NEW HD questions

[cpnotebook80]

I currently have the stock 320gb 8mb cache WD HD as my main HD.I have iphoto itunes and OSx and apps on it.also updated with SL today.

I just bought the WD black caviar 1TB 32mb cache drive and installed it.

I have been transferring some movies and big video files from camcorder over to that drive to free up the main drive space.

I also had a time machine drive from my old imac WD 500gb 16mb cache but the chaise died not the actual drive. So I added that to the mac pro to access my old videos and files too. It showed up as my time machine drive on mac pro.so im happy to have got all those files.plus the space of 500gb.

So that's what I have.
My predicament is for the main startup drive. I want it fast and not sure yet about spending on SSD. Maybe velociraptor?
If I do got the raptor way, should I leave my itunes and iphoto files on that drive and will apps be faster?

also should I stick to the drives I have, ie the main drive and 500gb one or upgrade them to faster drives.not sure how much the cache ram plays its part.

also im getting the 4870 video card from friend for now so that will be installed too next week.

any advice
thanks

 

[rickvanr]

IIRC, your 1TB WD Black is probably you're fastest drive.

Secondly, I remember reading on here that Apple is replacing a lot of out of warranty Time Machines due to a high failure rate.

 

[Loa]

Hello,

As many others have discovered, SSDs are going to replace every computer boot drives in a few years. As simple as that. Velociraptors and other 15K drives are a thing of the past: they were a kind of stop-gap measure until SSDs became cheap enough.

Get a small SSD, roughly twice the size of your bare-OS folder (without the users). My users-less OS is only 20GB, so you don't need a huge SSD. I got a 80GB intel, but a 60GB from OCZ would be good too.

This will give you the most significant speed increase possible in your MP. Nothing else will make as big a difference.

If you really don't want to buy a SSD now, make a partition on your Caviar Black (maybe 100GB) and put your system on there. The first partition of a drive is the fastest, so you *may* notice some difference in boot time, app loading time and general OS snappyness. But don't expect a world of difference.

As I said: don't buy a velociraptor. They're fossils now that SSDs are cheaper. ;-) Save a bit and get a SSD instead.

Loa

 

[cpnotebook80]

SSD it is then.
Now, how will i transfer my OS over to ssd. superduper app?
I have photoshop n mic office etc in my applications, should I leave them on the hd drive or just put them on ssd too.
What about itunes files and iphoto file folders.

 

[rickvanr]

Disk Utility should do it

 

[Loa]

Hello,

SSD it is then.
Now, how will i transfer my OS over to ssd. superduper app?

I use Carbon Copy Cloner, but I've heard good feedback on superduper as well.

I have photoshop n mic office etc in my applications, should I leave them on the hd drive or just put them on ssd too.

I left everything OS on my boot drive except my Users folder. All my apps and everything OS is there. Users folder and all the rest of my data is on regular HDs.

To move your Users folder to another drive, simply copy it to where you want it. Then, go to System Preferences - Accounts and unlock it. Right click on your account name and select Advanced options. You'll get a pane with lots of info you shouldn't touch. One of them will be your home directory. Click the "Choose" button and select your new location.

Don't forget to do it for every user. Restart and make sure that the users are loading from the correct location.

What about itunes files and iphoto file folders.

I left them both in the users folders, so *not* on the SSD. They're way too big and not critically dependent on drive speed.

---

On a side note: I went a step further and I'm now using a RAID0 set for everything that's not the OS. So I have my boot volume on a SSD, and everything else on a 4 disk RAID0 for optimum performance.

That solution is just about the best way you can "pump up" your Mac. A bit costly, but not as much as I originally thought. If you're interested, do a search in these forums and you'll come up with a lot of info.

Good luck,

Loa