SSD Advice for Data Doubler on 8,2

[maxxed]

Would like some advice on the best drive for this purpose.

System is a Macbook Pro 15", 8,2 early 2011 Model. Shipped with a stock 500gb Hitachi Drive.

Replaced the stock drive with a 256gb Samsung 830 SSD. Very happy with the performance and speed. Everything seems stable, TRIM enabled as well.

But I need more space!

I installed the OWC Data Doubler and a momentus XT 500gb (old model, with new firmware). Now I find that the vibrations and noise are really annoying. Battery life seems to have gone down by as much as 30% (vs with SSD only)

So with that in mind I am planning to get a second SSD for the optibay. The word on the street is that the 8,2 MacBooks dont reliably support 6gb/s, so I am on the hunt for a 3gb/s unit. 128gb would be fine for size, but the speed rules out another Samsung 830.

Any ideas on the best options for this? This will be a storage drive only and not for booting, but it should be reliable enough not to die randomly.

The other option is to just stick the stock 500gb hitachi in there, I dont recall anywhere near the vibrations I am feeling now with that slower drive.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

You could check System Profiler/Report > Hardware > Serial ATA and see, what it says for "Link Speed" on the optibay adapter. If it is S-ATA 6.0 Gbps (S-ATA III), you could use another 830.

Also know, that you can still buy any S-ATA 6.0 Gbps (S-ATA III) SSD and use it with an S-ATA 3.0 Gbps (S-ATA II) interface, that is what I do with my Vertex 3 in the optibay of my 2009 MBP which "only" has an S-ATA 3.0 Gbps (S-ATA II) interface.

And before you buy a new HDD or SSD you could always test your stock HDD first of course.

 

[Arizor]

You could check System Profiler/Report > Hardware > Serial ATA and see, what it says for "Link Speed" on the optibay adapter. If it is S-ATA 6.0 Gbps (S-ATA III), you could use another 830.

This would be true but for some reason the early 2011s don't support 6gb SATA in a reliable way.

Mine says 6gb link speed, but when I put my SSD in there I got beach balling, freezes etc., though the SSD works fine now in my HDD bay.

OP - I just put my 750gb stock HDD in the optibay and it runs beautifully, it's very quiet, so I'd advise the same.

 

[maxxed]

Mine says 6gb link speed, but when I put my SSD in there I got beach balling, freezes etc., though the SSD works fine now in my HDD bay.

OP - I just put my 750gb stock HDD in the optibay and it runs beautifully, it's very quiet, so I'd advise the same.

Yes I've heard the same about unreliable 6gb drives.

The option for the stock HDD is there of course, but I thought I would investigate the lower cost SSD's at 3gb/s. I could make do with another 256!

any suggestions?

 

[Arizor]

Honestly? I'd just swap the 500gb HDD across.

Use your SSD for your OS and applications/games, your HDD for all other files.

 

[mattonthemoon]

Would like some advice on the best drive for this purpose.

System is a Macbook Pro 15", 8,2 early 2011 Model. Shipped with a stock 500gb Hitachi Drive.

Replaced the stock drive with a 256gb Samsung 830 SSD. Very happy with the performance and speed. Everything seems stable, TRIM enabled as well.

But I need more space!

I installed the OWC Data Doubler and a momentus XT 500gb (old model, with new firmware). Now I find that the vibrations and noise are really annoying. Battery life seems to have gone down by as much as 30% (vs with SSD only)

So with that in mind I am planning to get a second SSD for the optibay. The word on the street is that the 8,2 MacBooks dont reliably support 6gb/s, so I am on the hunt for a 3gb/s unit. 128gb would be fine for size, but the speed rules out another Samsung 830.

Any ideas on the best options for this? This will be a storage drive only and not for booting, but it should be reliable enough not to die randomly.

The other option is to just stick the stock 500gb hitachi in there, I dont recall anywhere near the vibrations I am feeling now with that slower drive.

Any help would be much appreciated.

I had this issue.

The optibay indeed only supports 3Gb/s reliably.

Your best bet is to stick the 500GB in the optibay and use the SDD @ 6GB/s in the main bay.

OR stick a 3Gb/s SSD in the optibay, and use the SDD @ 6GB/s in the main bay.

Trust me, I banged my head hard on this issue for a long while last November, it was quite frustrating. I finally settled with a 1TB HDD in the optibay and a 240GB SSD 6Gb/s in the main bay before i sold it.

It should also be noted that the new mid 2012 cMBP offer 6Gb/s in both bays, allowing for blazingly fast SSD RAID 0 configs.

 

[maxxed]

Selling it is out for the time being, I made that decision last week about 3 minutes before buying the samsung

Which is the ideal 3gb ssd for the optibay?

 

[mattonthemoon]

Selling it is out for the time being, I made that decision last week about 3 minutes before buying the samsung

Which is the ideal 3gb ssd for the optibay?

An older Vertex 2 or any other older SSD will do. but if your looking for storage you may just want to keep the 500GB in there.