1 solid state drive or two ATA?

I have a Macbook with 2GB RAM. I run VMware Fusion with WinXP installed for .NET development. Sometimes it can bog the machine down. For example, when the sql server IDE is starting up. For the most part, it all works fine.
I don't see the option to get a Macbook with two hard drives. I imagine that would use up battery time quickly. Would one solid state drive be faster than one ATA drive in my case, since that is currently an option?

4thSpace wrote:
Thanks. I've been avoiding it after a couple of post that additional RAM didn't really improve performance to much. But I guess my case is different.
Do you think Apple RAM is best? I'd have to buy the full 4GB since there isn't a 2GB upgrade. Macbook only has two slots and right now I'm using them. Can't sell the 2GB on eBay either. I see they don't sell. There is one place that will give you something on your 2GB for 4GB upgrade. But I've read people sometimes have problems with their memory. Also, if I go with Apple RAM, it will help narrow down any general troubleshooting issues, since 3rd party RAM won't come into play. Just very expensive route.
Like it was said, Apple only buys from third parties. For the most part they don't even identify the RAM the install or sell as Apple-OEM parts like you see on hard drives.
Still - Apple at the very least uses modules that they're sure will work. The memory controller seems to be very fincky with DDR3 memory. There seems to be a lot of reports that people have gotten memory from OWC, Crucial, etc and had compatibility problems, including kernel panics. That's usually because there's something marginal about the memory's compatibility with the controller, where it passes power-on self test but eventually fails during regular operation. I guess heat could be an issue, as that slows down semiconductor switching speeds. I've heard of electronics that have been cryogenically cooled to improve performance.
At the very least you could get your memory from a retailer that has a compatibility guarantee. I would think by now Crucial or OWC have figured out what the problems may have been. Crucial.com is selling the 2x2GB kits at a pretty good price.
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=2E9B2B4EA5CA7304

Similar Messages

Can you upgrade a MacBookPro hard drive from a "750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm" to a Solid State Drive easily? The info seems to say that it's as easy as plugging the new drive into a drive slot?

I am about to buy a new MacBook Pro, but want to try out the Serial Drive 7200rpm before taking the plunge to use the SSD....Can you upgrade a MacBookPro hard drive from a "750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm" to a Solid State Drive easily? The info seems to say that it's as easy as plugging the new drive into a drive slot?

shldr2thewheel wrote:
Fmaharg wrote:
I am about to buy a new MacBook Pro, but want to try out the Serial Drive 7200rpm before taking the plunge to use the SSD....Can you upgrade a MacBookPro hard drive from a "750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm" to a Solid State Drive easily?
Yes
Fmaharg wrote:
The info seems to say that it's as easy as plugging the new drive into a drive slot?
It's easy, but not that easy. You need to copy all the info from the drive currently in the mac to the new one before you install the new SSD. You can do this by downloading cloning software (I use CarbonCopyCloner because it's free)
Not to be picky but CCC is donationware, if you use it because of its quality you should send a little bit of money in appreciation, and as a bonus you get to turn the banner off.

Can i change the serial ATA Drive to solid state drive easily ?

I just Bought a MacBook Pro , With Hard Drive (500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rp) .
Is it easy to Change it later to to (Solid State Drive) ?

An SSD is simply going to provide much, much, much faster access than a standard hard disk drive. Your machine has a SATA II controller, meaning that it can have negotiated speeds of up to 6Gbps. You'll get very near that limit with a SSD but you won't be even close with a standard hard drive.
I've had a SSD in my late 2011 15" MBP since about a month after I bought it. I've also increased the RAM to 16GB. My machine flies - and so can yours.
Clinton

1TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive

Hi,
How do I confuger my iMac if I select the "1TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive"?
Thanks.
Ed

