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What hdd caddy?

T

tomf

macrumors regular
Original poster
hi,

I'm putting a hdd in place of my optical drive in my 13" late 2011 Mbp. The drive I'm getting is a hgst 1tb 7200 drive.

One thing I'm confused about is what caddy should I get? What are the things I need to check for?

Thanks for any advice and help
 
Thanks, What are the things I need to check for when buying a caddy for my above specs?
 
tomf said:
Owc seems to be a U.S. thing.
Click to expand...
Sorry, you didn't specify a geographic location limitation and I have no idea where you are located from this thread, your sig, and not from your profile information. You still haven't provided that information. Did you want me to go read your other threads to try and figure it out?
The best I can offer, without information and the new limitation, is that it is also sold on Amazon (again US Amazon because that is my location):
OWC Data Double at Amazon
 
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tomf said:
Just wanted to make sure. I don't understand why some caddy's care more expensive than others? Surely they all do the same.
Click to expand...
Usually it'll be build quality.

The OWC version is very sturdy and well made. Some are a bit more flimsy.

They all serve the exact same function though.
 
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I bought two recently on Amazon for different machines. I searched by the "A" model. Like a1283 or something like that.

I also had one from 2009 MacBook I installed into 2010 I think Mac mini. The holes on the opti at did not line up with the holes for the carrier chassis but it works ie system boots etc.

I recommend going by your model and read reviews.
 
But they may not line up right. Sure you can put the drive in it but you may not be able to fasten the caddy to the machine (like in my case). The holes were slightly off.
 
adam9c1 said:
But they may not line up right. Sure you can put the drive in it but you may not be able to fasten the caddy to the machine (like in my case). The holes were slightly off.
Click to expand...
Ah ok, so how do you know which caddy's will work with a late 2011 mbp 13"?
 
One thing I don't understand is seeing reviews/people say "this caddy only operates at 1.5gb/s and not 3gb/s"

Well I plan on putting a 1tb hgst 7200rpm drive in the caddy, so I don't know if this 1.5gb/s is going to make a difference?

I obviously don't want to bottleneck it by saving a few pounds on a cheap enclosure.

Thanks for any help and advice
 
The better built = more expensive. Sure the less expensive ones might be fine, but IMO there is more risk that there will be a problem.

EDIT: Removed quote to the wrong poster. Oops.
 
Last edited:
tomf said:
One thing I don't understand is seeing reviews/people say "this caddy only operates at 1.5gb/s and not 3gb/s"
Well I plan on putting a 1tb hgst 7200rpm drive in the caddy, so I don't know if this 1.5gb/s is going to make a difference?
I obviously don't want to bottleneck it by saving a few pounds on a cheap enclosure.
Thanks for any help and advice
Click to expand...
The 1.5gb/s should be fine for HDD.
 
I think 2011 is SATAIII ie 6gb/s.
I suggest you get one made for your model.

The ones I got were about 20-25 USD.
 
Yes I just checked and both drives (normal hd and optical bay drive) in my mbp say

Link Speed - 6gb/s
Negotiated link speed - 3gb/s (for the standard hd drive) and 1.5 gb/s for the optical bay

What does negotiated link speed mean?
 
Ok so, I found out negotiated link speed means the current speed the drive is going at.

So, the hgst 1tb hdd says its 6gb/s - so if I put that in the optical bay caddy I would assume I will get 6gb/s connection?

I read someone say that the optical bay caddy has no bearing on the connection speed whatsoever. Not too sure if that's the case.

Thanks
 
tomf said:
I read someone say that the optical bay caddy has no bearing on the connection speed whatsoever. Not too sure if that's the case.

Thanks
Click to expand...
That is indeed the case. Think of it as a repeater of the logicboard's own SATA port.
 
Ok that's good news. I would expect to see my negotiated link speed at 6gb/s then if I proceeded with the above.
 
tomf said:
Ok that's good news. I would expect to see my negotiated link speed at 6gb/s then if I proceeded with the above.
Click to expand...
Some 2011 will refuse to do SATA III (6Gbps) in the optical bay.

Since you're planning on using a platter hard drive, it doesn't matter one bit. A mechanical hard drive can't even saturate SATA I (1.5Gbps).
 
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snaky69 said:
Some 2011 will refuse to do SATA III (6Gbps) in the optical bay.

Since you're planning on using a platter hard drive, it doesn't matter one bit. A mechanical hard drive can't even saturate SATA I (1.5Gbps).
Click to expand...

My optical bay does do 6gb/s - and so does the hgts 1tb 7200rpm hdd - so does that mean they will connect at 6gb/s?
 
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