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80GB X25 as Boot Disk ?

tamvly

tamvly

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 11, 2007
571
18
Has anyone successfully installed the Intel 80GB X25 SSD as a boot disk in the second optical bay?

Curious if it is possible and/or advisable.
 
That's exactly what i'm planning on doing in about 3 weeks. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. But i'm sure you're going to get some opinions on why you (we) shouldn't :)
 
Yes, I understand that it can be installed in one of the disk drive bays.

I am wondering if the optical bay has the same SATA II connection.
 
I have my 120gb Vertex in the 2nd (empty) optical bay drive. Drive speeds will be the same as the standard 4.
 
Thanks, sboerup.

Can you talk about reasons why you chose the Vertex over the Intel?
 
I've heard great things about the Vertex, and all the new firmware updates made it directly comparable in speeds vs the Intel. The Intel has a long track period of "just working like it should" and was tempting.

For $340, 120GB was a little easier to swallow than $380 for 80GB.
 
So I assume, sboerup, that you flashed the drive with the new firmware.

Were you able to do this under Mac OS or did you need to do so under XP/Vista?
 
It did require a PC running XP, OSX wouldn't allow me to do it in any form (boot camp, parallels). Flashed with the new 1.1 firmware. Took about 10 seconds.
 
Well, that's a bummer. I have no way to flash so it's back to Intel. Although I suspect that the Intel box has the same limitation for updates.
 
tamvly said:
Has anyone successfully installed the Intel 80GB X25 SSD as a boot disk in the second optical bay?

Curious if it is possible and/or advisable.
Click to expand...

Did just that. Nothing to it and works like a charm.
 
I'm also running the X-25M as my boot, it's so zippy with opening apps, I just sit and chuckle. But I haven't updated the firmware, and from the sound of what sboerup says, I won't be able to. Guess I'll have to contact Intel and see what they say.
 
What is the best solution for mounting an X25-M or OCZ Vertex in a drive bay of the '09 Mac Pro models? I plan on having two optical drives so I can't fit one there.
 
It seems like the most significant problem with these drives on a Mac is the ability to install firmware upgrades.

Has anyone found a solution (or talked with Intel/others) other than finding a friend with a PC?
 
tamvly said:
It seems like the most significant problem with these drives on a Mac is the ability to install firmware upgrades.

Has anyone found a solution (or talked with Intel/others) other than finding a friend with a PC?
Click to expand...

I had no problem upgrading the firmware on my standard 2.26 Octo.
 
Oh I see my misunderstanding now. The Vertex needs to be flashed in a PC, while the Intel X-25 update can be done in OS X.
 
rmpstudio said:
I'd advise doing a custom OS install selecting only what you need. I'm sure you don't need 2GB of Garage Band sounds. And according to http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-SettingUpYourMac.html#StartWithACleanSystem you can typically see a 3-4GB system install instead of 8-12GB
Click to expand...


I don't even have iLife installed, nor any languages besides the ones I speak, nor any print drivers.

However, Final Cut Studio + CS4 Master Collection + XCode adds up REALLY fast. (Yes, I could offload and symlink easily enough, but part of the poitn of having a fast boot drive is to launch applications quickly)


I'll just wait for prices on the 160GB models to get a bit more reasonable.
 
tamvly said:
Well, that's a bummer. I have no way to flash so it's back to Intel. Although I suspect that the Intel box has the same limitation for updates.
Click to expand...

I have the OCZ Vertex 120GB. I've had no way to update it either so I'm still using firmware 1199 that it came with. While I'm sure 1.1 has some changes, which are helpful---the firmware I'm using works perfectly fine and I've had no problem with. I can't flash it because I don't know where to get a jumper from assuming I find a Windows computer. I'm not sure about Intel but I think pricewise, if you need the extra 40GB of space you should (a bit more than 40 because my Vertex shows capacity as 121GB while X25-M shows at 74GB) go for Vertex as it's working great.
 
bigbossbmb said:
FCS is only like 2GB... it's the content (which can be, and should be, put on a separate drive) that takes the 20+GB.
Click to expand...

Like I said, I could offload and symlink easily enough, I just don't really want to bother. I already have a frustrating amount of partitions as it is (8), I'm trying to avoid having to add more.

Plus my setup as it is now lets me easily restore my entire OS + applications from my master disk image, which I couldn't as easily do if I start moving stuff around.
 
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