Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

SSD Install Success!!!!

fleawannabe said:
Did you do the optibay thing?
Click to expand...

No, I will be using my old HDD externally with an HDD enclosure. I also read that using the optibay kit may void the warranty. My MAC is still under warranty so I don't want to risk it.

cookiesnfooty said:
Might sound strange put I wrapped the Sata cable in kitchen foil and surrounded it by masking tape and I get a little higher than your results with my Crucial, macbooks don't by default have very good shielding.
Click to expand...

You have some guts with messing with the SATA band. I was paranoid that I would bend it or mess it up somehow.

ugp said:
I used Screen Flow. I ordered my drive from Amazon with the Transfer Kit. Wasn't much more over just the drive. Made things a lot easier for me when installing the drive.
Click to expand...

I thought about using the transfer kit, but TimeMachine really works well and doesn't take very long because I don't have that much data.

SadChief said:
Samsung 830 512 GB in my MBP 17" 2011.
Click to expand...

Impressive! I was kinda bummed when I saw the sale on Neweg, however I am pretty happy with the Crucial. I'm not going to exchange the drive for the Samsung because in real world application the difference is minuscule, and it's not worth the labor to save $15 or $20.
 
I'm in the same boat. Bought a Crucial m4 256 for my late 2011 MBP15 and a day later I saw the thread about the Samsung sale.

My Crucial comes in today, and I am just excited to see how it goes.
 
P0stalTek said:
I'm in the same boat. Bought a Crucial m4 256 for my late 2011 MBP15 and a day later I saw the thread about the Samsung sale.

My Crucial comes in today, and I am just excited to see how it goes.
Click to expand...

You won't be disappointed, I love the snappiness that the M4 provides.
 
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB

DiskSpeedTest.png


I will never own another pc with a standard HDD. This really spoiled me.
 
Last edited:
which one

So I have been following this discussion and I appreciate all your advice. Question though: I went looking for the Crucial M4 (I want to get the 512 GB one) but when I look at newegg.com there are several different models to get that are all Crucial M4 512 GB (some are $399 and some are $409). Are some not compatible? I'd love any help with this. Thanks!

These are the four choices:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148527
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148535
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148444
 
ugp said:
That is some awesome write speeds there. How much was that drive when you got it though?
Click to expand...

I paid $280 last week on Amazon. A few hours after purchase, right when it shipped, the price dropped down to $240. :mad: I called up and got a $40 promo credit usable on any item sold and shipped by Amazon.com.
 
tmf91 said:
So I have been following this discussion and I appreciate all your advice. Question though: I went looking for the Crucial M4 (I want to get the 512 GB one) but when I look at newegg.com there are several different models to get that are all Crucial M4 512 GB (some are $399 and some are $409). Are some not compatible? I'd love any help with this. Thanks!

These are the four choices:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx? Item=N82E16820148450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148527
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148535
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148444
Click to expand...

1st = 9.5mm same as HDD with transfer data cable This will work
2nd = 9.5mm with adapter bracket for Tower version, will work don't need bracket
3rd = 7mm version will work just thinner then original HDD
4th = 9.5mm no bracket no transfer cable this will work

I would go either 1st or 4th depending on if you want the transfer cable to clone the drive before you place it in.
 
IngerMan said:
1st = 9.5mm same as HDD with transfer data cable This will work
2nd = 9.5mm with adapter bracket for Tower version, will work don't need bracket
3rd = 7mm version will work just thinner then original HDD
4th = 9.5mm no bracket no transfer cable this will work

I would go either 1st or 4th depending on if you want the transfer cable to clone the drive before you place it in.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you need #1, this is the bare drive and a device that assists it migrating data over.

----------
ugp said:
That is some awesome write speeds there. How much was that drive when you got it though?
Click to expand...

Newegg has it for $239.99 and free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0227792&AID=10440897&PID=1796839&SID=13582516
 
Irock619 said:
You won't be disappointed, I love the snappiness that the M4 provides.
Click to expand...

Just thought I'd let you know. After getting it installed, and putting the original drive in the optibay.. you could not be more correct. Now I do not know what to do with my Air :p

At least until I start traveling again more.
 
Here are some more anecdotal comments. I just upgraded my late 2011 15" MBP to 16GB RAM and 256G Crucial M4 SSD.

Both operations were very easy. I got a precision screwdriver kit from Home Depot for the T6 Torx and 00 Phillips tools. I just followed the instructions provided by Apple, no issues.

However, maybe it's just me but I'm a little underwhelmed with the SSD. It's faster but it's not night and day. So maybe I did something wrong. I tried the speed test and write speed is around 260, read speed around 450. Am I missing some settings somewhere?

I have an internal chassis coming in the mail to put the stock 500G spinny disk into the optical bay, and I got a cheapo external enclosure to put the DVD drive into.

Most of all I like how quiet it is. I'm tempted to keep the 500G disk out of the system just to keep it quiet.
 
Same here, used carbon copy to clone my slow 5400 RPM default drive to a 256G Crucial M4 which I got for $179 from B&H Photo (promotional offer with MBP order).

It now takes my MBP 21 seconds to start, 3 seconds to shutdown, blazing fast opening of apps.

There is a big downside, though: It makes my work PC very slow.
 
InlawBiker said:
Here are some more anecdotal comments. I just upgraded my late 2011 15" MBP to 16GB RAM and 256G Crucial M4 SSD.

Both operations were very easy. I got a precision screwdriver kit from Home Depot for the T6 Torx and 00 Phillips tools. I just followed the instructions provided by Apple, no issues.

However, maybe it's just me but I'm a little underwhelmed with the SSD. It's faster but it's not night and day. So maybe I did something wrong. I tried the speed test and write speed is around 260, read speed around 450. Am I missing some settings somewhere?

I have an internal chassis coming in the mail to put the stock 500G spinny disk into the optical bay, and I got a cheapo external enclosure to put the DVD drive into.

Most of all I like how quiet it is. I'm tempted to keep the 500G disk out of the system just to keep it quiet.
Click to expand...
I'm just wondering, did you do a fresh instal of SL/Lion or did you use carbon cloner to mirror your old HDD to your SSD?
 
PhixionFilms said:
I'm just wondering, did you do a fresh instal of SL/Lion or did you use carbon cloner to mirror your old HDD to your SSD?
Click to expand...

It was a fresh install of Lion. It's a brand new computer anyway so there was nothing to migrate, but I love doing fresh installs whenever I have a chance to eliminate any cruft.

So my "budget high-end build" is complete. Starting from a late 2011 MBP base model it now has 16GB RAM and 256G SSD, with the optical drive replaced with the stock 500G HDD.

I figure this will last 2.5 years then I'll sell it with 6 months left on the Applecare, and buy whatever new model has the Retina display with any resolution issues well sorted by then.

I'm kinda hoping the 2014 Macbook Air's Intel GPU will be equivalent to the discrete GPU's of 2012 so I can quit carrying a honkin' big 15" laptop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back