Need help between SSD and HDD drives

[Dion818]

This is my first post on mac rumors and i need some help.

the reason I'm in a hurry is i have a project due next week and i need to take care of this.

I am currently running a 750gb HDD drive as my main operating system HD on a 2012 2.7ghz I7 macbook pro (non-retina macbook 9.1) with OWC 16gb 1600mgz ram.

Additional information: my OS drive would have about 100gb of info on there and my project files and sample libraries are about 200gb of info.

I am going to be doing audio editing and music production so its time to upgrade my system. I have two options I'm thinking about and had a few questions about it.

Option A: install a 480gb OWC mercury extreme 6gbps SSD hard drive and run everything off of that.

Option B: install a 240gb OWC mercury extreme 6gbps SSD hard drive and then taking out my CD drive and moving the 750gb HDD drive over to there and using it as storage only.

Now storage is definitely important for me but so is performance.

So my question is for option B lets say i was running logic pro and i have all my sample libraries in my HDD drive would it slow logic down if i access them on the HDD?

Would it be better if i get a second SSD instead of using the HDD? Is there noticeable speed difference as far as the storage drive goes between the SSD and HDD as a secondary drive?

Someone informed me that as far as your system accessing the storage drives it doesn't have anything to do with the hard drive you have but what would effect the speed is the cache and the amount of ram. Is this true?

What is your alternative as to the best possible set up i can do with this system?

thank you in advance for your help.

 

[costabunny]

This is my first post on toms hardware and i need some help.

the reason I'm in a hurry is i have a project due next week and i need to take care of this.

I am currently running a 750gb HDD drive as my main operating system HD on a 2012 2.7ghz I7 macbook pro (non-retina macbook 9.1) with OWC 16gb 1600mgz ram.

Additional information: my OS drive would have about 100gb of info on there and my project files and sample libraries are about 200gb of info.

I am going to be doing audio editing and music production so its time to upgrade my system. I have two options I'm thinking about and had a few questions about it.

Option A: install a 480gb OWC mercury extreme 6gbps SSD hard drive and run everything off of that.

Option B: install a 240gb OWC mercury extreme 6gbps SSD hard drive and then taking out my CD drive and moving the 750gb HDD drive over to there and using it as storage only.

Now storage is definitely important for me but so is performance.

So my question is for option B lets say i was running logic pro and i have all my sample libraries in my HDD drive would it slow logic down if i access them on the HDD?

Would it be better if i get a second SSD instead of using the HDD? Is there noticeable speed difference as far as the storage drive goes between the SSD and HDD as a secondary drive?

Someone informed me that as far as your system accessing the storage drives it doesn't have anything to do with the hard drive you have but what would effect the speed is the cache and the amount of ram. Is this true?

What is your alternative as to the best possible set up i can do with this system?

thank you in advance for your help.

1, This isn't Toms Hardware
2, You would get more and better help if you used a proper thread title related to your question.
3, if your machine is critical to your work/study - a week before due is a BAD time to mess about with upgrades.

 

[Dion818]

well this is my first post on any forum and i couldn't find anyone that can help me so i decided to post it on here. how can i change the title?

 

[S.B.G]

well this is my first post on any forum and i couldn't find anyone that can help me so i decided to post it on here. how can i change the title?

First, welcome to our site, MacRumors! Don't worry about the Tom's Hardware bit. It's no biggie.

You can update your thread title by pressing the Edit button and adjusting it there.

 

[Dion818]

First, welcome to our site, MacRumors! Don't worry about the Tom's Hardware bit. It's no biggie.

You can update your thread title by pressing the Edit button and adjusting it there.

Thank you! Would you be able to shine some light on my issue?

 

[costabunny]

I think I may have come across a bit more horrid than I thought (sarcasm and written word do not good bedfellow make).

My main point was that you said you had a project due next week. Having a due date and looking at upgrading isn't always the best move.

Is there any reason to have to upgrade before then? (I mean how would it be if a day after the upgrade the new drive/mac broke?)

just my ways of thinking.

yeh hi

 

[S.B.G]

Thank you! Would you be able to shine some light on my issue?

From the best of my knowledge storing your Logic Pro libraries on a HDD shouldn't really affect performance too much. I do the same thing with my video projects. I run iMovie on the SSD and store the files on a HDD. When I do both on the SSD, I don't see much or any difference in performance.

 

[Jonathanchasr]

Option B

Swapping out your Hard drive with the SSD and replacing the Optical disk drive with the original hard drive is probably a better choice if you want speed and storage in the same time.

 

[costabunny]

I find for Logic - a nice big SSD is great. having loops, samples and track data load in and out of memory from the SSD is quite a difference in my experience.

If you can go for the SSD (480) then its better (again in my opinion) than running SSD and HDD and losing the optical drive (depends if you use it to burn CD's etc).

Just make sure to take a good backup of the drive before upgrading and keep it around for a week or so (just in case).

Carbon Copy Cloner is the best bet for that one

 

[koppie644]

For large capacity, you should buy Crucial M500 960GB, which is $580, not much more expensive than lots of 512GB/480GB drives

I don't think you have to buy OWC since it's not retina

 

[Jaben3421]

This is my first post on mac rumors and i need some help.

the reason I'm in a hurry is i have a project due next week and i need to take care of this.

I am currently running a 750gb HDD drive as my main operating system HD on a 2012 2.7ghz I7 macbook pro (non-retina macbook 9.1) with OWC 16gb 1600mgz ram.

