by majkom

someone who does not have a clue what sata is shouldnt be doing replacement by himself...

At least not in a Mini......

motrek · Dec 5, 2012, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A.Chakery

Hello,

I wanna replace my 500GB HDD with a 120GB SSD , but before doing this I have some questions :

1.Is it compatible with MacMini ?
2.Will it give me 6GB/sec transfer rate on my mac mini ?

...

SATA III is 6 Gb/s (gigabits, not gigabytes) so the most you'll see is 750 MB/s. But that's a theoretical value and actual transfer rate mainly depends on the drive you choose.

The main point of having an SSD is lower latency though which has nothing to do with these bandwidth numbers.

A.Chakery · Dec 5, 2012, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by majkom

someone who does not have a clue what sata is shouldnt be doing replacement by himself...

Thanks everyone for all your replies ...

I know what SATA is and I already repair my iphone and MacBook Pro, but I haven't had any experiences with SSDs and thats why I asked for more info about it.

thanks

----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by philipma1957

Sata I = 1.5GB/s oldest 2006 mac minis have it

Sata II = 3.0GB/s 2010 mac minis have it

Sata III = 6.0GB/s Newest Around 2010 or so. Both 2011 and 2012 mac minis have this

real speeds are

150Mb/s = Sata I

300MB/s = Sata II

600MB/s = Sata III

here is some free advice do you have the ssd on hand or are you buying one?

If you are buying one buy 180gb or larger. If you have it on hand tell us what you own. I can tell from model and make how fast it is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by motrek

SATA III is 6 Gb/s (gigabits, not gigabytes) so the most you'll see is 750 MB/s. But that's a theoretical value and actual transfer rate mainly depends on the drive you choose.

The main point of having an SSD is lower latency though which has nothing to do with these bandwidth numbers.

thats all I wanted to know about SSD ... thanks

Exodist · Dec 5, 2012, 12:50 PM

Different Brands and Sizes can effect speed. My 256GB Samsung 830series SSD in my Gaming PC reads just over 500MB/s and writes right at 420MB/s. Some brands go faster, but hard to beat a 830 for reliability and consistency.

A.Chakery · Dec 5, 2012, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exodist

Different Brands and Sizes can effect speed. My 256GB Samsung 830series SSD in my Gaming PC reads just over 500MB/s and writes right at 420MB/s. Some brands go faster, but hard to beat a 830 for reliability and consistency.

I heard that the 6GB/s models have had more problems , have you had any problems with yours ?

for example please take a look at this topic :
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1177020

Exodist · Dec 6, 2012, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A.Chakery

I heard that the 6GB/s models have had more problems , have you had any problems with yours ?

for example please take a look at this topic :
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1177020

Nah no issues what so ever. Extremely happy with the purchase. It keeps itself running great and worry free. Unlike many other SSDs the use Sanforce. Samsung makes almost all the chips that go into their SSDs.

A.Chakery · Dec 6, 2012, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exodist

Nah no issues what so ever. Extremely happy with the purchase. It keeps itself running great and worry free. Unlike many other SSDs the use Sanforce. Samsung makes almost all the chips that go into their SSDs.

Great ,

I was gonna purchase an OCZ SSD, now I think I should look into SAMSUNG drives too ...

thank you

blanka · Dec 6, 2012, 01:40 PM

Don't replace it, just ADD it.
Don't worry about Sata I, II, or III
Even on USB2 an SSD will put the built in 5400rpm drive knockout for most except 4Gb single file transfers.

A.Chakery · Dec 6, 2012, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blanka

Don't replace it, just ADD it.
Don't worry about Sata I, II, or III
Even on USB2 an SSD will put the built in 5400rpm drive knockout for most except 4Gb single file transfers.

Won't it affect my performance ?

Exodist · Dec 10, 2012, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A.Chakery

Great ,

I was gonna purchase an OCZ SSD, now I think I should look into SAMSUNG drives too ...

thank you

Your question got me looking for any rumors, turns out the Samsung 840 series got a bad rep on the prerelease models sent to a few online sites for reviews like on Anandtech. Turns out they had bad firmware, but that issue was corrected before any was sent into the retail market. So the newer 840 series all have that issues fixed. I was looking just last night matter of fact and the 512MB 840 series drives are performing very good (~500r/~400w) and rufly about 300ish bucks..
I would say just get one of those kits that come with the extra ribbon cable, add it to the system and clone your current drives OS over to the SSD. Then just use the original HDD as extra storage. At least thats my plan for mine.

