Preparing for SSD?

[Weaselboy]

How about virtual memory in OSX? Is it a good idea to disable it when running SSD?

Are you referring to the virtual image created by hibernation? People were turning off hibernation because it was causing SSD lockups in some Sandforce drives, notably OWC. If hibernation is off there is no reason to leave that virtual image on your drive so people were deleting it.

Unless hibernation is causing problems with your SSD, I would leave it on as a failsafe when the battery goes low.

Even the cheapest spec SSD can do 3,000 write cycles per NAND cell and under normal usage that will take years to wear out the drive. Here is a good article about the issue and the writer does a calculation that shows a SSD life of 51 years. Don't worry about it.

 

[jafingi]

Nope, I'm talking about OSX using part of the space of the main drive for virtual memory (RAM / pagefile).

SSD's can't have so many read/write cycles, which is the reason why people often disable virtual memory when running SSD (as the drives wouldn't have such a long life).

Don't know if it's a problem in OSX (which also uses virtual memory). But I know, that Windows-people disable it.

 

[SilverOnemi]

Nope, I'm talking about OSX using part of the space of the main drive for virtual memory (RAM / pagefile).

SSD's can't have so many read/write cycles, which is the reason why people often disable virtual memory when running SSD (as the drives wouldn't have such a long life).

Don't know if it's a problem in OSX (which also uses virtual memory). But I know, that Windows-people disable it.

osx doesn't preallocate the space like windows does (unless you change it) and if mac os x writes a page file then it is because it simply needs it to keep working, i have 8gb on my computer and i rarely need to use page files (right now the page file is 0), but when i do use it , it's because of 3 meter long photoshop files with 60 layers in it had i disabled swap i simply wouldn't be able to do my job.

 

[duncanbrodie1]

Thanks for mentioning that! I would have put the SSD in the optibay, but now I'll just put it in the main slot

incorrect. If you have a HDD in your machine, you would be wise to leave it where it is to preserve the sudden motion sensor.
By putting a spinning harddrive in your optibay you risk corrupting data everytime you move your computer.

 

[jafingi]

incorrect. If you have a HDD in your machine, you would be wise to leave it where it is to preserve the sudden motion sensor.
By putting a spinning harddrive in your optibay you risk corrupting data everytime you move your computer.

Isn't the SMS built into the HDD?

 

[Weaselboy]

Isn't the SMS built into the HDD?

No... it is in the Macbook itself.

 

[sbddude]

120GB is the sweet spot of SSDs IMHO. combine that with an optibay or equivalent and you're good to go. I'm very happy with the setup in my signature. I chose to put the HDD in the stock location and the SSD in the optibay because of the secure mounting and shock resistance.

 

[bozz2006]

120GB is the sweet spot of SSDs IMHO. combine that with an optibay or equivalent and you're good to go. I'm very happy with the setup in my signature. I chose to put the HDD in the stock location and the SSD in the optibay because of the secure mounting and shock resistance.

Agreed. That's how I did it too, basically. Did the 12mm HDD fit in your MBP without issue?

 

[sbddude]

Agreed. That's how I did it too, basically. Did the 12mm HDD fit in your MBP without issue?

The thicker 1TB drive (12mm) fits perfectly. Since my MBP is my main/only computer, I really like not having to rely on an external drive.

 

[johnnj]

No... it is in the Macbook itself.

Actually it can be in either. For example, Seagate drives with a G at the end of the part number have their own shock mitigator called G-Force. Mac users need to stay away from those because the shock mitigator in the hard drive will conflict with the one built in to the laptop.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

40 gee bee 320 works good for me. Kinda cramped sometimes but helps you figure out what's important.

Do note that SSD speed scales with space & nand layout. The write speed of the 40 Gb 320 is lower than that of the higher capacity drives.

 

[jsaenz]

Last week I purchased a 17" MBP, I already had purchased the 120gb SSD from OWC as well a their Data Doubler, 8gb of RAM and a WD Scorpio Black 750gb 7200RPM HDD and external case for the optical drive for whenever I would need to use it.

I first replaced the stock HDD with the SSD and installed the OS from the optical drive still in the computer as I wasn't sure if I could install it from external drive through the USB. I then took a nap while the OS was installed. After that was done I removed the SSD and placed it in the data doubler and installed the HDD int the HDD bay and also installed the memory. Everything was easy and haven't had any problems just big smiles.

I use it mostly for photography and have all of my apps on the SSD, Aperture 3, NIK Complete Suite and (only) Photoshop from the CS5 collection. So far I have about 73gb free on the SSD and the HDD is already half full... or half empty.