Additional information: my OS drive would have about 100gb of info on there and my project files and sample libraries are about 200gb of info.

I am going to be doing audio editing and music production so its time to upgrade my system. I have two options I'm thinking about and had a few questions about it.

Option A: install a 480gb OWC mercury extreme 6gbps SSD hard drive and run everything off of that.

Option B: install a 240gb OWC mercury extreme 6gbps SSD hard drive and then taking out my CD drive and moving the 750gb HDD drive over to there and using it as storage only.

Now storage is definitely important for me but so is performance.

So my question is for option B lets say i was running logic pro and i have all my sample libraries in my HDD drive would it slow logic down if i access them on the HDD?

Would it be better if i get a second SSD instead of using the HDD? Is there noticeable speed difference as far as the storage drive goes between the SSD and HDD as a secondary drive?

Someone informed me that as far as your system accessing the storage drives it doesn't have anything to do with the hard drive you have but what would effect the speed is the cache and the amount of ram. Is this true?

What is your alternative as to the best possible set up i can do with this system?

thank you in advance for your help.

Honestly, OWC drives aren't the best out there. You will be way better off with a Crucial M series drive or Samsung 840 series drive. For $595 you can get a Samsung 840 Evo 1TB
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE1T0BW/dp/B00E3W16OU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384821151&sr=8-1&keywords=Samsung+840+Evo+1TB
That's only $75 more than that OWC drive for more than double to space. Also, in the future I would consider upgrades a little more than a week in advance incase you tear a hard drive cable or strip a screw during the upgrade. Then you're out of a computer for a week during the time your project is due.

 

[Dion818]

thank you guys very much for the quick responses. This is great information.

As far as why i chose to go with the OWC extreme is because its geared specifically towards mac. I read somewhere that the 840 has compatibility issues with mac even though it is a better SSD drive then the OWC. Anyone know if thats a true statement?

 

[McGiord]

I had used OWC for years and haven't had any issues. There are plenty of brands they offer so pick and choose the best for you.
I do have a 256GB SSD from them installed in the optical bay and a 1TB HDD in the HDD bay of my late 2008 MBP. Nowadays the prices are really affordable when compared with a couple of years back. I don't do audio or video editing.
There are also some hybrid drives out there.
Anyway whatever you buy can always be later used as a backup external disk once you put it in a proper case.

 

[Dion818]

if i was to take out the optical drive and replace it with a HDD drive does that void out my applecare since it is a customization?

 

[gngan]

if i was to take out the optical drive and replace it with a HDD drive does that void out my applecare since it is a customization?

Yes but you can always swap back the optical drive if you need to bring it in to Apple right?

 

[blake2]

thank you guys very much for the quick responses. This is great information.

As far as why i chose to go with the OWC extreme is because its geared specifically towards mac. I read somewhere that the 840 has compatibility issues with mac even though it is a better SSD drive then the OWC. Anyone know if thats a true statement?

I don't think there's anything special about the OWC SSD drives, as there isn't much to customize in a SSD for a Macintosh, as far as I've read through.
They are by no means terrible... OWC makes good products and has fantastic customer service, but their price is pretty high to make up for the great CS.

As for other SSD's in the mac, although I've never put a Samsung in my Macs, I currently have 2 crucial m500's in my 2012 cMBP and 2 Sandisk Extreme I's in my 2010 cMBP. The older cMBP has seen OWC, Crucial M4 and also an Intel 520 shortly to power it and I never noticed the difference between any of them(which is also because the 2010 cMBP is SATA II limited ).
As of today, the 960GB m500 is $499 on amazon, which is actually CHEAPER than the OWC mercury extreme 480gbs with 5years' warranty. If you want 500gb- class, the Crucial is available for $299 and the Samsung EVO is at $339, while the OWC mercury extreme is $519, and the mercury electra(3y-warranty version) is $419.


If you DO go for the HDD + SSD option, though, it may be better for you to put the SSD in the optical bay as your HDD probably needs the extra protection from the hard drive bay.

 

[tmoerel]

Stay away from OWC. They have very high failure rates!!

Better go for a Samsung 840 series SSD

 

[npayme]

I don't think there's anything special about the OWC SSD drives, as there isn't much to customize in a SSD for a Macintosh, as far as I've read through.
They are by no means terrible... OWC makes good products and has fantastic customer service, but their price is pretty high to make up for the great CS.

As for other SSD's in the mac, although I've never put a Samsung in my Macs, I currently have 2 crucial m500's in my 2012 cMBP and 2 Sandisk Extreme I's in my 2010 cMBP. The older cMBP has seen OWC, Crucial M4 and also an Intel 520 shortly to power it and I never noticed the difference between any of them(which is also because the 2010 cMBP is SATA II limited ).
As of today, the 960GB m500 is $499 on amazon, which is actually CHEAPER than the OWC mercury extreme 480gbs with 5years' warranty. If you want 500gb- class, the Crucial is available for $299 and the Samsung EVO is at $339, while the OWC mercury extreme is $519, and the mercury electra(3y-warranty version) is $419.


If you DO go for the HDD + SSD option, though, it may be better for you to put the SSD in the optical bay as your HDD probably needs the extra protection from the hard drive bay.

I agree... i have a Crucial M500 and it has been great so far... definitely no complaints.

 

[Ccrew]

There's also Option C:

Install the SSD, move the HDD to the Optibay, and set up a fusion drive. With a 240gb SSD you then have effectively a 1tb drive that for the most part acts like an SSD.