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SSD Size Help from Current Owners

J

jbjones85

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 6, 2011
63
0
All,

I'm a PC user that has had it and i'm making the switch to the new MBP. I was waiting for the refresh and i'm going to be getting the top of the line 15". I don't need it but I want to pay the extra upfront and get the best. I plan to upgrade the HDD to a SSD and ram to 8gb (from OWC not apple) shortly after getting the MBP.

I plan to only use the SSD for the OS and applications. All other files will be stored on the HDD relocated to the optibay. My budget is limiting me to around a 120gb SSD. What i'm wondering is that large enough for the OS and Apps? I know it varies a lot on the amount of apps and their size but just in general how much space does the OS use? I went to my local apple store and looked around and it appeared that most of the machines in there were using 200+ GB of drive space, I really hope that most of that was "unneeded stuff" that they had on there for demo purposes.

Thank you for your help and sorry for the novel.
 
Yes, 120GB is plenty for just the OS and applications. Remember, Apple sells a MacBook Air model with a 64GB SSD as its only storage.

For some perspective, right now, I have OS X, iLife 11, Office 2011, Windows 7 (with NeoOffice and Quicken), several years worth of Turbotax, about 8GB of photos and 13GB of iTunes media on about 100GB of my 256GB SSD.
 
I have OWC's 100GB for my OS/Apps drive and it is fine even storing important caches on there. Lightroom's caches and catalogs are set to take up 15GB on my SSD and it makes a huge difference. If it helps, I usually have between 10 and 20GB free on my SSD though I could free up more if I moved the 10GB virtual machine off of it since I rarely use it.

Before I bought it I went through my current system and added up everything I would need to have on it using Disk Inventory X. I knew I'd have around 75GB of essentials.
 
120GB is PLENTY. I am using that same set up with the stock 500GB in the optibay now. My 120gb SSD with applications and OS has 67GB free, and 30GB of what's used is from World of Warcraft! LOL so yeah.. I have normal applications installed like MS Office 11 and random stuff. You'll be fine. If you're really budgeted go for an 80GB Intel X25m. Great drive.
 
Wow that was fast 10 minutes and my question is answered. Thank you for your help, looks like 120 max will be fine, maybe I will even save a little and get the 80.
 
aznguyen316 said:
120GB is PLENTY. I am using that same set up with the stock 500GB in the optibay now. My 120gb SSD with applications and OS has 67GB free, and 30GB of what's used is from World of Warcraft! LOL so yeah.. I have normal applications installed like MS Office 11 and random stuff. You'll be fine. If you're really budgeted go for an 80GB Intel X25m. Great drive.
Click to expand...

can you please explain this optibay thing to me, how you get 2 HDs on your MBP?
 
You replace the superdrive with a bracket that holds another HDD or SSD. Its a pretty common topic on the forums with many how to's and information.
 
jbjones85 said:
You replace the superdrive with a bracket that holds another HDD or SSD. Its a pretty common topic on the forums with many how to's and information.
Click to expand...

so can you buy with a SSD installed then get your own 500GB HD plus a bracket and do it?
 
jbjones85 said:
Wow that was fast 10 minutes and my question is answered. Thank you for your help, looks like 120 max will be fine, maybe I will even save a little and get the 80.
Click to expand...

Unless you plan to put a bunch of data on there you will be fine. I put a 60GB OWC SSD in my 13 MBP and have OS, iLife, iWork, and a handful of other small apps. There is still 34GB free space.
 
moredrunkmale said:
so can you buy with a SSD installed then get your own 500GB HD plus a bracket and do it?
Click to expand...

I did it the other way around. I just bought with stock 500GB HDD, and then from newegg got the Vertex 2 drive which, IMO, is a better/cheaper option than straight from apple. Then the caddy I had - which is shaped like the DVD drive, fits into the old dvd slot. Just a simple plug/replug of the sata connector and bam, good to go. Also a few things need to be unscrewed or disconnected. It's pretty easy but you have to be confident in your computer skills. But it's really only a matter of pulling out 4-5 connects and several screws inside and wiggling the stuff free...
 
I agree that it is more cost effective to buy a bigger or faster hard drive from a third party vendor than it is if to have Apple upgrade it. I also agree that a 120GB SSD should be plenty unless you have a particular need for more storage. The old rule of thumb that no CPU is fast enough and no hard disc big enough is still true but SSDs, wonderful though they are, are still so expensive the rule of thumb must sometimes give way to economic reality.
 
aznguyen316 said:
120GB is PLENTY. I am using that same set up with the stock 500GB in the optibay now. My 120gb SSD with applications and OS has 67GB free, and 30GB of what's used is from World of Warcraft! LOL so yeah.. I have normal applications installed like MS Office 11 and random stuff. You'll be fine. If you're really budgeted go for an 80GB Intel X25m. Great drive.
Click to expand...

How does World of Warcraft run on the new 13" Macbook Pro compare to the 2010?
 
