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Buying a new MBP + SSD.. need advice

Jeremy08 said:
So I am confused:confused: Can someone clarify?

If I were to custom order a mbp 2.2 and do the add on (for an additional $90) of the 120gb ssd, and then say get a data doubler and an additional hdd, will the hdd not be protected, or is this not the way to go? Is there a reason not to go this route?

What i mean is the anti-shock protection? Is this a huge issue not to have?
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Don't worry about the anti-shock protection. From what I can see with my eyes, the anti-shock protection is just four small, rubber shock dampeners around the mounting screws of the HDD. This is also combined with the Sudden Motion Sensor, which should normally be disabled when you install an SSD (I'm not sure if the SMS affects drives installed in the optical bay). I won't claim the the shock dampeners are ineffective, but they seem to provide minor and limited protection. If you are booting and running apps from the SSD then your HDD isn't going to be running constantly (it only runs when you are accessing its files -- probably music or movies in your case). Without the anti-shock protection your HDD might be damaged if your MBP suffers a sharp impact. I don't see that being too likely. Backup your data always. In the unlikely case the HDD does fail, your SSD with the OS and apps should be safe and you can recover your data from your backup. Don't sweat the shock protection. It will probably never be an issue.
 
treestar said:
Don't worry about the anti-shock protection. From what I can see with my eyes, the anti-shock protection is just four small, rubber shock dampeners around the mounting screws of the HDD. This is also combined with the Sudden Motion Sensor, which should normally be disabled when you install an SSD (I'm not sure if the SMS affects drives installed in the optical bay). I won't claim the the shock dampeners are ineffective, but they seem to provide minor and limited protection. If you are booting and running apps from the SSD then your HDD isn't going to be running constantly (it only runs when you are accessing its files -- probably music or movies in your case). Without the anti-shock protection your HDD might be damaged if your MBP suffers a sharp impact. I don't see that being too likely. Backup your data always. In the unlikely case the HDD does fail, your SSD with the OS and apps should be safe and you can recover your data from your backup. Don't sweat the shock protection. It will probably never be an issue.
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I asked Apple about this. They said in the Optibay there is no protection from the Sudden Motion Sensor as the OS is not designed to detect an HDD in the non-standard position. They recommended using another SSD as well for additional shock protection.
 
sapporobaby said:
I asked Apple about this. They said in the Optibay there is no protection from the Sudden Motion Sensor as the OS is not designed to detect an HDD in the non-standard position. They recommended using another SSD as well for additional shock protection.
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So what is your setup with your 15"?

Also, do you think the best way to go then is to just stick with a say 500gb 7200rpm in the standard bay and skip the optidrive all together? Is it not realistic to implement an ssd at this point and still have space?

What about the idea of using an external firewire drive for movies/music and only having neccesities on a 120gb ssd (installed by apple)?
 
Jeremy08 said:
So what is your setup with your 15"?

Also, do you think the best way to go then is to just stick with a say 500gb 7200rpm in the standard bay and skip the optidrive all together? Is it not realistic to implement an ssd at this point and still have space?

What about the idea of using an external firewire drive for movies/music and only having neccesities on a 120gb ssd (installed by apple)?
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My set up currently is as such. Current being the operative word as I am waiting for my Optibay to be delivered.

15 inch MBP 2.2 i7 with a 120 GB Intel 320 (firmware updated today) as the boot drive. Will install either my old 7200 RPM Seagate into the Optibay or spring for an 250 GB Intel 510 SSD. I am sure the Seagate if more than fine but I just want an extra SSD. I am an early adopter. I change computers every year so I expect to only have this set up for a few more months until Apple releases something new.

I can't tell you what to do. A lot of it depends on your needs and finances. My needs are for a pretty fast system and money is not an issue with me, thus the two SSD option. However, I also and realistic in that the 7200 RPM Seagate is most likely more than enough. If you are going to get an Optibay, DO NOT PUT THE SSD there. It is designed to work on the main bay SATA bus where as the Optibay was not designed for fast performance.

If you can live with an external drive then go for it. Have your 120 GB SSD as the boot drive.
 
sapporobaby said:
Just updated. Was not hard at all. I will detail it for you and anyone else if needed.

1. Download the ISO file from the Intel site.
2. Burn the ISO file with say toast or some other burning software.
3. Reboot your Mac and hold the "C" key.
4. Follow instructions on screen....

Done and done.... Took almost 6 mins to complete.
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Yeah it is easy if you don't have the optibay or hdd caddy and you have not taken out your optical drive was my point.
 
ssd

I have a 13 inch 2011 macbookpro hddcaddy wich holds my 750GB hd and an vertex 3 120GB build in place of the original HDD. cause that's the only sata 600 port so the sad can work full potential. ssd performance is around 500 MB/s no problems so far. Here is what i know so far.
1. build the ssd in place of hdd if you want the real speed. (put the hdd in caddy / optibay)
2. apparently the 15 and the 17 inch macbookpro models have troubles with interference on the sata cable with high data rates with can be reduced with tinfoil raps or (ifixed has them)
3. From what i read so far don't use trim as it causes al sort of problems and as i understand newer sand force controllers do this stuff already internally wich cause it to fire backwards .

hope this helps
 
Could someone with the SSD in the optibay post some benchmarks for us to see the speed? What difference in speed are we talking here if SSD is in the optibay as opposed to the HDD bay?
 
jon08 said:
Could someone with the SSD in the optibay post some benchmarks for us to see the speed? What difference in speed are we talking here if SSD is in the optibay as opposed to the HDD bay?
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I just spoke to MCE. The tech support guy said that the SSD in the Optibay will be slower than the SSD in the main bay but everyone knows this. The SSD in the Optibay will be faster than the HDD in the Optibay.

