recommend me a drive setup

[Dafke]

Hey all,
I'm about to buy a SSD for my 2007 MacBook Pro (2.16 C2D, 3 GB RAM) and I am considering 3 different setups.

In my current setup I boot from an external 3.5" drive connected with FW800. With SuperDuper I make abouth once a month a copy of it to the internal 2.5" drive. Working from the internal drive is much faster than the internal 2.5" drive and nowadays I don't carry my Macbook around anymore.

The 3 setups I'm considering:

1) Replace internal HDD with 120 GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSD, boot from this drive and have working files on this drive as well. Use current external HDD as archive and for backup and connect it only when needed.

2) Replace internal HDD with 60 GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSD, boot from this drive and install a 2.5" HDD (about 500GB) with optibay in and have working files on this drive. Use current external 3.5" HDD only for backup.

3) Replace internal HDD with 60 GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSD, boot from this drive and use current external 3.5" HDD for working files and have it always connected.

Which setup would you recommend performance wise? I think that's the most important issue for me.
Option 1 would cost me about 200 euro's, option 2 about 300 euro's and option 3 about 100 euro's. Only option 2 would give me complete freedom to take my laptop everywhere without taking an external drive with me.

Thanks!

 

[axu539]

I currently have a 160 GB Intel X25-m in an Optibay, and a 1 TB WD Scorpio Blue in my hard drive bay. While I do absolutely love that I have both speed and storage, it does seem to use a little bit more power than before, and I'd have loved to have a completely silent MacBook Pro. So, in my opinion, if you can live with just 120 GB of storage inside the notebook, go with option 1. You will definitely get the performance gains, and you should also see an improved battery life as well as slightly less heat from your machine. Good luck!

 

[Dalton63841]

I vote for option 2. You can get an Optibay from eBay for like 20 bucks, so that will make that option cheaper. Also, to make having your working files on the other drive easier, you can actually mount that drive as the /Users folder with this tutorial.

 

[Dafke]

Thanks for your replies!
Do you think performance wise there's a lot of difference between options 2 and 3? I guess for speed it's most important to have the OS and program files on the SSD, but does it make a lot of difference where the work files are located? FYI I mostly use my mac for Adobe CS (Photoshop, Indesign, Bridge) but not with extraordinary large files. I don't do anything with movie editing.

 

[axu539]

If you do a lot of photo editing, your work flow will probably be a lot faster if you have your images on the ssd, as photoshop will be able to pull them a lot faster. Is money an issue for you? Another option you can consider is getting 2 identical ssd's (maybe 2 120 GB) with an optibay, and set them up in RAID 0 for even more speed.

 

[Dafke]

Well, I think 300 euro is the maximum I wish to spend on this update. I hope that with it I can use my Macbook Pro for another 1 or 2 years and upgrade to an iMac then (and perhaps reuse the SSD in it).
A Raid 0 would be a bit to much for me I think. The photoshopping I do is really not that big of a deal. I don't work with RAWs or things like that.
Think I'll go with the 60 GB SSD plus a fast 500 GB HDD with optibay unless there're reasons to stick with the external HDD for speed reasons.

 

[axu539]

If you're not working with RAW, then you should be absolutely delighted with the 60 GB SSD and 500 GB HDD. The difference from now will be absolutely night and day. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Dafke]

If you're not working with RAW, then you should be absolutely delighted with the 60 GB SSD and 500 GB HDD. The difference from now will be absolutely night and day. Good luck and enjoy!

Do you think it will be a good idea to put a Seagate Momentus XT in the optibay drive?

 

[NickZac]

If a 120 will hold all the work you do, go for that if finances permit.

 

[Dafke]

If a 120 will hold all the work you do, go for that if finances permit.

Well, 120 GB won't do if I want to have all my data on it, that's about 200 GB, and growing of course.
I think the combo of 60 GB SSD plus 500 GB HDD in optibay is best for me, especially if I use the Momentus XT drive.

 

[NickZac]

Wait on Intel's drive update before buying. You should be able to get the 200-250GB range for much, much less (some people say half as much).

 

[Dafke]

Wait on Intel's drive update before buying. You should be able to get the 200-250GB range for much, much less (some people say half as much).

Any idea when that is going to happen? Is there an update imminent?

 

[nateo200]

Wait for SSD's to not be so damn expensive for sizes that an iPod touch can keep up with and do anything that doesn't include booting from an external drive....

 

[Dafke]

Wait for SSD's to not be so damn expensive for sizes that an iPod touch can keep up with and do anything that doesn't include booting from an external drive....

Err, what's wrong with booting from an external drive? Doing that for half a year now and it's much faster than the internal drive.

 

[NickZac]

Wait for SSD's to not be so damn expensive for sizes that an iPod touch can keep up with and do anything that doesn't include booting from an external drive....

Any idea when that is going to happen? Is there an update imminent?

Presumably in the 1st quarter of 2011. Also, OCZ has some quality issues so I would keep that in mind when buying.