So I have the 2011 mbp 13 with the 320 gb hd. In order to figure out my ssd needs do I just add up the total space of the applicaton files, library files, and system files? Also will I still be able to install the ssd drive and keep my hd installed for my other files with the new models? What is the best to get my system files and application onto the new ssd? Lastly how do I set it up so that my computer boots from my ssd? sorry for all the questions I'm pretty new to all of this.
 
koston33 said:
So I have the 2011 mbp 13 with the 320 gb hd. In order to figure out my ssd needs do I just add up the total space of the applicaton files, library files, and system files? Also will I still be able to install the ssd drive and keep my hd installed for my other files with the new models? What is the best to get my system files and application onto the new ssd? Lastly how do I set it up so that my computer boots from my ssd? sorry for all the questions I'm pretty new to all of this.
Click to expand...


Google 'Disk Inventory X' -- free and it will show the allocation of all of your space.

For me it is easier to take the full space you're using and subtract the data directories. Everything else should go on the SSD.

For better instructions, look for the "optibay" threads here.
 
I was looking at just a 40gb ssd. You guys think this will be enough. I mostly just have the preinstalled apps that I am using and also microsoft 2011. I may add photoshop later on. Is the install the same as on the 2010 models? Will I void my warranty if I do this?
 
koston33 said:
I was looking at just a 40gb ssd. You guys think this will be enough. I mostly just have the preinstalled apps that I am using and also microsoft 2011. I may add photoshop later on. Is the install the same as on the 2010 models? Will I void my warranty if I do this?
Click to expand...

The install is the same. You do not void your warranty as it is a "user-replaceable" part to Apple. The design makes it easy to do the swap.

I would go for 64GB or more but that is just my preference. 40GB is a little slim if you start putting any program cache files on it (Photoshop, Lightroom) or if you have a Virtual Machine or two.
 
Ya a 128 is actually what I will need. I was considering taking out the opt bay to run both drives, but I think I will be using it in the future, so my best bet is to just get the larger ssd and run everything from that. I'm only currently using about 60gb of my hd drive now. This includes my music photos and videos. So I think I will be okay with the 128. Plus I have a 320 external right now. Question to format and run my ssd, can I just time machine the image to my external, install the ssd, boot up, and run a restore from the image on my external. Or would I need to use a Cd.
 
koston33 said:
Ya a 128 is actually what I will need. I was considering taking out the opt bay to run both drives, but I think I will be using it in the future, so my best bet is to just get the larger ssd and run everything from that. I'm only currently using about 60gb of my hd drive now. This includes my music photos and videos. So I think I will be okay with the 128. Plus I have a 320 external right now. Question to format and run my ssd, can I just time machine the image to my external, install the ssd, boot up, and run a restore from the image on my external. Or would I need to use a Cd.
Click to expand...

At some point you need the DVD to get the OS on to the new drive. The quickest way is to TimeMachine your old drive then put the new drive in along with the DVD. Boot up and hold down C to make the DVD boot.

Then restore your TimeMachine from the DVD boot sequence.

Reboot, make sure it works, then remove the DVD drive and replace with HDD.
 
A typical OS X install without users directories is only 12-20GB with a good selection of applications installed, so the 120GB ssd is plenty with your /user directory and data on the hard drive.
 
hfg said:
A typical OS X install without users directories is only 12-20GB with a good selection of applications installed, so the 120GB ssd is plenty with your /user directory and data on the hard drive.
Click to expand...

Normally I would say yes, but if someone has big iTunes and iPhoto/Aperture libraries, then it can become an issue. Of course the iTunes and iPhoto libraries can be moved.
 
petvas said:
Normally I would say yes, but if someone has big iTunes and iPhoto/Aperture libraries, then it can become an issue. Of course the iTunes and iPhoto libraries can be moved.
Click to expand...

Aren't those normally in your /users/name directory (which is on the hard disk)?

Sorry, I don't recall where the default location is as I have totally moved my iTunes and iPhoto libraries to a shared drive.:cool:
 
koston33 said:
Ya a 128 is actually what I will need. I was considering taking out the opt bay to run both drives, but I think I will be using it in the future, so my best bet is to just get the larger ssd and run everything from that. I'm only currently using about 60gb of my hd drive now. This includes my music photos and videos. So I think I will be okay with the 128. Plus I have a 320 external right now. Question to format and run my ssd, can I just time machine the image to my external, install the ssd, boot up, and run a restore from the image on my external. Or would I need to use a Cd.
Click to expand...

I believe since the OS one our MBP have a new SB kernel, you would either want to use original CD to reinstall the OS and then Time machine your old stuff over, or what I did was use disk utility, format SSD then take the original OS that came on the MBP and restored it onto the SSD. So it basically cloned. From there I copied over things from my time machine backup.
I prefer not to use Carbon clone or whatever b/c I had lag problems with it before. Things weren't snappy until I did a full reformat and time machine.. that was on a 2008 machine.
 
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