Hi Ed,
Your new iMac will come with OSX Lion.
What you want to achieve is to have all your user accounts on the hard drive and your OS and Applications on the SSD.
The way to go about this is to create your User Account/s on the SSD. (Do not migrate your data at this point).
You will need to create a temporary User Account that you can login with, so that you can either replace or create the User Account that you want to migrate from your MacBook Pro.
Now, clone your SSD to the hard drive using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!. (Migration Assistant will not migrate data to a HD without a System folder, I believe).
Bootup from the SSD, change the path to your User Account/s in System Preferences>Advanced Options. Reboot and then migrate your User Account, Applications and Settings from your MacBook Pro using Migration Assistant.
That is the configuration I have working on my MacBook Pro with dual drives, an SSD and HD.
Good luck.
Sam

Solid state drive vs a serial ATA drive?

What is the difference between a solid state drive and a Serial ATA drive in the MacBook Pro's? And why would I choose one over the other?

If your going to go SSD you need to go large as you can get, like 750GB or more and it's going to cost plenty.
SSD's are shock resistant as they have no moving parts, should last longer and cause less problems that hard drives, but they can wear out faster than hard drives if your moving around a lot of data.
Drawback to SSD's is you can't securely erase them, and with their "wear leveling" placing your data on the least used cells, you basically have to enable Filevault 2 to encrypt the whole thing all the time to protect your data, this results in a performance loss a bit as your CPU has to encrypt and decrypt everything on the fly before using it.
A skilled person can break the password, or you have to provide it to Apple for repair purposes or Customs officials/law when ordered by the courts. There are devices for iPhones, iPods, iPads and even GPS that can image the whole SSD in mere minutes and gleam the password, apparently in cooperation with these major companies like Apple. So it's safe to assume the newer SSD on the closed boxe MBP-Retina's will also be accessible this way via the Thunderbolt port.
So if you want the option to "scrub" your boot drive, then your going to want to go with a SATA hard drive and not a SSD. Also you want a MBP other than the MacBook Pro-Retina, so that you can open the machine and remove the internal storage for destruction.
How do I securely delete data from the machine?

I'm looking to but the iMac 27" with 2TB Serial ATA Drive 256GB Solid State Drive . Will time machine automatically back up both the hard drive and the solid-state drive? Ae there any catches or things to be aware of?

Will time machine on Lion, Mac OS 10.7, automatically back up both the internal hard drive and the internal solid-state drive both inside a 27" iMac?

Also, you may find this of interest
TM 101
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

Putting a solid state drive in my MBP

I have a MPB which is about two years old. After my bro made me super jealous by getting a 17 " solid state drive brand-nu MBP (with a matte screen! - he's a photographer) I'm wanting to upgrade, too. His is real bad-***. But I just don't have the dough for a brand-new set up
Is it possible to add one of those solid state drive bad boys to a two year old machine?
beside the cost of the drive, will Apple just put it in for me, and how much does that cost?
Thanks
JC

Yes, you can put one in your computer. No, Apple will not do it for you. You can do it yourself. Visit OWC both for drives and tutorials.

Can I use a solid state drive (SSD) with a G4 1 GHz powerbook? If so, how do I do it?

Hi:
Can I use a solid state drive (SSD) with a G4 1 GHz powerbook? If so, how do I do it? Thanks.
fromx001

fromx001 I believe you can use a SSD as internal drive, of course make sure to buy an ide/ata. There are all sorts of sizes up to 480 GB also in the ide/ata standard. You should however research carefully your purchase, as the performances of your SSD are going to have to rely on firmware "garbage collection", as the older operating systems haven't been written with SSD in mind.
Mac Man JW: some people depend on Classic as a brody said, other people need a phone modem from time to time, other people use the laptop in harsh environments, and at -15C and below, LCD screens easily crack and break; NOT the powerbook which has hot air towards the screen (and it's a machine that heats quite a lot). My alu Powerbook 12", which was *not* treated with velvet gloves, only once had a cracked screen: a cleaning lady had stepped over it (!!!!) no joke. And in normal / light use today, it is still pretty decent and usable.

Setting Up SSD Solid State Drive for Cache...Help!

