Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Just Ordered Force Series 3, Optibay

C

clickclickw00t

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 28, 2007
186
0
fyi, long post ahead...

Got my 2011 15' Macbook Pro last week with a 750GB drive @ 5400RPM. The drive is very fast, but I produce music and I really need one big storage drive and another very fast one to run Logic, Ableton, Serato, Maschine, VSTs, and Sound Cards (8in/8out). The laptop has a 6/6 SATA connection which means an SSD running at SATA3 would work, and I could also run the 750GB drive at SATA3 with no problem.

Ever since I read about them, I waited and watched Newegg to see when these drives would be released. Apparently, they are the fastest drives on the market right now. At 550 read and 520 write, with 85,000 IOPS, they seemed appropriate. I also did a lot of research to find a suitable optibay alternative. There is no reason MCE should charge $100 for a small piece of metal with some screws. Although it would have come with a free enclosure for the DVD drive, I'd rather pick one up for cheaper.

When my stuff arrives I plan to document my experience with the new drive and optibay for people to look at, and for users who have the same setup to comment and speak about issues.

Info on Drive and Optibay:
Drive info: Price: $233 from Newegg
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/16/corsair-force-series-3-ssds-sandforce-speed-for-modest-money/

Newegg link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233181&Tpk=corsiar force series 3

Optibay: Decided to go with a cheaper alternative that I was told would work with the 2011 MBP 15'.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220784272717#ht_3465wt_1207

And that's it. The drive should get here no later than Monday, and the Optibay, I'm not really sure since it's shipping from Hong Kong. I'll let you guys know how it goes!

Any suggestions, things I definitely should or should not do? Never had na SSD before....
 
Last edited:
ViviUO said:
Finally the Force 3 is in stock.

Ordering now.
Click to expand...

Same thing I said when I saw it this morning. I'm surprised they still have them in stock. They shipped it 1 hour after I placed the order, and I didn't even pay for rush shipping. Within 4 hours it left he warehouse.
 
[urlhttp://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200613664685&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT[/url]
exactly as the one i installed in my machine works like a charm.
 
Last edited:
I'm interested in how that optibay works out. You may want to read the following as far as which bay you decide to put the ssd into:
http://blog.macsales.com/10433-macbook-pro-2011-models-and-sata-3-0-6-0gbs-update-5272011

To summarize:

In short – it’s a mixed bag.
13” – 100% no issues with 6Gbp/s SSD in any bay that has 6Gbp/s available
15” – 100% no issues with 6Gbp/s SSD in main bay, no-go with 6Gbp/s SSD in optical bay.
17” – Hit or Miss for main bay with 6Gbp/s SSD, no-go with 6Gbp/s SSD in optical bay.
Click to expand...
 
You are right. i replaced it on my MB late 08. and it would work for white macbooks with no Mods. Not sure about 2011 MBPs mate.

it says : Apple MACBOOK /MACBOOK PRO that has a 9.5mm-high SuperDrive with SATA interface,SUCH AS MACBOOKPRO 990 MB466 MB467 MB470 MB471.MACBOOK PRO 471 ,etc.

clickclickw00t said:
from what I heard the linke for the one you posted will not work with 2011 MBPs. I see that you have an '08

Maybe we should make a sticky on Optibay and which ones work in what years....

MODs?
Click to expand...
 
I GOT IT I GOT IT!

Just came in the mail, my brand new Force 3 Series!
Since I do not have my optibay yet, I decided to install this in the MBP by itself to see if it would work.

Installed without a hitch. Installed a fresh copy of OSX (took about 30 minutes with ALL stuff selected). Running in OSX now, AJA shows very nice speeds.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Waiting for my optibay to arrive from nimitz now (he already shipped), so I can drop it in and see what happens. So far I'm very satisfied. This is my first SSD and it is BLAZING fast.
 
clickclickw00t said:
I GOT IT I GOT IT!

Just came in the mail, my brand new Force 3 Series!
Since I do not have my optibay yet, I decided to install this in the MBP by itself to see if it would work.

Installed without a hitch. Installed a fresh copy of OSX (took about 30 minutes with ALL stuff selected). Running in OSX now, AJA shows very nice speeds.

Waiting for my optibay to arrive from nimitz now (he already shipped), so I can drop it in and see what happens. So far I'm very satisfied. This is my first SSD and it is BLAZING fast.
Click to expand...

Keep us posted regarding any difference you notice with battery life.

These ones *should* be similar to the Agility 3 ie a lot lower than any other SATA III ssd out there.
 
Anyone have proper settings for AJA? I'm not really sure what tests to run.

No beachballing at all yet.
Also, when I close the screen (sleep) and then I open the screen (wake), it happens INSTANTLY. Like the second I open up the screen again it is up and running...

no difference in battery life yet (2 hours in). Just web browsing. I'm gonna have to take it out soon because I want to put in my 750GB which has all the stuff I really need lol. Hopefully I get the optibay tomorrow or thursday...
 
clickclickw00t said:
I'm assuming its SATA3. I don't think it really matters, I think the important part is the speed on the chipset...
Click to expand...

I can't wait for an update from you on this issue here. I emailed nimitz** and s/he told me it was only SATA 1 or 1.5 Gbps capable, but I heard of many people getting the full SATA II link.

Please report on what speeds the nimitz caddy gives you in the optical drive bay. Thanks!
 
What's the peaks from the read/write on that test?

Corsair is saying they peak at 555/510 but I'm not seeing anything higher than 512/504 in your image. My OWC peaks at 285/270. Which is just 5MB under the OWC advertised write. So the Force3 Writes look good, but the Read looks a little lower than I expected.
 
Im in the market for a macbook pro 15". I will order it with the standard HDD, and buy either Force 3 or Vertex 3 for it, 120GB. How hard are they to install? I would be confident putting it in (built hi-spec PC 2 years ago), its the installing im worried about. Is there any really technical stuff? Or just put in OS CD and off we go?
 
JR1993 said:
Im in the market for a macbook pro 15". I will order it with the standard HDD, and buy either Force 3 or Vertex 3 for it, 120GB. How hard are they to install? I would be confident putting it in (built hi-spec PC 2 years ago), its the installing im worried about. Is there any really technical stuff? Or just put in OS CD and off we go?
Click to expand...

Easy. The macbook even comes with instructions on how to do it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back