Advice needed on replacing Optical Drive with SSD

[davehutch]

Just thinking about how I can prolong the life of my early 2009 MBP 17"
I already have a Hybrid drive fitted (Seagate Momentus XT 750GB) so I guess it's two questions here:

1. Could I expect to see a worthwhile performance increase by using a full SSD drive as my main drive?
2. If so, should I put the SSD in the Optical Bay or the main drive slot?

The machines is for general use, plus Adobe Lightroom.

Thanks for your help

 

[LewisChapman]

Just thinking about how I can prolong the life of my early 2009 MBP 17"
I already have a Hybrid drive fitted (Seagate Momentus XT 750GB) so I guess it's two questions here:

1. Could I expect to see a worthwhile performance increase by using a full SSD drive as my main drive?
2. If so, should I put the SSD in the Optical Bay or the main drive slot?

The machines is for general use, plus Adobe Lightroom.

Thanks for your help

1.You would not notice a massive performance difference. What sort of write speeds do you get currently? IMO minimising the moving parts in any machine is the aim mostly for longevity. I also enjoy a silent computer and an overall lower temperature.
2. The speed difference is negligible but if you have the choice, place the SSD in main slot and the hybrid in your optical bay.

It comes down to cost ultimately. If you have the money to buy a decently sized SSD (512+) then its definetly worth it.

 

[snaky69]

Just thinking about how I can prolong the life of my early 2009 MBP 17"
I already have a Hybrid drive fitted (Seagate Momentus XT 750GB) so I guess it's two questions here:

1. Could I expect to see a worthwhile performance increase by using a full SSD drive as my main drive?
2. If so, should I put the SSD in the Optical Bay or the main drive slot?

The machines is for general use, plus Adobe Lightroom.

Thanks for your help

1. Hell yes. The momentus XT is downright slow compared to a full blown SSD.
2. As you wish. I'd personally put it in the optical bay if you intend to keep a regular hard drive in there, I don't think the sudden motion sensor triggers the head parking in the optical bay.

 

[davehutch]

1. Hell yes. The momentus XT is downright slow compared to a full blown SSD.
2. As you wish. I'd personally put it in the optical bay if you intend to keep a regular hard drive in there, I don't think the sudden motion sensor triggers the head parking in the optical bay.

Good point about the drop sensor.
I had a look on YT for comparisons and here are a couple there that pretty much say there won't be much difference at all.
Elsewhere I've read reviews that say there is a massive difference.

Undecided still, but thanks for the reply

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1.You would not notice a massive performance difference. What sort of write speeds do you get currently? IMO minimising the moving parts in any machine is the aim mostly for longevity. I also enjoy a silent computer and an overall lower temperature.
2. The speed difference is negligible but if you have the choice, place the SSD in main slot and the hybrid in your optical bay.

It comes down to cost ultimately. If you have the money to buy a decently sized SSD (512+) then its definetly worth it.

After seeing a couple of caparisons on YT and then another review on toms hardware, I'm undecided.

Like you say, temperature, noise, possibly battery life? would be good reasons but still have to do some more research as views are very polarized