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SSD speeds limited

S

sting2kx

macrumors newbie
Original poster
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.
 
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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