Cheers,
Joe

aleflu · Dec 11, 2012, 07:17 AM

Hello Guys...

I buy an OCZ Vertex 4 256GB to REPLACE the 1TB HDD. I will change the drive in my mac mini and how can I install the iOS in the SSD? Do you guys have some guide to install? And I have to change some settings to the SSD work perfectly?

I have one Mac in the work but I am noob in the iOS.

Thx!

beyond · Dec 11, 2012, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleflu

Hello Guys...

I buy an OCZ Vertex 4 256GB to REPLACE the 1TB HDD. I will change the drive in my mac mini and how can I install the iOS in the SSD? Do you guys have some guide to install? And I have to change some settings to the SSD work perfectly?

I have one Mac in the work but I am noob in the iOS.

Thx!

You'll have to format it for IOS

aleflu · Dec 11, 2012, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beyond

You'll have to format it for IOS

Is just replace de HDD to the SSD, turn on the Mac Mini and format the SSD? And how I will install the iOS? The Mac Mini don't have a DVD Drive, this is the problem...

A.Chakery · Dec 11, 2012, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleflu

Is just replace de HDD to the SSD, turn on the Mac Mini and format the SSD? And how I will install the iOS? The Mac Mini don't have a DVD Drive, this is the problem...

you should create a bootable flash (thumb) drive ...

there is two ways to do this , one of them is to use disk utility and another one is to use this app

for mountain lion I personally prefer to use the app I mentioned above...

but first you should download the mac from appstore ...

here is another article which also contains the disk utility method.
http://www.tuaw.com/2012/07/25/build...r-thumb-drive/

I hope it helps

LaunchpadBS · Dec 11, 2012, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleflu

Hello Guys...

I buy an OCZ Vertex 4 256GB to REPLACE the 1TB HDD. I will change the drive in my mac mini and how can I install the iOS in the SSD? Do you guys have some guide to install? And I have to change some settings to the SSD work perfectly?

I have one Mac in the work but I am noob in the iOS.

Thx!

How does one get iOS on an SSD? Or is that a typo and I fell asleep for 5 years and woke up in a world where Apple finally upgraded the iPhone to 256GB???

On a serious note, if you're confusing iOS and OS X and you're too lazy to use google you prob shouldn't be swapping that drive on your own.

Menge · Dec 11, 2012, 08:22 AM

To the OP: You seem to be ignoring/confused with the difference between GB and Gb. GB = Gigabytes, Gb = Gigabits. One is 8 times the other.

Sata III is 6Gb/s which is (nominally) 750MB/s. Notice capital B versus non-capital b. Please try not to confuse those two otherwise it'll lead to confusion and redundant posts (kind of like this one, yes) in these threads.

And no: adding an extra SSD to your Mac mini won't affect performance. You'll only get the benefits of the SSD's speed if you have your data on it, though. Any data you keep on your HDD will stay "slow".

A.Chakery · Dec 11, 2012, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Menge

To the OP: You seem to be ignoring/confused with the difference between GB and Gb. GB = Gigabytes, Gb = Gigabits. One is 8 times the other.

Sata III is 6Gb/s which is (nominally) 750MB/s. Notice capital B versus non-capital b. Please try not to confuse those two otherwise it'll lead to confusion and redundant posts (kind of like this one, yes) in these threads.

And no: adding an extra SSD to your Mac mini won't affect performance. You'll only get the benefits of the SSD's speed if you have your data on it, though. Any data you keep on your HDD will stay "slow".

oh sorry you are right ...

and thank you for the answer ... thats all I needed.

T'hain Esh Kelch · Dec 11, 2012, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleflu

I have one Mac in the work but I am noob in the iOS.

Thx!

iOS is the operating system on iPads and iPhones. Macs use Mac OS X.

aleflu · Dec 11, 2012, 11:32 AM

iOS, i mean OS X... There is no iPhone or iPad with SSD, lol! My bad!

Quote:

Originally Posted by A.Chakery

you should create a bootable flash (thumb) drive ...

there is two ways to do this , one of them is to use disk utility and another one is to use this app

for mountain lion I personally prefer to use the app I mentioned above...

but first you should download the mac from appstore ...

here is another article which also contains the disk utility method.
http://www.tuaw.com/2012/07/25/build...r-thumb-drive/

I hope it helps

Thank you! I will download in the App Store and put in the Enclosured HDD to install the OSX.

