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SSD speeds limited

S

sting2kx

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 19, 2011
19
0
I just put in 8gb of RAM and using a data doubler, removed the optical drive to replace with a 120gb SSD. I'm now using the SSD as my boot drive.

I tried testing the speeds with Disk Speed Test from the Mac App Store and both read and write speeds cut out at around 60-70MB/s.

I was wondering if putting the SSD in the optical drive bay made the speeds slower than compared to where the original hard drive is.
 
if i switch the SSD and HDD, would it go faster?

currently, it looks like this.

Main Bay - HDD
Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit

Optical Bay - SSD
Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
 
can i immediately just switch it out with the OS already on the SSD? or do i have to clean install Lion?
 
will something go wrong if i just switch them without doing anything to them beforehand?
 
You can switch them at will. You may have to choose your start up drive again, but I doubt even that.
 
Mr. Retrofire said:
Probably not faster, but more reliable.
Click to expand...

More reliable, how? Been thinking about putting my SSD in the optical drive and the stock HDD in the main bay for SMS. But I don't like the idea of having the primary boot drive in the optical bay.
 
AppleGoat said:
More reliable, how? Been thinking about putting my SSD in the optical drive and the stock HDD in the main bay for SMS. But I don't like the idea of having the primary boot drive in the optical bay.
Click to expand...

its alright so far but i feel like its being limited (from being in the optical bay) because of the SATA connection.
 
sting2kx said:
its alright so far but i feel like its being limited (from being in the optical bay) because of the SATA connection.
Click to expand...

I don't know if you ever said exactly which drive you have? Do you have SATA II or III? For me the optical drive bay has a SATA II connection, and the main bay has a SATA III connection. Theoretically, there shouldn't be any performance difference if I placed my SATA II drive in the optical drive bay but I feel there's something else at play. Like some mystery element that would lead to an inferior experience if I had my SSD in the optical bay since it was never intended to be the main boot drive bay.
 
AppleGoat said:
I don't know if you ever said exactly which drive you have? Do you have SATA II or III? For me the optical drive bay has a SATA II connection, and the main bay has a SATA III connection. Theoretically, there shouldn't be any performance difference if I placed my SATA II drive in the optical drive bay but I feel there's something else at play. Like some mystery element that would lead to an inferior experience if I had my SSD in the optical bay since it was never intended to be the main boot drive bay.
Click to expand...

its a 120GB OWC 6G SSD
 
AppleGoat said:
Yeah, I would definitely swap the SSD and HD...although the problem now is that the HD won't be as well protected unless you replace it with one that has built-in SMS.
Click to expand...

Newer Western Digital Scorpio Blue drives (the 1 TB 12.5 mm and 9.5 mm drives) have a SMS (WD ShockGuard). Other drives probably too. Some online guides recommend, that you use a special command to disable the Apple SMS, but i found that this is not necessary, and easy to forget if you setup a new machine. Others report also no problems with Apples SMS and WD ShockGuard.

I think it is no problem, if you do not disable the SMS, because it provides double protection, if the HDD has also a built-in SMS. One of these sensors should park the HDD heads, if necessary.

And Apple writes, regarding the SMS:
Apple suggests that you not modify the settings unless absolutely necessary.
Click to expand...
 
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