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rMBP 256GB SSD Woes

S

snyder17315

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 1, 2012
25
0
After weeks of intense deliberation, I finally broke down and ordered a 2.6/16/256 rMBP which will arrive on Tuesday. Now, however, i'm already kicking myself for not going with the 512GB SSD. Oh that's right, it was the extra $500 that prevented me from going with the bigger HDD.

So... my question is, how do those of you running a 80ish-GB WIN7 partition feel about the 256GB of space? I've been using external storage religiously for years now with my current PC setup, so keeping most files off the main drive is second nature to me.

I'll mainly have the stock OS-X install, CS6, Logic Pro and a few other odds and ends installed on the Mac side. WIN7 will get a few games (BF3, Mechwarrior Online, and possibly Planetside 2).

All iTunes media, movies, and especially 1,000s of RAW photos (i'm a part-time photog) will all be stored on a NAS.
 
I've actually got into the habit of backing up and removing data of games from steam when I'm done with them.
Before, I used to just keep them all installed.

I don't really run short on space doing this. I also have network attached storage running in raid 1 when I'm at home so most of my personal files are on there.
 
snyder17315 said:
After weeks of intense deliberation, I finally broke down and ordered a 2.6/16/256 rMBP which will arrive on Tuesday. Now, however, i'm already kicking myself for not going with the 512GB SSD. Oh that's right, it was the extra $500 that prevented me from going with the bigger HDD.

So... my question is, how do those of you running a 80ish-GB WIN7 partition feel about the 256GB of space? I've been using external storage religiously for years now with my current PC setup, so keeping most files off the main drive is second nature to me.

I'll mainly have the stock OS-X install, CS6, Logic Pro and a few other odds and ends installed on the Mac side. WIN7 will get a few games (BF3, Mechwarrior Online, and possibly Planetside 2).

All iTunes media, movies, and especially 1,000s of RAW photos (i'm a part-time photog) will all be stored on a NAS.
Click to expand...

I have a similar config as you. It works fine. I typically keep media externally so I can move it around between computers so essentially the same. Still plenty of space on the SSD if stored locally.
 
I have no issues with 256. Part of the reason is I refuse to Bootcamp and instead run Windows as VM where it only takes up the space needed versus allocating unused space in yet another partition.
 
Ccrew said:
I have no issues with 256. Part of the reason is I refuse to Bootcamp and instead run Windows as VM where it only takes up the space needed versus allocating unused space in yet another partition.
Click to expand...

Do you do any gaming with windows? If so, how's the performance? Gaming is my main reason for even touching boot camp, as everything else I need to do can be done natively in OSX.
 
That is really totally up to you--personally I use very little of my storage. I use external drives for iTunes collection as well as much of my photos. I have used about 55 gigs of my 256 drive and I doubt it will ever get much over 150. 256 is way more than enough for me.
 
i dont store any media at all on my RMBP. i definitely had to get rid of my 60gb bootcamp partition though because i was running out of space. Running photoshop takes up a LOT of cache space (sometimes up to 30-40gb).

in short, 256gb is too small for me.
 
stevelam said:
Running photoshop takes up a LOT of cache space (sometimes up to 30-40gb).
Click to expand...

You know, I didn't even think about Photoshop's cache space! On my PC I have a 1TB internal drive, so I just let Photoshop do its thing lol. Even more to consider now...
 
i got the 512gb because of PS and a 100GB bootcamp partition for all games.
i paid the 500 to keep me from always second guessing what to put on the drive. now i just do it..
 
snyder17315 said:
Do you do any gaming with windows? If so, how's the performance? Gaming is my main reason for even touching boot camp, as everything else I need to do can be done natively in OSX.
Click to expand...

I'm no hardcore gamer, so no. I have Crysis II installed and have no complaints, but I've probably never taxed the system. Windows Experience scores on Win 7 64 bit are all in the mid 6's and high 7's.


On the 512 though, rather than spend $500 to Apple, why not buy the 256, and *if you need it spend the $500 to OWC for one of their upgrades and sell the 256 for some return? Still equal to ess cash out of pocket.
 
Don't worry, if 256GB is not enough, just buy the oem 512GB SSD drive in Ebay, then keep your 256GB for warranty claims and use it on an external case.
 
I couldn't even let my self get the 512. I had to get the 768. I know I have a 2tb external but I'm not in the mood to have a permanent thing hanging off my laptop.
 
We got 756 SSD for boot/OS/apps/cache. All the libraries (photos, music,videos,documents). That leaves over 600 available on the SSD for photo collection during multi week photo trips. When we come home and process the raw files, we export jpg versions onto our iPads to share with family and friends.

Our backup drives backup both the internal SSDs and external library drives.
 
fskywalker said:
Don't worry, if 256GB is not enough, just buy the oem 512GB SSD drive in Ebay, then keep your 256GB for warranty claims and use it on an external case.
Click to expand...

Using the old SSD externally really depends...

It must remain a bootable drive in case you need to swap it back in. So you cannot reformat.

You cant sell it because of the warranty.
 
Exactly! I took mine out and just installed it on an external USB3.0 case without re-formatting, so if have to bring in my laptop for warranty (have 3 yr apple care), will just backup the data on the 256GB drive into my 512GB SSD and then swap the drives.
 
I have a 240 GB SSD and only use 20 GB of it, so a 80 GB Win 7 partition wouldn't bother me. Of course, I have 600 GB of data on a 1 TB HDD in my optical bay, but that isn't an option on a rMBP.

I say test out the 256 GB and see how it goes. If you need more space, buy a larger SSD and swap it out and keep the 256 GB SSD in storage until your warranty expires. I always buy the stock drive and upgrade for better performance and disk space for less money than upgrading through Apple.
 
So far OWC is the only company offering a third party solution to the custom size SSD on both MBA and rMBP machine series. People in this forum dont recommend the OWC drives over the Apple SSD which is built by Samsung, so on the short term the OEM is the way to go.
 
snyder17315 said:
After weeks of intense deliberation, I finally broke down and ordered a 2.6/16/256 rMBP which will arrive on Tuesday. Now, however, i'm already kicking myself for not going with the 512GB SSD. Oh that's right, it was the extra $500 that prevented me from going with the bigger HDD.

So... my question is, how do those of you running a 80ish-GB WIN7 partition feel about the 256GB of space? I've been using external storage religiously for years now with my current PC setup, so keeping most files off the main drive is second nature to me.

I'll mainly have the stock OS-X install, CS6, Logic Pro and a few other odds and ends installed on the Mac side. WIN7 will get a few games (BF3, Mechwarrior Online, and possibly Planetside 2).

All iTunes media, movies, and especially 1,000s of RAW photos (i'm a part-time photog) will all be stored on a NAS.
Click to expand...

i think 350 is a reasonable price for an upgrade,

given that you can get 512 SSD for less than 500
 
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