Hello,
I am trying to configure my system to do really heavy special effects using After Effects and other programs. I bought a new computer with specs below and a Solid State Drive for the cache as recommended in the White Papers. I plug the SSD into a port on top of the machine. I must have it configured wrong because I keep getting the message "disk cache folder cannot be the root of a volume." I don't know how to configure this correctly so my work will use the SSD properly. Can someone walk me through this? Nicole The SSD is a Seagate SSHD 1TB hybrid drive that is supposed to boot and perform like an SSD. The motherboard is an Asus X79 and the processor is an i7 4820k (Ivy Bridge E) Thanks!
Processor Brand
Intel®
Processor
Intel® 4th Generation Core™ i7
(Also known as the CPU). The part of the computer that interprets and executes instructions. Think of it as the brain of the computer.
Processor Speed
3.7GHz (with Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz)
How fast a computer processor carries out instructions. In general, faster is better, but processor speeds across brands may not be equivalent (i.e., a 3.0GHz AMD processor may not be the same speed as a 3.0GHz Intel processor).
Cache Memory
10MB on die Level 3
A small segment of memory that stores frequently used information for fast access by the processor, improving response time.
System Memory (RAM)
16GB
The memory a computer uses to run its operating system, applications and active data files. Greater amounts of RAM improve speed and enable more applications to run at once.
System Memory (RAM) Expandable To
128GB
Maximum amount of memory a computer can support (as opposed to the amount that comes preinstalled).
Type of Memory (RAM)
DDR3 SDRAM
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Type of graphics (video) adapter (usually built into the motherboard), identified by manufacturer and model.
Video Memory
2GB (dedicated)
Manages display functions, including screen refresh rates, resolution and color. The more video memory a computer has, the better graphics and video will look.
Audio
High-definition 7.1-channel surround sound
Speakers
None
Network Card
Built-in 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN
Allows a computer to connect to a network either by using cables (Ethernet) or wireless technology (IEEE 802.11).
Wireless Networking
None
Recordable DVD Drive
Yes, double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW
Drive that can read CDs and DVDs, as well as write and rewrite CDs and various types of DVDs.
Recordable DVD Drive Speeds
Drive speeds not specified
Maximum write (DVD±R), rewrite (DVD±RW) and read (DVD-ROM) speeds of the DVD±RW drive.
Direct-Disc Labeling
No
Digital Media Reader or Slots
No
Available Expansion Bays
External: 6 (5.25"); Internal: 2 (3.5")
Available Expansion Slots
4 PCI Express x16, 1 PCI Express x1, 4 DIMM
For digital cameras and digital audio players: Slots that allow the addition of a removable memory card, such as Secure Digital or CompactFlash, to increase storage capacity.For computers: Slots on the motherboard that accept sound cards, video cards, memory and other upgrade cards.
USB 2.0 Ports
3 USB 3.0 (1 front, 2 rear); 8 USB 2.0 (2 front, 6 rear)
Ports that allow high-speed (up to 480 Mbps) data transfer between compatible devices.
Keyboard Description
USB
Indicates design, functionality or connection features. Some keyboards offer special buttons for gaming or multimedia use, while other keyboards include features such as illumination or wireless connectivity.
Other Control Devices (mouse, etc.)
USB mouse
Operating System Platform
Windows
Operating System
Windows 8
The master software that controls hardware functions and provides a platform on top of which any software applications will run. Commonly used systems include Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X for computers and Palm OS and Microsoft Windows Mobile for PDAs.
ENERGY STAR Certified
No
ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.
Best Buy PC App
No
HDMI Output
Yes
Blu-ray Player
No
Graphics Chip
NVIDIA
Drive Capacity
2TB
Discrete Graphics
Yes
Gaming Series
Yes
Hard Drive Size
2TB
Capacity for storing programs, photos, video, music and other electronic information. Hard drive capacities range from a few gigabytes to several hundred.
Hard Drive Type
SATA III (7200 rpm)
Hard drives are classified based on the interface they use to connect to a computer. Common interfaces for internal hard drives include EIDE, PATA (also known as, ATA and IDE), SATA and SCSI. Common interfaces for external hard drives include USB 2.0, FireWire and eSATA.
UPC
892167017218

