Upgrading to SSD - are these all of the items I need?

[circa7]

Is this everything I need? Or are there other cables/adapters that would be necessary? It's a 2012 model MacBook Pro if it matters.

Also, would having my stock 5400rpm HDD as the secondary drive make any sense? Or would that just be too much of a mismatch for the SSD? I could spring for the 250gb SSD if the 5400rpm drive would work *almost* as good as the scorpio 7200rpm.

Samsung SSD
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Serie...TF8&colid=19Y2666NVH92B&coliid=I1D46VUQ9ZUWKM

Scorpio 7200rpm secondary drive (to go in optical bay)
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...UTF8&colid=19Y2666NVH92B&coliid=IRR51X9GCMXYX

Hard drive caddy
http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Unibody...UTF8&colid=19Y2666NVH92B&coliid=I8S786FD0PI42

External CD USB case
http://www.amazon.com/Micro-SATA-Ca...TF8&colid=19Y2666NVH92B&coliid=I22M90EZWEJAA4

 

[ultra7k]

yup you should be good to go.

honestly if you can afford it go for the 250gb, it just gives you that extra space that will come in oh so handy down the line instead of spending the money on a 7200rpm drive.

i'm using my stock 500gb hard drive in my optical bay, and it's fine. The only things that are stored on there are documents and media files anyways so it doesn't really matter.

just my 2 cents.

also, you may need to remove the black tab on the back of that optibay caddy for it to fit properly. just remove the screws and pull it out.

 

[Azzin]

Is this everything I need? Or are there other cables/adapters that would be necessary? It's a 2012 model MacBook Pro if it matters.

Also, would having my stock 5400rpm HDD as the secondary drive make any sense? Or would that just be too much of a mismatch for the SSD? I could spring for the 250gb SSD if the 5400rpm drive would work *almost* as good as the scorpio 7200rpm.

Samsung SSD
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Serie...TF8&colid=19Y2666NVH92B&coliid=I1D46VUQ9ZUWKM

Scorpio 7200rpm secondary drive (to go in optical bay)
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...UTF8&colid=19Y2666NVH92B&coliid=IRR51X9GCMXYX

Hard drive caddy
http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Unibody...UTF8&colid=19Y2666NVH92B&coliid=I8S786FD0PI42

External CD USB case
http://www.amazon.com/Micro-SATA-Ca...TF8&colid=19Y2666NVH92B&coliid=I22M90EZWEJAA4

The only think I was going to offer (having recently done what you're about to), was to check the depth of the HDD Caddy, as the one I ordered initially turned out to be too deep.

However, looking at the pix supplied on that Amazon link, there's one of the caddy and the optical drive side by side and they look identical.

Looks like you're good to go, enjoy!

 

[ybz90]

So the optibay solution is a bit of a dilemma. On the one hand, you want to put the SSD in the HD spot so you can take full advantage of SATA3 speeds, as the DVD drive I believe is SATA2 only. However, if you put the mechanical drive in the optibay, it will not benefit from the sudden motion sensor or anything other protective technologies, therefore, you can expect to get a lot more wear and tear very quickly, whereas the SSD is immune to damage from movement.

 

[kevink2]

I wonder whether you can setup the 2 drives as a Fusion setup, and get transparent access to the combined space, with OS X keeping the more used data on the SSD.

 

[circa7]

So the optibay solution is a bit of a dilemma. On the one hand, you want to put the SSD in the HD spot so you can take full advantage of SATA3 speeds, as the DVD drive I believe is SATA2 only. However, if you put the mechanical drive in the optibay, it will not benefit from the sudden motion sensor or anything other protective technologies, therefore, you can expect to get a lot more wear and tear very quickly, whereas the SSD is immune to damage from movement.

Well that's not a good thing... Definitely a dilemma. This is the first I have heard of this

 

[Swiss-G]

Well that's not a good thing... Definitely a dilemma. This is the first I have heard of this

All depends on the HDD as some have sudden motion sensors built in. You need to check the exact model number but the WD Scorpio Black drive would appear to benefit from WD's ShockGuardTM technology.

WD's ShockGuardTM technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks during shipping and handling and in daily operation. WD’s SecurePark parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down, and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface, resulting in improved long-term reliability due to less head wear and improved non-operational shock tolerance.

You should be good to go.

 

[circa7]

All depends on the HDD as some have sudden motion sensors built in. You need to check the exact model number but the WD Scorpio Black drive would appear to benefit from WD's ShockGuardTM technology.

WD's ShockGuardTM technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks during shipping and handling and in daily operation. WD’s SecurePark parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down, and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface, resulting in improved long-term reliability due to less head wear and improved non-operational shock tolerance.

You should be good to go.