A.Chakery · Dec 11, 2012, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleflu

iOS, i mean OS X... There is no iPhone or iPad with SSD, lol! My bad!

Thank you! I will download in the App Store and put in the Enclosured HDD to install the OSX.

Actually it does not exist in the App Store and you should download it directly from the link I provided to you.

Don't worry its virus free and I tested it using my Kaspersky Mac .

and you can also use the second method if you don't wanna download any app outside the AppStore

Dec 5, 2012, 07:44 AM	#1
A.Chakery macrumors newbie Join Date: Aug 2011	Replacing the Mac Mini 2012's HDD with SSD Hello, I wanna replace my 500GB HDD with a 120GB SSD , but before doing this I have some questions : 1.Is it compatible with MacMini ? 2.Will it give me 6GB/sec transfer rate on my mac mini ? Any help is appreciated ! thank you
	0

Dec 5, 2012, 07:51 AM	#2
simsaladimbamba macrumors Core Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: in front of it	If it is a 2.5" S-ATA SSD, it will be compatible. If it is an S-ATA 6.0 Gbps (S-ATA III) SSD, it will work at S-ATA 6.0 Gbps (S-ATA III) speeds. Since you did not mention what SSD you want to get, there are many 120 GB SSDs out there, you have to look for the above specs. __________________ This is not amn attempt t write with two brokemn keybards
	1

Dec 5, 2012, 08:07 AM	#4
philipma1957 macrumors 603 Join Date: Apr 2010	Sata I = 1.5GB/s oldest 2006 mac minis have it Sata II = 3.0GB/s 2010 mac minis have it Sata III = 6.0GB/s Newest Around 2010 or so. Both 2011 and 2012 mac minis have this real speeds are 150Mb/s = Sata I 300MB/s = Sata II 600MB/s = Sata III here is some free advice do you have the ssd on hand or are you buying one? If you are buying one buy 180gb or larger. If you have it on hand tell us what you own. I can tell from model and make how fast it is. Last edited by philipma1957; Dec 5, 2012 at 08:13 AM.
	1

Dec 11, 2012, 08:22 AM	#21
Menge macrumors 6502 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Brazil	To the OP: You seem to be ignoring/confused with the difference between GB and Gb. GB = Gigabytes, Gb = Gigabits. One is 8 times the other. Sata III is 6Gb/s which is (nominally) 750MB/s. Notice capital B versus non-capital b. Please try not to confuse those two otherwise it'll lead to confusion and redundant posts (kind of like this one, yes) in these threads. And no: adding an extra SSD to your Mac mini won't affect performance. You'll only get the benefits of the SSD's speed if you have your data on it, though. Any data you keep on your HDD will stay "slow". __________________ Menge - 2011 2.3GHz 13" MBP - 16GB iPhone 4 - 32GB iPad WiFi+4G - 8GB iPod Nano - AEBS
	0

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Dec 5, 2012, 08:52 AM	#5
majkom macrumors 6502 Join Date: May 2011	someone who does not have a clue what sata is shouldnt be doing replacement by himself...
	3

Dec 5, 2012, 12:50 PM	#9
Exodist macrumors member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Buenavista, Agusan Del Norte, Philippines	Different Brands and Sizes can effect speed. My 256GB Samsung 830series SSD in my Gaming PC reads just over 500MB/s and writes right at 420MB/s. Some brands go faster, but hard to beat a 830 for reliability and consistency.
	1

Dec 6, 2012, 01:40 PM	#13
blanka macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jul 2012	Don't replace it, just ADD it. Don't worry about Sata I, II, or III Even on USB2 an SSD will put the built in 5400rpm drive knockout for most except 4Gb single file transfers.
	0

Dec 11, 2012, 07:17 AM	#16
aleflu macrumors newbie Join Date: Dec 2012	Hello Guys... I buy an OCZ Vertex 4 256GB to REPLACE the 1TB HDD. I will change the drive in my mac mini and how can I install the iOS in the SSD? Do you guys have some guide to install? And I have to change some settings to the SSD work perfectly? I have one Mac in the work but I am noob in the iOS. Thx!
	1