MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Currently have a 500gb Hitachi 5400rpm disk with an 8mb cache in my early 2011 MacBook Pro (Core i7 with 8gb RAM), but find I now need more storage space.
I'm looking at the Samsung Spinpoint M8 1tb 5400, Seagate Momentus 750gb 7200, and the Western Digital Scorpio Blue 1tb 5400 as a replacement in my price range (£50-80). I looked at the Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid (platter & SSD) which looked like the best of both worlds initially but have been put off by negative reviews, especially from Mac users, with concerns over reliability and compatibility with OSX. Either a 750gb or 1tb disk will do, but more interested in performance without sacrificing battery life too much. I'm self employed and can't afford down-time while I resolve technical problems...
I'm a graphic designer (for print) using Adobe CS6 (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign etc) usually with lots of apps open simultaeneously (Safari, Mail, Skype, iTunes, iCal and various other small utilties), but not processing video or large 3D renders. Would I benefit from the faster spin speed of 7200rpm with a 16mb cache?
For performance, get an internal SSD and an external drive for data. Your machine will fly.
Otherwise, generally, the faster spin speed drives/larger cache will deliver data to your computer faster ( but you need to check reviews as well to make sure ).
[url= http://www.ebuyer.com/278646-ocz-120gb-solid-ssd-sld3-25sat3-120g ]120gig SSD for £54[/url], and put your existing drive in a caddy and use as an external drive.
The internal hard drive connection port on your mac is SATAII, so you won't benefit from a SATAIII drive, through they will work. If there's no real difference in cost, go SATAIII as they can be used again if you upgrade your mac.
As for drives, if you have thunderbolt, then go that route for large external data, otherwise, consider an OWC (google other world computers) hard rive tray, that allows you to fix a second drive in place of your dvd drive. Very easy to do. This way you can have large internal 72rpm (don't go 5400 it's slow) and a smaller sad for your pas and os. You can tracker your libraries for images, itunes etc... to the second drive and keep the SSdD light. Boot time will be super quick, and your apps will run way faster.
Also - up raged your ram, pretty sure you can get 16GB's in there. Again see OWC for the info.
Hmm hadn't thought about a small internal SSD and an external for data...
I also use a Firewire800 Iomega blackbelt 1tb drive with 3 partitions for time machine backups, a small boot partition for disk repair and another for video. I bought it before I upgraded the RAM when it benefitted from using the FW drive as scratch space. Now with 8gb ram I don't really need the FW... and there's not much of a performance boost by doubling the ram to 16gb.
Believe it or not I still use discs (CDs & DVDs) to receive and send data, so unfortunately I can't use the space for a second HDD in the optical bay.
The biggest space-hogs are the iPhoto & iTunes libraries, and my work files taking up about 100gb each, which could all be on an external drive. I would use a Thunderbolt drive, but I also have a second monitor running from it.
Cheers guys, dilemma solved I think.
Spin speed isn't the be all and end all - larger capacity disks may also have more data on each platter so the lower spin speed can be offset by increased density. You really need to look at the actual seek times and transfer rates rather than just the RPM (and then consider how much that will be limited by the SATA2 connection).
And I know it's not answering your question, but SSDs really are ace!
I wouldn't trust a OCZ drive. get a Crucial M4. about £1 a GB but solid drives. then I'd get a 500gb drive for the second drive and leave it spinning (turn sleep off it) fast platters and reliable.
I tried a couple of 7200rpm drives in my laptop and it was awfull. I could deal with the noise, but the vibration drove me mad. I took the first one back (Seagate Momentus)and tried another 7200rpm WD scorpion but it was just as bad. I ditched that and put in an OCZ SSD which is flippin brilliant. The system boots in about 12 seconds and its really snappy to use. The SSD drive made my aging laptop feel cutting edge again. Now you can get 120 gig drives for £70 ish its a real no brainer.
The internal hard drive connection port on your mac is SATAII, so you won't benefit from a SATAIII drive, through they will work. If there's no real difference in cost, go SATAIII as they can be used again if you upgrade your mac.
WRONG
I've got the same machine as the OP, it's definitely SATA III.
Also - up raged your ram, pretty sure you can get 16GB's in there. Again see OWC for the info.
Pointless. Can get 16GB in there, and it's not that expensive either, but has been proven unless you've got EVERYTHING open at the same time and are using it, it's just not worth it. I'm a heavy user for certain, bit of a computer killer to be honest, and never managed to get over about 5.5GB of RAM used at the same time, and that's using some fairly RAM hungry software. There have been quite a few tests of "is it worth it" and some are on Youtube, and the case each time was no it is not.
Have a similar problem to the OP about to arise myself, but have also asked myself could I simply do with less data on the machine and move some of it to an external drive or onto my desktop with a 1TB drive in it instead. The answer is of course I could, but might not be the case for the OP. What I would decide in the OP's case though, is just what I could get away with archiving (to an external drive) and what needs to be current, and maybe have a filing system whereby you migrate certain things to an external drive as they get to a certain age etc.
Personally in the OP's case, I'd put a 240GB SSD in (pretty cheap now, about £140 for a good one) and carry a 1TB external drive (can even be a 2.5" form factor for portability) round with me everywhere. The OWC Data Doubler solution is a nice idea, but personally I still use CD's and DVD's quite a bit, and an external CD/DVD writer is more of a PITA than an external drive is for data...
The biggest space-hogs are the iPhoto & iTunes libraries, and my work files taking up about 100gb each, which could all be on an external drive. I would use a Thunderbolt drive, but I also have a second monitor running from it.
In one mate... Let us know how you get on too, cos I think I'll be following you too soon!
I wouldn't trust a OCZ drive
Ive a couple of OCZ SSD's based on all the good reviews when I bought them. Ive had em a year or so with no probs yet (touch wood). Why wouldnt you recomend them? A very quick search revealed a couple of failures, but as they were probably the best selling for so long, your talking a real minority surley?
Done a bit of research and a 120gb SSD boot drive would do the job nicely, and I can consolidate all my data onto the 1tb Firewire drive. I have an old 1tb USB 3.5" drive in a caddy which can be used for backup, plus the old 500gb 2.5" HDD in another caddy for backup of important/essential files and taking off-site.
Carrying about all my data on an external drive isn't the ideal solution, but far better than a large, fast, potentially power-hungry internal HDD holding the OS [i]and[/i] data for no real benefit other than space.
I'll post back when it's all up'n'running.
Ive a couple of OCZ SSD's based on all the good reviews when I bought them. Ive had em a year or so with no probs yet (touch wood). Why wouldnt you recomend them?
I've had 2 out of 3 fail within the first 6 months of use, so wouldn't trust them either.
pop yourself onto the overclockers forum to see some ocz horror stories.
stick with crucial m4's
Done a bit of research and a 120gb SSD boot drive would do the job nicely, and I can consolidate all my data onto the 1tb Firewire drive.
For the price and convenience, I'd go with a 240GB for your needs. You'll be able to go without the external drive for far longer between file swaps/backups and it's another £75 which isn't exactly massive if your machine is crucial to your job. In fact, I'd almost say go for a 480GB drive, but they're still up over £300 right now.
Thanks guys, will look into reviews.
And yeah, I was tempted by spending a bit more and going for the 240gb. It's annoying but you know in a year or two £/GB will come to a point where it's a bit more affordable.