I was hoping to be able to put my stock 5400rpm drive in to that slot.. but I guess I'll have to shell out the extra cash for the scorpio.

 

[Swiss-G]

I was hoping to be able to put my stock 5400rpm drive in to that slot.. but I guess I'll have to shell out the extra cash for the scorpio.

Not necessarily. Do you know what model your stock 5400 rpm drive is?

My 2011 MBP is a TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF which also has SMS built in.

Look in the system information under Serial ATA and the device tree will reveal the details of the connected drive.

Search google to check if the drive has built in SMS.

 

[circa7]

Not necessarily. Do you know what model your stock 5400 rpm drive is?

My 2011 MBP is a TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF which also has SMS built in.

Look in the system information under Serial ATA and the device tree will reveal the details of the connected drive.

Search google to check if the drive has built in SMS.

Not sure, the computer is in the mail and I don't receive it until next Thursday. It's a June 2012 2.6ghz i7 model, but I'm sure the hard drive's are somewhat random.

 

[circa7]

So the optibay solution is a bit of a dilemma. On the one hand, you want to put the SSD in the HD spot so you can take full advantage of SATA3 speeds, as the DVD drive I believe is SATA2 only. However, if you put the mechanical drive in the optibay, it will not benefit from the sudden motion sensor or anything other protective technologies, therefore, you can expect to get a lot more wear and tear very quickly, whereas the SSD is immune to damage from movement.

Wait.. this thread says that the optical drive on the 2012 models supports SATA III. Do you know which is correct? That would be nice if all I had to do was buy an SSD and put it in my optical drive.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1347247/

 

[Swiss-G]

Wait.. this thread says that the optical drive on the 2012 models supports SATA III. Do you know which is correct? That would be nice if all I had to do was buy an SSD and put it in my optical drive.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1347247/

Yes it does run at 6 Gigabit in the optical bay.

People have posted mixed results running the SSD in the optical bay. However, OWC indicate that it will work at 6 Gigabit in the ODD.

http://blog.macsales.com/14064-expand-the-2012-macbook-pros-with-an-owc-data-doubler

 

[ybz90]

Wait.. this thread says that the optical drive on the 2012 models supports SATA III. Do you know which is correct? That would be nice if all I had to do was buy an SSD and put it in my optical drive.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1347247/

My mistake, I guess the newer models have SATA3 there too. However, I'd be concerned still whether or not your adapter supports it, as reliable specs are notoriously lacking on eBay-sourced items like these. Personally, I'd put the SSD in the optibay either way, as even if it's limited to SATA2, you'll still get relatively blazing speeds and you can rest a bit more knowing your mechanical drive is safer.

 

[circa7]

Yes it does run at 6 Gigabit in the optical bay.

People have posted mixed results running the SSD in the optical bay. However, OWC indicate that it will work at 6 Gigabit in the ODD.

http://blog.macsales.com/14064-expand-the-2012-macbook-pros-with-an-owc-data-doubler

My mistake, I guess the newer models have SATA3 there too. However, I'd be concerned still whether or not your adapter supports it, as reliable specs are notoriously lacking on eBay-sourced items like these. Personally, I'd put the SSD in the optibay either way, as even if it's limited to SATA2, you'll still get relatively blazing speeds and you can rest a bit more knowing your mechanical drive is safer.

Will I have any problems running the SSD in my optical bay as my boot drive? Or is this something I'll just have to find out on my own by installing?

 

[Swiss-G]

Will I have any problems running the SSD in my optical bay as my boot drive? Or is this something I'll just have to find out on my own by installing?

No...

from http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10603

You can make your computer start up from a CD, a network volume, a different disk, or another operating system. To do so, you change your startup disk. You can change your startup disk only once—the next time you start up the computer—or you can set your computer to always start up from a different disk.

If you don’t see a disk that you expected to see, that disk may be able to start up some computers but not your computer. For example, a disk that can start up a PowerPC-based Mac may not be able to start up an Intel-based Mac.

Change your startup disk once
Do one of the following:

Hold down the Option key as you restart the computer. When you see the available startup disks, select one.
If your computer is on a network and a network startup disk is available, hold down the N key as you restart the computer to start up from the network startup disk.
The next time you restart your computer, it will go back to starting up from the disk selected as your permanent startup disk in System Preferences.

Change your startup disk for every startup
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, and then click Startup Disk.
If necessary, click the lock icon and type the name and password for an administrator user.
Click the icon of the disk you want to use, and then click Restart.
Warning: When selecting a network startup volume, make sure you select a valid network startup volume and not a network install image. Choosing a network install image reinstalls your system software and may erase the contents of your disk. A standard network volume icon appears as a globe. When you select a network volume icon, a message appears in the Startup pane describing the volume. A network install icon appears as a globe with downward-pointing green arrow.