>dont know how this is done in windows 8
Open Windows Explorer (for Win7) which I think was renamed File Manager in Win8 and go to the "root" of the drive and right click and select New--Folder from the popup window

Solid State drive in dv8-1110eb

Can I install a Solid State drive in my dv8-1110eb, does it really speeds up my Win 7, 64-bit system, and what SSD would you recomment?
Greetings,
Onni.be
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hello Jurgen.
Here are some pointers when reinstalling the OS and all your applications. You may use the W7 tools to mirror image your hard drive and create a system repair disc. These two applications work to restore the OS at the time of creation. If the new SSD is smaller in size, this method will not work. You will have to use your HP recovery DVD's in this case or you can install a retail version of W7 and use your product key from the underside of the laptop. For this to work it has to be the exact same version and it has to be installed as a trial. When it's time to enter you OEM key, go to Computer Properties and at the bottom of that page you will find "Change Product Key". Here is where you enter your OEM key.
A safe download for W7.
http://www.mydigitallife.info/download-windows-7-iso-official-32-bit-and-64-bit-direct-download-link... Don't use rewritable and make sure it's a good brand name. If you choose this method I can show you exactly where to get all you drivers and even get the hotkeys working. You "eject" Volume OSD Bass and treble etc, will all be gone with retail version of W7.
I use Adobe CS4 and you will be amazed how fast your CS5 will run !

Solid State Drive (SSD) Questions for G4 "Sawtooth".

Below are some questions concerning using a Solid State Drive (SSD) in a G4 "Sawtooth".
Would a controller card need to be installed for an SSD to work in this machine?
Would the G4 be able to operate in Classic mode with the SSD?
Would the G4 be able to boot into OS 9 with the SSD?
Should the SSD be used only for booting and applications, with user data stored on another drive that does not use SSD technology (such as an ATA or SATA drive)?
Should only 50% of the drive space be used, in order to ensure optimized performance?
Would the G4 only be able to use the first 128 MB of drive space of an SSD that has a capacity greater than 128 MB? If so, would either of the below cards enable the G4 to read the entire drive?
[http://eshop.macsales.com/item/ACARD/AEC6280M>
[http://eshop.macsales.com/item/ACARD/AEC6880M>
-John

Would a controller card need to be installed for an SSD to work in this machine?
One like this:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/TSATA/
Would the G4 be able to operate in Classic mode with the SSD?
Yes.
Would the G4 be able to boot into OS 9 with the SSD?
Depends on the controller card, but with the linked card, it shouldn't be an issue.
Should the SSD be used only for booting and applications, with user data stored on another drive that does not use SSD technology (such as an ATA or SATA drive)?
Smaller capacity drives will limit file storage, and keeping OS and applications separate always improves performance, regardless of the drive type.
http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/Blog/00E03B83-1ADA-406E-A940-396D39F 598EA.html
Should only 50% of the drive space be used, in order to ensure optimized performance?
SSD's can be filled further, but should maintain 20GB or more for virtual memory.
Would the G4 only be able to use the first 128 MB of drive space of an SSD that has a capacity greater than 128 MB?
A controller card removes that limit.
If so, would either of the below cards enable the G4 to read the entire drive?
Those controllers will work for and allow use of large capacity ATA drives.

Purchase questions: solid state drive and 8GB RAM

I am finally going to upgrade from my PBG4, and I am salivating over either a 13" or 15" MBPro. Two questions:
1) A solid state drive is expensive, but the way I abuse laptops, it may be worth it. In addition to being more rugged, what are its other advantages? Is it faster than a 5400 or 7200 rpm hard drive? Does it boot/shut down faster? What else?
2) I do graphics, so 8GB RAM can help me with Photoshop, etc. If I can get 4GB RAM chips elsewhere cheaper than through Apple, can I upgrade the RAM myself, without voiding the Apple warranty?

