I am looking at getting a MacBook Pro in the next week or so and am wondering what you guys what do in this situation. Basically within the next month or so I'm looking at replacing the optical drive for an SSD, most likely an X-25M. In the meantime however I do need a bigger and faster internal drive than the stock drives available. I was dead set on getting a Seagate Momentus XT as the speed of it sounds like a great benefit. However, when the SSD arrives this secondary drive is going to be used purely for storage and as a backup of the boot volume (just in case...). Would you see much of a benefit with the hybrid drive being used purely for storage of say my iTunes library and Movie folders etc? Maybe it's worth saving £50? Cheers for any help!
If I may ask, why would you use the slower XT as the OS drive, and the SSD as storage? Wouldn't it make more sense to use the SSD as the OS/app drive and the hybrid as storage? Also, IIRC, the X-25m needs the TRIM command to maintain the performance if the cells. Since TRIM isn't supported in OSX yet, it might make more sense to look at a drive the has garbage collection built in at the firmware level. I'm swapping the stock 500GB with a 240GB from OWC. and then the optical with another drive (most likely the XT), so I've been looking into it of late.
I've worded that badly! I am of course referring to the HDD as the 'secondary drive'... I think I edited out the part where I said the SSD was the boot volume. lol So sorry about that I think TRIM support is coming quite soon so I'd rather invest in a drive that has it as an option for the future.
Ahh, right. TBH, I think apps and OS is where the speed needs to be. The XT should be fine for storage and scratch, even for video editing.
Undoubtedly... My main concern is will there be any benefit of the hybrid drive over a regular 7200 RPM drive if used purely as a storage drive? Coincidentally I do do a bit of work in Final Cut so that could be advantageous too? Another concern is with the current lack of TRIM support maybe it's just worth holding out until it's available? What else is on the market comparable to the X25-M in terms of speed that I wouldn't need to worry about the OS for support of it's self-maintenance? Thanks!
AFIK, the XT sits int between the 7200rpms and an SSD. So there is a benefit, just not as large one as with a pure SSD. But it's also at a different price point per Gig, so it's a matter of speed/price/size. As for TRIM, the new sandforce drives look to be a good solution to the OSX quandary. They are fast and feature a cleanup routine. The compression/encryption is what some have an issue with; but I don't think I'll see a problem with everyday CS5 and AP3 use. OCZ, Corsair and OWC are 3 that seem to be working well in MBPs at the moment. There are 2 chpsets out, the 1200 and the 1500, so you do need to take a look at the numbers. And the firmwares are slightly different, OCZ having a deal with them for the newest updates/special designs.
The new Vertex models look particularly good... As fast as the Intels, easily. My only concern would be investing in the Intel only to have no TRIM support ever or something daft. That would be a worst case scenario I suppose. Whereas with the OCZ you get the Sandforce controller that has independent clean-up as well as TRIM support in the OS as well. Interesting! I'm still torn on which MBP to get but that's a whole different arguement. Haha. Thanks!
Well, I had a car wreck that destroyed my 17" pre-unibody MBP, and just went through the whole insurance replacement thing. I have faced the many options of 15" hirez anti glare/glossy stock vs 17" glossy/anti glare and i7 vs i5 debate plus the aftermarket options. I also have looked Apple's pro apps and how they pan out on different systems, you can look up my questions about the express card USB3 vs FW 800 options. So if I can help in any way with an opinion, let me know.
You know that Intel's drives have had TRIM for ages right? I bought mine last October and immediately updated the firmware for TRIM.
No TRIM support in the OS is what we're discussing... We know the drives all support it Which is where the OCZ would be more favourable since it does it's Garbage Collection wizardry via it's controller when it's idling (as far as I can tell). If you have TRIM support for it, even better. But unfortunately it's not supported in OS X. ...yet! Hopefully.
HDD Hybrid are born at the wrong time. 3 Years ago if you had shown me one of them, I would have been thrilled but now...... They are pointless because you can buy a SSD at the same price for your OS. In matter of storage, who want an internal 500GB for 130 buck (Even if its fast, ITS FOR STORAGE) when you can purchase a 2TB for 100 bucks. It can be usefull in a Laptop or maybe as a XBOX HDD
Errr, what? You use the now spare SATA-II connection for the SSD in an optical drive enclosure and throw the optical drive in a USB caddy for the three times a year I ever actually use optical media. SSD for OS/Apps. HDD for storage. Well it is obviously in a laptop and will be for a month or so as the primary drive... But I see where you are coming from totally. It'll be a bit faster but for about twice the price until it gets made defunct with the SSD I'll add later on. Seems a bit overkill!
SSDs don't even save you power compared to 2.5" laptop drives which are very low power already. The low size and apple's lack of TRIM command doesn't make SSDs enticing at all. Hybrid drives are not that revolutionary. It isn't going to feel noticably faster though it will cost noticably more.
Sorry, I skipped the 'MacBook Pro' Part ^^ So this Momentus will use his RAM to store the most frequently used data ? I'm Wrong ? This is not particularly usefull as a storage when you want some random files. Why dont you get a Scorpio Black 500GB or a Samsung 640GB for half of the momentus price
No, the XT has a large RAM buffer built in, and uses that. Not the system RAM. Because the XT is faster and when you work with video there is a noticeable difference, especially when balanced against power consumption. The newer drives are more power efficient then a HDD, and don't need TRIM. It won't seen that much faster as an OS drive, but when streaming large video files, they do help. That buffer makes a big difference.
So what's the best regular HDD I could get these days? I've usually gone with Western Digital for HDD needs. I don't think I'd really see the benefit of the hybrid in the long run for twice the price and I've heard they (ie the Momentus range in particular) can have peculiar issues with the MBP's Sudden Motion Sensor. Thanks for all your help guys.
The HDD in my MBP is a 500GB Hitachi 5400rpm. There is nothing wrong with it really. Any 2.5" HDD will work fine. If you want to, a 7200rpm drive will boost speeds a tad, nothing like an SSD, but you should see some change....at the expense of battery life. You'll get the best value from taking the stock drive and putting into the optibay, and the SSD as a boot. The overall speed of the system will rise, even if the data access speed doesn't. But, it's the cheapest choice with the biggest boost. You could always do that now, and then upgrade the data drive in the future. That would allow you to save cash now, wait for NAND prices to drop and the controller technology to mature further.
