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Where to place the Intel X25-M?

H

HybridMD

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hello everybody!

I just got my Intel X25-M 80Gb SSD and my optibay is on its way. I have a question, where would it be best to place the ssd, in the optibay or in the hard drive caddy? I also have a Samsung HM501II without SMS for media.

Thanks!
 
If you have a unibody MacBook Pro it doesn't really matter which, although I'd probably place the SSD in the optibay to give the HDD the extra protection. If you have a non-unibody MacBook Pro you'll have to place the SSD in the hard drive caddy and the HDD in the optibay.
 
why is there such a difference, I have an Unibody macbook pro 13 inch. I has thinking to put the SSD in the caddy , but was worried about the hard drive because in the optibay it isn't really fixed
 
HybridMD said:
why is there such a difference, I have an Unibody macbook pro 13 inch. I has thinking to put the SSD in the caddy , but was worried about the hard drive because in the optibay it isn't really fixed
Click to expand...

There's a difference because the non-unibody MacBook Pros use PATA for the optical drives, so you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the SSD's speed. Personally, I'd do the reverse of what you were thinking. The SSD has no moving parts, so it wouldn't benefit from the extra protection in the caddy, but the HDD would.
 
but what about hibernation? I read that by placing the SSD in the optibay the hibernation fails.
 
HybridMD said:
but what about hibernation? I read that by placing the SSD in the optibay the hibernation fails.
Click to expand...

I've only installed two SSD in optibays and both were in non-unibody MacBook Pros, so they had to go in the hard drive caddy. So I don't know, sorry about that.
 
HybridMD said:
but what about hibernation? I read that by placing the SSD in the optibay the hibernation fails.
Click to expand...

If you need hibernation, then put it in the HDD bay and get a HDD with a drop sensor.

Otherwise, live without hibernation by sleeping with at least 5% battery remaining and you should be fine.
 
I put my Intel SSD in the oem hard drive spot for one main reason: it's right under the palm rest and I would prefer not to have any spinning vibrations under the palm rest. Plus it's nice knowing it's in the main spot and have the HDD in the caddy. Just feels right haha.
 
aznguyen316 said:
I put my Intel SSD in the oem hard drive spot for one main reason: it's right under the palm rest and I would prefer not to have any spinning vibrations under the palm rest. Plus it's nice knowing it's in the main spot and have the HDD in the caddy. Just feels right haha.
Click to expand...

Did you have any problems with the hdd? and what hdd are you using?
 
no problems so far. Haven't felt or heard it either. I'm using the stock hitachi 250GB that came with the system. I feel the caddy helps dampen noise/vibrations - it was a pretty solid fit and I have it taped down too just in case of any movement.
 
I don't want to put the HDD in the optibay because it doesn't have SMS. If the macbook falls the hdd would be damaged without sms
 
I would say Hibernation is very useful, if you don't put the SSD in the main HDD bay, you'll always have to care about the battery level of the MBP or you might loose datas while sleeping.
 
I agree, but will the hdd in the optibay vibrate too much? Or also, because it is not securely fixed it might brake?
 
HybridMD said:
I agree, but will the hdd in the optibay vibrate too much? Or also, because it is not securely fixed it might brake?
Click to expand...

My optibay didn't have very good screw placements so if I placed a 7200rpm in there I am sure it would rumble and growl.

And i don't know about this battery life and data loss during sleep. Never happened to me. I have about the same amount of battery life as I did before I did the optibay.

I would say be safe, put the hdd in the sms protected bay because likely that will have a lot of important data. The SSD can go in the optibay and hold the os just fine. That is my current set up and I am just happy with it.
 
Thanks everybody, I am going to put th ssd in the optibay because I don't want to ruin the hdd.
 
Keep your boot drive in the caddy (if that is your SSD, so be it) or you may run into hiberation/sleep issues.

Most hard drives have basic SMS anyway--and ones with full SMS can be purchased readily (scorpio black, momentus, etc.). Keep your non-boot drive in the optibay.
 
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