You're probably about as good a candidate as there is for a big (250GB) SSD, but only for the sake of its ruggedness. The current small sizes of SSDs compared to HDs will be a serious disadvantage for anyone who works with a lot of graphics. SSDs are still in their infancy, and there are large variations in speed from one to another and new models coming out almost weekly. Taken overall, any SSD will be as fast or faster (and some are *many, many* times faster) than any conventional notebook hard drive. But some are slower than fast hard drives for certain operations, e.g. sustained large writes. Try to pick one that's fast across the board, because they'll all be highly shock-resistant (and astronomically expensive) compared to any HD. It's going to take a bit of Googling to dig up many reports — I haven't seen any big "roundup"-style tests yet myself, but that doesn't necessarily mean there haven't been any. Here's one test that may or may not be representative:
http://www.barefeats.com/hard121.html
With respect to MBPs themselves in your situation, we haven't heard from anyone in these forums since the introduction of the unibody MBPs who has reported how well they've held up to the kind of ultra-rough handling you describe. If there are some uMBPs out there with you, you would know better than we do, and you'd have a better chance than we do to ask how well they survive. Hard drives would certainly be among their most vulnerable parts, but I would also ask pointedly about display hinges, glass display covers, optical drives, and above all, dealing with dust. These machines can't be sealed, and their keyboards and ports can't be cleaned easily or effectively. In a desert setting, I would think keeping a keyboard cover in place, taping over the ports, optical drive slot and speaker grilles when they're not in use, and finding access to a vacuum from time to time would be essential if at all possible. Even so, the fans in these machines run all the time, and they will continually draw dust inside.
Good luck in your research.

Solid-State Drives in Macbook Pro

Hi there,
I've recently started to upgrade the performance of my late 2011 MacBook Pro and have already upgraded the RAM. I am still not 100% satisfied with the performance of my MacBook pro especially when it comes to handling large HD video files.
I've been told that this is probably due to the slow read/write speed of the flash drive that the MacBook came with on day one, and I've head that installing a Solid-State Drive (SSD) will greatly improve the perforamcne of trasnferring, and capturing video files.
But Ive noticed there are 2 options, either removing the HDD and installing an SSD or purchasing a portable SSD and connecting to the MacBook via Thunderbolt.
I am wanting personal experiences using both installed or portable SSD and if theres any cons to either of them.
Thank you

My only current dual HD macbook, is an older 2010 I have 2 conventional HD in, the optibay drive has Win7 on it as boot volume for using a lot of older Win applications I still use (micrografx). Ive not setup a Raid 0 with the second HD.
Testing: RAID 0 in a MacBook Pro using the Data Doubler.
http://blog.macsales.com/9769-testing-raid-0-in-a-macbook-pro-using-the-data-dou bler
According to user Asatoran
Now add to the mix, the fact that RAID0 will lose data if any one of the drives in the array fails. You have two drives in RAID0 versus one drive in a non-RAID. The RAID is twice as likely to have a drive failure just because you have more drives. If you made the RAID from two SSD drives, which are more reliable than platter-based drives, then you're got something interesting. But you're still twice as likely to have a SSD-RAID0 array failure compared to a single non-RAID SSD. (And more than twice if it's platter-based drives in the RAID0 versus a single non-RAID SSD.) So it's up to you to determing how much risk you are willing to take...and how much you can afford.
Also note that some Macbook and Macbook Pro models have slower performance on the SATA port for the optical drive. (One assumes Apple tried to save a few dollars and put in a older, slower SATA controller for the optical drive.) I don't know exactly which models but if yours is one of those, then you may get uneven performance on your RAID0. Whether that is noticable or acceptable to you, will depend on a lot of things that you won't know until you try. (e.g.: model of drive, apps you're using.)
And it's good that "backup is easy for you." With RAID0 for the boot volume, you're that much more likely to have a failed boot volume. (IOW, can't boot the Mac at all, which means you'll be using that easily made backup a lot.) Ideally, workstations that used RAID0 used them for the data, not for the OS. For example, in video editing, the scratch disk needs to be fast, but could be RAID0 because you "threw away" whatever was on the scratch disk after you were done editing, and presumably saved/copied the final edited product to another archival drive. But the OS was on a typical single drive non-RAID (or a RAID1 or RAID5 if necessary,) not on a single RAID0 array for both OS and data.
In your situation, you can't separate the OS and data onto separate RAID arrays, so in general, RAID0 is NOT what you want, regardless of whether you use SSDs or platter-based hard drives. But again, only you can determine how much risk and cost you're willing to gamble with.

