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3g SSD worth the upgrade over 7400rpm HD?

M

MrMJS

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 11, 2014
69
2
Ohio
Is a 3g SSD worth the upgrade over 7400rpm HD? [replace SuperDrive with SSD]

OWC says my iMac can use this SSD drive with my 2009 27" iMac. I would use the SSD for apps only and run my data either off of the internal 1TB drive or an external HD through usb 2.

I'd be running Adobe software 99% of the time. [graphic/web design. No video]
 
MrMJS said:
Is a 3g SSD worth the upgrade over 7400rpm HD? [replace SuperDrive with SSD]

OWC says my iMac can use this SSD drive with my 2009 27" iMac. I would use the SSD for apps only and run my data either off of the internal 1TB drive or an external HD through usb 2.

I'd be running Adobe software 99% of the time. [graphic/web design. No video]
Click to expand...

At SATA II (3gbps) I would say it is worth it. You will be outperforming even the best 7200RPM drive by a wide margin all of the time. I just wouldn't bother to buy a top line SSD (unless you plan on reusing it later) since you won't see any speeds above 250GB/s. I would avoid USB 2 disks for anything other than backup or occasional low res media use.
 
MrMJS said:
Is a 3g SSD worth the upgrade over 7400rpm HD? [replace SuperDrive with SSD]

OWC says my iMac can use this SSD drive with my 2009 27" iMac. I would use the SSD for apps only and run my data either off of the internal 1TB drive or an external HD through usb 2.

I'd be running Adobe software 99% of the time. [graphic/web design. No video]
Click to expand...

The biggest advantage of SSD's is the near instantaneous seek times. That happens whether you have the fastest SSD on the market or one of the slowest. So yes, just about any SSD would feel world's faster than a mechanical drive.
 
I have done the upgrade on my 27" I7 iMac about a year ago. What a difference!!! Much more responsive, reboot in 20+ sec, opens even large apps immediately and behaves like a new computer!

I used a 240GB OWC (Mercury Electra 3G) in a data doubler, keeping the 1TB spinning disk for my data. Works fine this way.

Beware - if you replace the spinning disk you may have the "spinning up fan" problem. The disk has most likely an inboard temp sensor.
So do some research on this before you replace that one>

The way i did it avoids those pitfalls.

Computer has been rock solid and stable - running Mavericks.
 
I had my 2011 iMac 27" upgraded from a 7200rpm HDD to a Samsung 840 evo last week. Total cost were around 350€ but it is totally worth it!!! Before it took me over 2 minutes to open safari and now it takes 21 seconds!!!
I can only advice you to upgrade to an SSD!!!
 
Of course, the main advantage of using SSD for the OS is how fast it can read / write SMALL files, but not the high sequential read / write speed. For random small files read / write, the overall bandwidth required to transfer all data usually much lower than the SATA 2 limit. Therefore, a 3G SSD still a huge upgrade if compare to a 7200RPM HDD.
 
eduardrw said:
I have done the upgrade on my 27" I7 iMac about a year ago. What a difference!!! Much more responsive, reboot in 20+ sec, opens even large apps immediately and behaves like a new computer!

I used a 240GB OWC (Mercury Electra 3G) in a data doubler, keeping the 1TB spinning disk for my data. Works fine this way.

Beware - if you replace the spinning disk you may have the "spinning up fan" problem. The disk has most likely an inboard temp sensor.
So do some research on this before you replace that one>

The way i did it avoids those pitfalls.

Computer has been rock solid and stable - running Mavericks.
Click to expand...

Used a DD from OWC as well on a 09/27. The optical was about to die, so perfect & the temp sensor is right there. In my case the SSD was an EVO.
I was tempted to use the "Ol" Dynamic Link trick available in Users, but there's really no need these days. 3g is still plenty fast on SSD.
 
Do it... I just upgraded my 2007 iMac with a Crucial SSD 512 Gig for about $250

My old iMac now smokes. I mean seriously zooms. Do it. You won't regret it.
 
btsvchris said:
I had my 2011 iMac 27" upgraded from a 7200rpm HDD to a Samsung 840 evo last week. Total cost were around 350€ but it is totally worth it!!! Before it took me over 2 minutes to open safari and now it takes 21 seconds!!!
I can only advice you to upgrade to an SSD!!!
Click to expand...

21 seconds to open Safari? That ain't right. It should be 2 seconds or less with a 6Gb/s SATA SSD.
 
3g SSD worth the upgrade over 7400rpm HD?

toddzrx said:
21 seconds to open Safari? That ain't right. It should be 2 seconds or less with a 6Gb/s SATA SSD.
Click to expand...


Sorry for the late reply.
Indeed I mean from the power button until I open safari :)
When the apple logo is gone and i can open safari instantly
 
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