You can call for yourself: +1800-500-0622...
 
jon08 said:
A simple GeekBench test would do...
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Come on dude. You gotta do some of the work yourself. Anandtech usually, not always has info about some of the same tests you are asking for. Also, do what I did. Be proactive and call MCE and ask them about the Optibay/SSD/HDD solution. I called, asked and got the information I was looking for. I made my decision regarding using an SSD in the Optibay. All based on a bit of research and a phone call.
 
sapporobaby said:
Come on dude. You gotta do some of the work yourself. Anandtech usually, not always has info about some of the same tests you are asking for. Also, do what I did. Be proactive and call MCE and ask them about the Optibay/SSD/HDD solution. I called, asked and got the information I was looking for. I made my decision regarding using an SSD in the Optibay. All based on a bit of research and a phone call.
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Wait, what is exactly is MCE?
 
jon08 said:
Wait, what is exactly is MCE?
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Makers of the Optibay. Are you saying you know about the Optibay but never went to the website? Anyway, if you look up about four posts you will see their phone number that I posted. Call them and ask them your questions. As I and maybe a few others have mentioned, you will not get faster performance with an SSD in the Optibay over an SSD in the main bay. Can't say it any simpler than that. The Optibay is NOT DESIGNED to function in the same way your primary bay operates. This is pretty clear. A bit of Google, a phone call here or there would have given you the same info I have.
 
I did go to their website but I'm still not that familiar with them as I'm currently mainly researching SSDs. And I do understand that I won't be getting the same performance with an SSD in Optibay vs. main bay. But should that speed difference be negligible, I wouldn't even worry about it, yet if the difference is big enough I'd surely rather have the SSD in the main bay. Also, what I still don't know is how much risk am I putting my HDD to if I mount it in the Optibay where there's no anti-shock protection and motion detectors.

Maybe they know it at MCE, I'll take your advice and give them a call, though I have a feeling they won't be able to give me any adequate answers. But then there's still ANandtech, I guess.
 
jon08 said:
I did go to their website but I'm still not that familiar with them as I'm currently mainly researching SSDs. And I do understand that I won't be getting the same performance with an SSD in Optibay vs. main bay. But should that speed difference be negligible, I wouldn't even worry about it, yet if the difference is big enough I'd surely rather have the SSD in the main bay. Also, what I still don't know is how much risk am I putting my HDD to if I mount it in the Optibay where there's no anti-shock protection and motion detectors.

Maybe they know it at MCE, I'll take your advice and give them a call.
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This is what they told me.

The boot SSD will be MUCH faster than the data SSD simply because you are launching applications, opening files, etc.. with the boot SSD. The data SSD is only moving stuff around, thus incurring sequential, and random reads and writes. The Optibay has a nature bottleneck based on the fact that it is meant for a storage drive. This could be the way they configured their main board or whatever (my opinion). He said, that using a regular spinning HDD is more than enough however, if an SSD is avail, it will perform faster than the HDD but not as fast as the boot SSD. Considering, 1. I have a friend that will give me a super great deal on the Intel 510 250GB SSD, and to be honest even if he didn't I have the money to buy any SSD I want, I will go with an SSD just to have it. The tech did mention that there should be a bit better battery life, no vibration, no extra heat, and no moving parts as the Sudden Motion Sensor does not monitor or cover the Optibay drive. In short, I am set.
 
Yes, I meant to make my SSD the boot drive anyway... So if I were to put SSD in the Optibay, it couldn't be serve as my boot drive? In other words, can only the drive in the main bay serve as the boot drive?

How much are you getting the 250GB SSD for?
 
jon08 said:
Yes, I meant to make my SSD the boot drive anyway... So if I were to put SSD in the Optibay, it couldn't be serve as my boot drive? In other words, can only the drive in the main bay serve as the boot drive?

How much are you getting the 250GB SSD for?
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You can make the Optibay the boot drive but it will be slower. I read this as well. Darn, I forgot the link. If I find it again, I will post it to you.

Getting the 250 for €200. :) A very good friend.
 
Thanks. Wow, 200€ is a super duper price for such a drive!! :) Whereabouts in Europe are you from?
 
Thanks... I really don't know which SSD I should get now.

Actually, as of today I've been considering getting an OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G... Other than that I guess it's still Intel 320 or maybe 510..
 
jon08 said:
Thanks... I really don't know which SSD I should get now.

Actually, as of today I've been considering getting an OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G... Other than that I guess it's still Intel 320 or maybe 510..
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Hey dude. I have both the 320 (120 GB), and the 510 (250 GB). The 120 GB is the boot drive while the 250 serves as the data and storage drive. I keep my iTunes and Aperture Library on it. I am happy with both.
 
How long have you had them for? What I'm slightly concerned about is degradation in speed over time, which is what drives like OWC don't have because of the "garbage collection" thing that SandForce drives have.

Btw, do you keep TRIM enabled?
 
jon08 said:
How long have you had them for? What I'm slightly concerned about is degradation in speed over time, which is what drives like OWC don't have because of the "garbage collection" thing that SandForce drives have.

Btw, do you keep TRIM enabled?
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No. I am not going to initiate that hack. Second, Sandforce drives do not necessarily need TRIM enabled. I have read that some people have issues enabling TRIM on a Sandforce drive.

You are way in the weeds worry about the speed degradation thing. It is not like it will happen tomorrow or the next day or even the next year. You will most likely sell your computer long before it becomes noticeable. I usually keep a computer only a year anyway, and I plan to take my Optibay and two drives with. I will keep them for a few years and then get something new. I will spend more time enjoying my Mac rather than worrying about what my drive is doing. I have a five year warranty so I am not concerned.
 
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