T61 and Solid State Drive Upgrade -- Questions

Solid State Drive prices are going southwards, and I am tempted to explore the possibility of upgrading the existing internal hard drive with a solid sate one (as and when 128 GB SSD become available) in my T61.
My questions are:
1. Is it possible to upgrade to these devices?
2. Would there be any gain in battery life? How much is it likely?
3. Would there be any performance gain?
4. What are the pitfalls?
Sushil
Sushil
ThinkPad T61, (7658CTO), T7500, Integrated Graphics, 320 GB HDD, 3 GB RAM, 1 GB Intel Turbo Memory, Vista (32 bit) Business

Solid state drives have yet to become a worthwhile venture as their use in high end computing has not yet been proven. One of the biggest problems with SSD's is the fact that they cannot come to par with traditional drives in terms of random write speeds. Most people take a performance hit with these types of drives except for the exception of one company, which has gotten speeds up to traditional drive speeds.
However, sequential read and write speeds are marginally faster than traditional drives, which gives u a boost on boot, which is noticably faster. For most business users, the upgrade to an SSD will not yield any tangible results except when transferring bulk files back and forth, at which point one would notice a significant performance hit. Regarding battery life, the first time I used a SSD, it didn't help with battery life at all that was noticable. However, it was well worth the upgrade as it made the laptop literally silent and cool. It's surprising how much sound hard drives make these days ....
My two cents is that the SSD is really an expensive looks-only aesthetic mod but in terms of CG heavy users - not worth it yet unless you can run it in RAID 0 or 5 with 4+ drives, bringing performance quite up to par. At that point, a desktop machine running RAM drives from Gigabyte might even be better....
Message Edited by singularity2006 on 02-19-2008 03:48 PM
T61_Wide | Model No. 7662 - CTO
Core 2 Duo T7250 | 2GB OCZ DDR2-800
82566MM Gigabit | 4965AGN Centrino Pro

Upgrading ThinkPad E420s, Choosing Memory and Solid State Drive

Hi All,
I want to update my ThinkPad E420s. Now I have 4 GB of memroy and 320 hard drive. I want to get 8 GB memory and a solid stated drive.
I want to verify that I have chosen components that will work with the laptop.
Will the memory and the SSD below work with E420s?
Memory: http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-10600-204-Pin-Notebook-CT2KIT51264BF1339/dp/B0067G1N34/ref=sr_1_1?...
SSD: http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-240GB-2-5-Inch-Internal-CT240M500SSD1/dp/B00BQ8RM1A/ref=sr_1_1?s=elect...
I used this article as a spec guide http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd015793
Specifications for memory:
8GB max7 / PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3
Non-parity
Dual-channel capable
Two 204-pin SO-DIMM sockets
Specifications for SSD:
Solid State Drive (SSD) / SATA 3.0Gb/s
128GB SSD, 2.5" wide, 7mm high
80GB, mSATA
Thank you!
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi Mihalych,
Sure I will provide you the link where you can check with our customer care for nearby service center for your region.
Please click here to visit the Lenovo support link and select your region to get the contact number.
Hope this helps!
Best regards,
Hemanth Kumar
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1 solid state drive or two ATA?

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