SSD upgrade advice

[theBostonian]

I've been researching SSD upgrades/optibays to improve my mid-2012 cMBP 15" for the last few days before taking the plunge. I just had a few questions I was hoping someone might help me with and whose answers others might find helpful:

This optibay http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A26S1IMFVEEDLD says it runs with SATA III yet I was given to understand the negotiated link speed is based on the chipset/logic board controllers. Would it be better to buy any old optibay or for maximum performance should I get the aforementioned?

I'm torn between getting the Samsung 840 EVO (Amazon has a great deal on it at the moment) or the Toshiba THNSNJxxxGBSU / THNSNJxxxGCSU https://storage.toshiba.eu/cms/en/hdd/product_overview/product_detail.jsp?productid=615 . I've heard a lot of great things about both, the only reason I would go with the Toshiba is it's newer technology having been released earlier this year.

Finally, in order to get the best benefits of using my mechanical drive and the SSD in tandem, would it be best to keep the mechanical HDD in the HDD bay so that I can take advantage of the Sudden Motion Sensor and the SSD in the optibay, or should I put the SSD in the HDD bay so that I get the maximum read/write speeds?

I know this was an issue in the 2011 MBPs but I've heard for the 2012s both SATA links run at 6GBps.

Phew! If anyone could give insight into any or all of these questions I'd be much obliged.

 

[bennynova]

i don't think you will notice the difference between those two SSDs.

PCIe would be faster... but you don't have that..
go with the cheaper one of the two.. both are good quality.

if your optibay is SATA III compatible (and i think it is), then you should leave your HDD where it's at. i don't think you'll gain anything by switching.

I've been researching SSD upgrades/optibays to improve my mid-2012 cMBP 15" for the last few days before taking the plunge. I just had a few questions I was hoping someone might help me with and whose answers others might find helpful:

This optibay http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A26S1IMFVEEDLD says it runs with SATA III yet I was given to understand the negotiated link speed is based on the chipset/logic board controllers. Would it be better to buy any old optibay or for maximum performance should I get the aforementioned?

I'm torn between getting the Samsung 840 EVO (Amazon has a great deal on it at the moment) or the Toshiba THNSNJxxxGBSU / THNSNJxxxGCSU https://storage.toshiba.eu/cms/en/hdd/product_overview/product_detail.jsp?productid=615 . I've heard a lot of great things about both, the only reason I would go with the Toshiba is it's newer technology having been released earlier this year.

Finally, in order to get the best benefits of using my mechanical drive and the SSD in tandem, would it be best to keep the mechanical HDD in the HDD bay so that I can take advantage of the Sudden Motion Sensor and the SSD in the optibay, or should I put the SSD in the HDD bay so that I get the maximum read/write speeds?

I know this was an issue in the 2011 MBPs but I've heard for the 2012s both SATA links run at 6GBps.

Phew! If anyone could give insight into any or all of these questions I'd be much obliged.

 

[theBostonian]

i don't think you will notice the difference between those two SSDs.

PCIe would be faster... but you don't have that..
go with the cheaper one of the two.. both are good quality.

if your optibay is SATA III compatible (and i think it is), then you should leave your HDD where it's at. i don't think you'll gain anything by switching.

You're right, I wouldn't have noticed the difference between those two but after a little more research I discovered the existence of the 850 pro series with 3D VNAND and a long warranty. Plus I somehow managed to find it at £211 for 512GB so I'm very pleased.

Will report back on performance but ideally what I would like to do is keep the SSD for OS X and use the HDD which came with my Mac for Windows and Linux.

I will put the SSD in the optibay. How can I test if the SSD is giving optimal performance in the optibay?

 

[yjchua95]

You're right, I wouldn't have noticed the difference between those two but after a little more research I discovered the existence of the 850 pro series with 3D VNAND and a long warranty. Plus I somehow managed to find it at £211 for 512GB so I'm very pleased.

Will report back on performance but ideally what I would like to do is keep the SSD for OS X and use the HDD which came with my Mac for Windows and Linux.

I will put the SSD in the optibay. How can I test if the SSD is giving optimal performance in the optibay?

I would never put an SSD in the OptiBay. SSDs are best kept in the main SATA3 bay.

Put the existing drive in the OptiBay instead.

 

[hallux]

I would never put an SSD in the OptiBay. SSDs are best kept in the main SATA3 bay.

Put the existing drive in the OptiBay instead.

Except by putting the HDD in the Optibay, don't you lose the free-fall protection or automatic drive stop or whatever Apple calls it?

 

[yjchua95]

Except by putting the HDD in the Optibay, don't you lose the free-fall protection or automatic drive stop or whatever Apple calls it?

Yup, you lose the sudden motion sensor capability.

 

[theBostonian]

I would never put an SSD in the OptiBay. SSDs are best kept in the main SATA3 bay.

Put the existing drive in the OptiBay instead.

I have a mid-2012 cMBP and both disk controllers are SATA 3 so where I put the SSD is moot.

I'd rather have the sudden motion sensor protection for my mechanical drive.

http://blog.macsales.com/14982-efi-...erformance-issues-in-13-inch-2012-macbook-pro

 

[simonsi]

I have a mid-2012 cMBP and both disk controllers are SATA 3 so where I put the SSD is moot.

I'd rather have the sudden motion sensor protection for my mechanical drive.

http://blog.macsales.com/14982-efi-...erformance-issues-in-13-inch-2012-macbook-pro

If both ports are SATA3 then there is nothing to be gained by moving the HDD so you are far better to retain the Sudden Motion Sensor.

 

[bennynova]

if you really wanted to tinker, then do the following:

download BlackMagic app
- test the SSD in both the optibay and the main bay
- test the HDD in both the optibay and the main bay


if your optibay is SATA III as well (like the main bay is), then your read/write speeds should be the same.

your HDD read/write speeds will most certainly be the same no matter what, as the HDD read/write speeds are the bottleneck.

I would never put an SSD in the OptiBay. SSDs are best kept in the main SATA3 bay.

Put the existing drive in the OptiBay instead.

 

[theBostonian]

Update

I've installed my SSD in the optibay and kept the mechanical drive in the normal slot with the sudden motion sensor. Blackmagic says the disk is at SATA 3 speeds so if anyone was interested in putting an SSD in their optical bay on a mid-2012 MBP go for it!