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Upgrading HDD to SSD on new Arrandale Macbook Pro

R

racher

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 14, 2010
44
0
Seattle, WA
Well, after lurking on the MacRumors forum for several months (the "Waiting for Arrandale" thread was both amusing and frustrating to read), I finally ordered a BTO 17" MBP with 8 GB of RAM and the 2.66 GHz CPU. Because I'll be using the notebook for video work, I ordered a Crucial 256 GB C300 SSD to replace the existing hard drive.

My question is this: since I'll be installing the new SSD in the laptop as soon as the MBP arrives, do I need to back it up to Time Machine (or similar) before making the drive swap? Or can I simply re-install OSX and iLife software with the included install disks? I'm very tech-savy about this kind of stuff, so I'm not concerned with the process. However, this will be my FIRST MAC, so I want to get it right. In the past, I've custom-built my PCs from the motherboard up, but alas, it's time to bid Windows farewell. :)

-racher
 
racher said:
Well, after lurking on the MacRumors forum for several months (the "Waiting for Arrandale" thread was both amusing and frustrating to read), I finally ordered a BTO 17" MBP with 8 GB of RAM and the 2.66 GHz CPU. Because I'll be using the notebook for video work, I ordered a Crucial 256 GB C300 SSD to replace the existing hard drive.

My question is this: since I'll be installing the new SSD in the laptop as soon as the MBP arrives, do I need to back it up to Time Machine (or similar) before making the drive swap? Or can I simply re-install OSX and iLife software with the included install disks? I'm very tech-savy about this kind of stuff, so I'm not concerned with the process. However, this will be my FIRST MAC, so I want to get it right. In the past, I've custom-built my PCs from the motherboard up, but alas, it's time to bid Windows farewell. :)

-racher
Click to expand...

just use the OSX disk to install all your programs--much faster
 
racher said:
Well, after lurking on the MacRumors forum for several months (the "Waiting for Arrandale" thread was both amusing and frustrating to read), I finally ordered a BTO 17" MBP with 8 GB of RAM and the 2.66 GHz CPU. Because I'll be using the notebook for video work, I ordered a Crucial 256 GB C300 SSD to replace the existing hard drive.

My question is this: since I'll be installing the new SSD in the laptop as soon as the MBP arrives, do I need to back it up to Time Machine (or similar) before making the drive swap? Or can I simply re-install OSX and iLife software with the included install disks? I'm very tech-savy about this kind of stuff, so I'm not concerned with the process. However, this will be my FIRST MAC, so I want to get it right. In the past, I've custom-built my PCs from the motherboard up, but alas, it's time to bid Windows farewell. :)

-racher
Click to expand...

Yep, swap drives, and put the install disc in and follow the on screen instructions.
 
Excellent! That's what I needed to know (and the answer I was hoping for). Thanks for the super-prompt reply!

-racher
 
Are all SSDs equal and work with MBP.

Planning to order a 13" base model and put an SSD into it, any recommendations? Thanks. Looking for probably at least 128gb.
 
As long as you:

Upgrade the firmware (I noticed a 10% increase in speed)
Disable the SMS
Clean permissions and zap the Pram
Change the sleep management to not using the ram to disk sleep option (use classic sleep mode)

Then your SSD will rock. I agree, the Intels have the best controller and really don't need the trim as of yet. the performance decline is only about 2% after a year of usage. You won't really notice it.

Just keep your drive about half full, use an external drive for storage. 40 gigs of storage is enough for me anyways. Your SSD will rock.
: )
 
Jason Beck said:
As long as you:

Upgrade the firmware (I noticed a 10% increase in speed)
Disable the SMS
Clean permissions and zap the Pram
Change the sleep management to not using the ram to disk sleep option (use classic sleep mode)

Then your SSD will rock. I agree, the Intels have the best controller and really don't need the trim as of yet. the performance decline is only about 2% after a year of usage. You won't really notice it.

Just keep your drive about half full, use an external drive for storage. 40 gigs of storage is enough for me anyways. Your SSD will rock.
: )
Click to expand...

excuse the stupid questions:
do we do all your suggestions after the ssd drive is in the macbook pro?
what is SMS?
why only keep the drive half full? i am planning to get a 120Gb due to finances but usually keep logic audio in the library, which takes up a stack of space.
 
offwidafairies said:
excuse the stupid questions:
do we do all your suggestions after the ssd drive is in the macbook pro?
what is SMS?
why only keep the drive half full? i am planning to get a 120Gb due to finances but usually keep logic audio in the library, which takes up a stack of space.
Click to expand...

Yep, after. SSD'S generally perform better (according to numerous threads from people) when they are less than 80% full. 50% is a good number to be at in my opinion. The SMS is the sudden motion sensor. You don't need to have the Apple one enabled because you have one built into the Intel SSD drive. So disable it. I changed my sleep option to not write the ram contents to disk when I sleep so it saves me 4 gigs. You will get back as much gigabytes as you have ram when you use the classic sleep mode.

Smart sleep is a good program to install. It installs a system preference pane and lets you choose the sleep mode to use. When you pay out the butt for gigabytes like with ssd drives, every gig you save counts.
 
carljohnston28 said:
Are all SSDs equal and work with MBP.

Planning to order a 13" base model and put an SSD into it, any recommendations? Thanks. Looking for probably at least 128gb.
Click to expand...
gadgetfreaky said:
Jason-- do you have any opinion on this SSD?
Corsair 256 SSD?

Corsair 256 GB Performance Series Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CMFSSD-256GBG2D

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026V5MY0/ref=oss_product
Click to expand...


No, all SSDs are not equal, either in interface or performance. First you need a SSD w/ a SATA interface. After that, there are MLC and SLC architectures. SLC is fastest, but also much more expensive. Even amount MLCs some brands are better than others, and then you have to look at specific brands models - they usually have a budget, mid-performance, and high-performance model.

Specifically -- Intel's X25-M series is probably the best you can get right now, but at a premium compared to Corsair and OCZ. I have a Corsair P128 in my 13" MBP and love it. Odd thing is I bought it last year for $300 after rebate. It's closer to $400 now. Ouch.
 
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Chupa Chupa said:
No, all SSDs are not equal, either in interface or performance. First you need a SSD w/ a SATA interface. After that, there are MLC and SLC architectures. SLC is fastest, but also much more expensive. Even amount MLCs some brands are better than others, and then you have to look at specific brands models - they usually have a budget, mid-performance, and high-performance model.

Specifically -- Intel's X25-M series is probably the best you can get right now, but at a premium compared to Corsair and OCZ. I have a Corsair P128 in my 13" MBP and love it. Odd thing is I bought it last year for $300 after rebate. It's closer to $400 now. Ouch.
Click to expand...

I agree. You get what you pay for with SSD's, especially right now. Good advice.
 
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