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17" MBP with 2 Samsung 256Gb SSDs in RAID 0

U

UNO

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 8, 2008
29
0
Just ordered the new Sammy SSD and going to go buy 2.66 17" MBP in the Apple Store tomorrow (****** Apple policies won't let overseas card in US store for custom order, and I can't wait anyway). I've also ordered the OptiBay caddy and extra RAM.

Originally I planned to just move the HDD to Optibay and use as a second drive. But now I think about going for a second Samsung and putting them into a RAID0.

I strongly believe that RAM and HDDs are most important when it comes to the performance in my situation (editing multiple multi-layer Photoshop files) + heavy web-browsing, some HD editing and RAW photos editing (Aperture, 21mpix files). I'd love to get the better CPU, but don't feel like it's that crucial.

Anyway, please, advice if you think that the double SSD RAID0 setup is technically possible and feasible (would boost performance)?

BENCHMARK:
Results 203.56 (first it was 206, but I re-tested and this is what ti shows now)
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.6 (9G2141)
Physical RAM 8192 MB
Model MacBookPro5,2
Drive Type Boon Disk
CPU Test 145.14
GCD Loop 281.61 14.84 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 121.26 2.88 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 95.69 3.16 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 188.26 32.78 Mops/sec
Thread Test 295.03
Computation 382.35 7.75 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 240.18 10.33 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 183.24
System 206.67
Allocate 273.94 1.01 Malloc/sec
Fill 173.56 8438.74 MB/sec
Copy 195.94 4047.15 MB/sec
Stream 164.58
Copy 154.07 3182.17 MB/sec
Scale 159.25 3290.13 MB/sec
Add 174.26 3712.05 MB/sec
Triad 172.56 3691.42 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 196.92
Line 182.16 12.13 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 230.98 68.96 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 187.67 15.30 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 180.27 4.55 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 212.94 13.32 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 173.86
Spinning Squares 173.86 220.55 frames/sec
User Interface Test 435.78
Elements 435.78 2.00 Krefresh/sec
Disk Test 180.92
Sequential 196.67
Uncached Write 440.93 270.72 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 414.71 234.64 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 71.95 21.06 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 568.20 285.58 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 167.51
Uncached Write 52.53 5.56 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 299.07 95.74 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1471.93 10.43 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 1220.93 226.55 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Click to expand...
 
I think it's hilarious that people (including myself) treat these laptops like powerhouses, considering the price vs performance of the MacPro. Regardless, a RAID0 with 2 SSDs sounds fantastic, and the Optibay will make it happen. Go for it.
 
I have the MacPro, but it's left at home and I'm traveling now. I guess I'd do anything to get THAT feeling back :(
 
it'd be an expensive experiment, but honestly, I personally don't think you're going to see a noticeable increase in improvement. If you're going to be running benchmarks, then you might see variables in results, but real word applications, I don't. here's an anology I like to use. you buy an already top the line sports car that can go tops at 180mph, you add modifications that'll bring it to 185mph. would that make a difference in everyday driving in real world streets and highways? no, will it make a difference on the race track where you're competing where one tenth of a second counts, perhaps.

there are people who buy things that'll give them an edge, and there are people who buy things that'll make them feel like its giving them an edge.

but in the end, its your money and if its burning a hole in your pocket, go for it.
 
i am also planning to get a raid0 setup in a 17" unibody... soon. only i cannot afford two SSDs so i have to use two normal HDDs. i'm with you 100%. who cares if raid0 increases your chance to lose data. that's just irrelevant if you don't put anything important on your laptop. and even if you do, there is this thing called time machine anyway.

so dont listen to the people who are whining to you about how little different it will make... and keep us posted...
 
SSDs arrived today. The MBPU purchased yesterday. Now waiting for the OmniBay and RAM from OWC. Once everything is here I'll post benchmarks.


Outrigger said:
it'd be an expensive experiment, but honestly, I personally don't think you're going to see a noticeable increase in improvement. If you're going to be running benchmarks, then you might see variables in results, but real word applications, I don't. here's an anology I like to use. you buy an already top the line sports car that can go tops at 180mph, you add modifications that'll bring it to 185mph. would that make a difference in everyday driving in real world streets and highways? no, will it make a difference on the race track where you're competing where one tenth of a second counts, perhaps.

there are people who buy things that'll give them an edge, and there are people who buy things that'll make them feel like its giving them an edge.

but in the end, its your money and if its burning a hole in your pocket, go for it.
Click to expand...

Think about Formula 1... that extra 5mph can make a difference between winner and, you guessed - looser. This laptop is temporary working machine for me, and just 2-3 saved hours compensate for the extra investment I made. I already have a beefed-up MBP 15" but it not a "top of the line sports car" anymore.
 
UNO said:
Think about Formula 1... that extra 5mph can make a difference between winner and, you guessed - looser.
Click to expand...

