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Momentus XT or Small SSD+Optibay.

S

s.hasan546

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 26, 2011
457
7
NY
trying to think which route would be better for me since im on a budget. $200 budget on top of the computer. Looking for the highest performance for my $$

Momentus XT= $100
8 gb ram= $70

Vs.

40 GB OWC SSD + Optibay= $120ish
8gb Ram= $70

If i go with the 2nd route, should the SSD be in the HDD slot and the stock HDD in the optibay?

Or would it be better to not upgrade to 8gb of ram yet and upgrade to a 128 gb SSD for $200?.

Mainly being used for browsing, some video decoding, watching 8 networked cameras, always running 2 inventory and sales systems (kinda like Bento), and of course Microsoft access and excel. I know ssd helps boot times but i almost never turn off my laptop.
 
128GB SSD
in regards to ram, that can always wait, the SSDs are so fast you wont be able to notice if your running out of ram or not.
 
Go with the SSD. It is life changing in comparison to anything else....... Once I got one my computer finally behaved like I had always imagined a computer should behave.
 
I agree as well. I would get the larger SSD. Especially since you plan to buy the cheapest RAM on the market. Buy the RAM later and don't buy the cheap crap.
 
mulo said:
128GB SSD
in regards to ram, that can always wait, the SSDs are so fast you wont be able to notice if your running out of ram or not.
Click to expand...

agree 100%

MartyF81 said:
Go with the SSD. It is life changing in comparison to anything else....... .
Click to expand...
i could never go back to conventional HDD.. i mean anything over 12secs to boot drives me :mad:


bozz2006 said:
Have any of the folks recommending an SSD tried the momentus xt?
Click to expand...

i tried the momentus with 10.6.6 on MBP 2010,
clean install osx + data migration + bootcamp - win 7
beachball city... in both osx and win 7

erased the drive, updated f/w and reloaded osx only, clean install.. and played around for a few days, did notice very slight pick-up to stock 5400rpm drive, but IMHO compared to WD caviar black.. really difficult to tell the speed difference
I understand the xt 4gb flash comes into play when using programmes freq. accesed, so maybe i did not test this to its full potential.. but the early probs i had and the frustrations, i sent it back

ssd on the other hand, i view ssds as still beta tech in its infancy, so was expecting problems from the start and willing to take the rest..
to date, my owc has performed flawlessly.. the tech support are ace!
 
themac23 said:
Especially since you plan to buy the cheapest RAM on the market. Buy the RAM later and don't buy the cheap crap.
Click to expand...

I hvnt heard of any issues about the G skill ram... ive had plenty of top of the line pcs and frankly, brand of ram never mattered. Please show me some proof in your gonna make assumptions like that.

Does price just make it better? is the OWC 8 gb ram for $115 better than the crucial 8 gb ram at $98? lol
 
johnnyturbouk said:
i tried the momentus with 10.6.6 on MBP 2010,
clean install osx + data migration + bootcamp - win 7
beachball city... in both osx and win 7

ssd on the other hand, i view ssds as still beta tech in its infancy, so was expecting problems from the start and willing to take the rest..
to date, my owc has performed flawlessly.. the tech support are ace!
Click to expand...

that right there has me sold. My main thing is it must work with no issues! momentus xt is off the list than.

Now what 128 gb ssd should i get?
 
I use Crucial RAM almost exclusively. Can get 8GB for $89 from Newegg and they will replace it if it ever fails, which it won't.
 
s.hasan546 said:
Is the OWC 8 gb ram for $115 better than the crucial 8 gb ram at $98? lol
Click to expand...

No. I have had AMAZING experiences (2) with crucial. I have their 2GB RAM kit in my 2.2GHz White MacBook and I have their 8gb 1067MHz RAM kit in my 2.4GHz 2010 MBP. No problems with either of them.
 
s.hasan546 said:
that right there has me sold. My main thing is it must work with no issues! momentus xt is off the list than.

Now what 128 gb ssd should i get?
Click to expand...

i went for a an owc as i got it on sepcial a month back.. it was on the garage sale... and advertised as tester item/as new... my drive came sealed
really amazed with it

however, as the new v3s are out and initial reports claim they are blistering fast and work without isses on the sata3 interface

i plan to wait a few months as cyrrently the prices are stratospherically high!

i already get boot times of 7-10s, 270 read, 260 write and thanks to cindori; i finally have trim... altho with sandforce controllers and their rather aggressive GC, it is questionable how much of benefit trim in osx is!

if u really want the fastest possbile performance go for the v3.. no question

if you want a fast and reliable sata-2 i'd recommend the 120gb owc drive
 
I seriously considered the Momentus XT, but my research showed multiple users on different forums having issues with them in the MBP. That was enough for me to steer clear. I decided on a 128gb Kingston V+ Series SSD because it uses the same controller as the Apple SSD's and no one reported any issues. All I can say is 13-14 second boot times and it seems like programs open before I even click them. The SSD has been THE BEST upgrade I have ever done for a computer. Get one, you won't regret it!
 
I was feeling pretty good about the decision to go with the momentus XT when I finally order the macbook pro that I'm going to get. Starting to feel like I'll completely regret not getting the SSD... Really leaning SSD even though the SSD + optibay and HDD option is going to cost me around $400 more. :confused:
 
bozz2006 said:
I was feeling pretty good about the decision to go with the momentus XT when I finally order the macbook pro that I'm going to get. Starting to feel like I'll completely regret not getting the SSD... Really leaning SSD even though the SSD + optibay and HDD option is going to cost me around $400 more. :confused:
Click to expand...

I was gonna do that but, i set up my airport extreme 10 minutes ago... So in my home network i have a 1 TB networked HDD + 1 TB PC Desktop, all shared through the airport extreme. I was skeptical on how well it would work. but after setting it up and testing it it works beautifully. I can have all my music, movies, and tv shows stream/sync to my itunes. Now i could probably get away with a 60-80 gb ssd but ill get the 128 just in case.
 
johnnyturbouk said:
however, as the new v3s are out and initial reports claim they are blistering fast and work without isses on the sata3 interface
i plan to wait a few months as cyrrently the prices are stratospherically high!
i already get boot times of 7-10s, 270 read, 260 write and thanks to cindori; i finally have trim... altho with sandforce controllers and their rather aggressive GC, it is questionable how much of benefit trim in osx is!
if u really want the fastest possbile performance go for the v3.. no question
if you want a fast and reliable sata-2 i'd recommend the 120gb owc drive
Click to expand...

Is it that much more expensive? your talking about the SATA III ssd's right?

is this a v3?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148362

its only $50 more than the owc sata II... i might get this than.

Any reviews on that ssd?
 
with the latest firmware (v. SD24) my momentus XT it's pretty solid… anyway it still uses a lot of energy and it's still much slower that a SSD!
I'm about to get a kingston V+100 (96GB) and put the stock 5400rpm drive back…
 
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