No actually the biggest difference is the driver and in this case the operator. ;)
 
nikhsub1 said:
You so need raid0 for that. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That was after +, and before the + there was "photoshop files". I normally do that on a MacPro with 16gb and I wish I could open even more files simultaneously and work with them without hiccups. With my current MBP I have to close down Safari to open more than 3 PSDs I work with.
 
alphaod said:
No actually the biggest difference is the driver and in this case the operator. ;)
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: ok, ok somebody might actually open up a file faster than I do, but hey, I didn't say I'm not learning. :eek:
 
UNO said:
Just ordered the new Sammy SSD and going to go buy 2.66 17" MBP in the Apple Store tomorrow (****** Apple policies won't let overseas card in US store for custom order, and I can't wait anyway). I've also ordered the OptiBay caddy and extra RAM.

Originally I planned to just move the HDD to Optibay and use as a second drive. But now I think about going for a second Samsung and putting them into a RAID0.

I strongly believe that RAM and HDDs are most important when it comes to the performance in my situation (editing multiple multi-layer Photoshop files) + heavy web-browsing, some HD editing and RAW photos editing (Aperture, 21mpix files). I'd love to get the better CPU, but don't feel like it's that crucial.

Anyway, please, advice if you think that the double SSD RAID0 setup is technically possible and feasible (would boost performance)?
Click to expand...

It is a good idea. Please post your benchmarks when you get them.

The CPU Factor: But why do you want to cripple it with the slower processor? If you look at the XBench results for both processors, you will see the faster processor makes a huge improvement with the SSD upgrade. My new MBP is faster than my Mac Pro--at least until I update my desktop system with SSD's.

Apple SSD: Also, note that the performance specs of the Toshiba SSD is slightly better than the Samsung, and it doesn't seem to be as fast as expected. Not that I am complaining. I get one bounce on my dock and the application is up. Why would you want to be any faster? The CPU is the main bottleneck now, or rather the OS and application software that doesn't know how to utilize multiple cores effectively. Pick some CPU intensive task like rendering video and you will see what I mean.

SSD Brands: The Intel SSD provides the best speed. And if you go for the 64Gb enterprise grade SLC's you pick up on write peformance also.

For the fastest MacBook Pro: If you want the fastest MacBook Pro, chose the fastest CPU, and the fastest SSD's.

One final point. I think the best reason to remove the Optical drive is to make the machine quieter. I find that I hate the sounds the optical drive makes, even when it is empty. I've gotten over the creepy feeling I had when I pressed the start button and heard nothing--now I love the fact it is so quiet.

 
NightSailor said:
It is a good idea. Please post your benchmarks when you get them.

The CPU Factor: But why do you want to cripple it with the slower processor? If you look at the XBench results for both processors, you will see the faster processor makes a huge improvement with the SSD upgrade. My new MBP is faster than my Mac Pro--at least until I update my desktop system with SSD's.

Apple SSD: Also, note that the performance specs of the Toshiba SSD is slightly better than the Samsung, and it doesn't seem to be as fast as expected. Not that I am complaining. I get one bounce on my dock and the application is up. Why would you want to be any faster? The CPU is the main bottleneck now, or rather the OS and application software that doesn't know how to utilize multiple cores effectively. Pick some CPU intensive task like rendering video and you will see what I mean.

SSD Brands: The Intel SSD provides the best speed. And if you go for the 64Gb enterprise grade SLC's you pick up on write peformance also.

For the fastest MacBook Pro: If you want the fastest MacBook Pro, chose the fastest CPU, and the fastest SSD's.

One final point. I think the best reason to remove the Optical drive is to make the machine quieter. I find that I hate the sounds the optical drive makes, even when it is empty. I've gotten over the creepy feeling I had when I pressed the start button and heard nothing--now I love the fact it is so quiet.

Click to expand...

I'd go for the better processor, but that means 2 extra weeks wait (and I plan to travel to another country in 5 days). I watch my current CPU and it really looks like it's VERY rarely overloading, while RAM is almost always maxed-out and Photoshop is accessing disk like crazy. So, I just couldn't justify waiting.

The new Samsung SSDs (MLC) are said to be faster than Intel SSDs, but we'll see it soon. I've heard only bad things about Toshiba SSDs so far on this forum. One of us is confused. :)
 
Repo said:
I think it's hilarious that people (including myself) treat these laptops like powerhouses, considering the price vs performance of the MacPro. Regardless, a RAID0 with 2 SSDs sounds fantastic, and the Optibay will make it happen. Go for it.
Click to expand...
I don't consider it hilarious. Many of us need the best MOBILE computing experience we can get... so yes, I treat it like a mobile powerhouse...
 
phuong said:
i am also planning to get a raid0 setup in a 17" unibody... soon. only i cannot afford two SSDs so i have to use two normal HDDs. i'm with you 100%. who cares if raid0 increases your chance to lose data. that's just irrelevant if you don't put anything important on your laptop. and even if you do, there is this thing called time machine anyway.

so dont listen to the people who are whining to you about how little different it will make... and keep us posted...
Click to expand...

I currently have SSDs in 4 laptops, and 1 desktop. In the past, I have had a RAID 0 in a desktop using dual Raptor HDDs. Based on my experiences, there is no way that I would choose a RAID 0 HDD setup over a single SSD.

/Jim
 
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