JeremyR
Level 1 (40 points)

Q: External SSD HD as system drive

So I have a mid 2010 27" iMac, and I would like to improve the performance a bit.

 

One option is to replace my HD with an SSD, but I do not want to go through the trouble of opening up the computer. I know I can install a FireWire 800 SSD externally, clone my system drive, and boot from that.

 

My questions are as follows:

 

  1. Is the performance of FireWire 800 fast enough to produce a significant improvement in HD performance?
  2. How much slower (if at all) would it be than if I installed it internally?
  3. Are there any weird issues with running OSX off an external FireWire drive, that I should know about?

 

Thanks in advance for any help you all can provide

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jun 13, 2012 6:05 PM

by RRFS,Solvedanswer
RRFS RRFS
Level 5 (4,490 points)
A:

Jeremy

I put a Crucial 128GB into my 2008 iMac but before I did I ran it for a week or so in a Firewire 800 docking cradle as my boot drive. It was much faster for startup and application launch but it performs noticably better installed. I also noticed my system runs cooler and quieter (I was starting to hear the drive spinning). I didn't notice any difference in the system running on Firewire 800, once the drive was set in Preferences it started normally using the SSD in the dock.

Posted on Jun 13, 2012 6:59 PM

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Q: External SSD HD as system drive

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  • by JeremyR,

    JeremyR JeremyR Jun 13, 2012 6:52 PM in response to JeremyR
    Level 1 (40 points)
    Jun 13, 2012 6:52 PM in response to JeremyR

    Spent some time looking into it. Looks like the fastest HD data trasfer I could find over firewire, is about 95MB a second. The fastest SATA 3Gbit internal drive, is about 140MB a second.

     

    So 50% less speed over firewire. However I am sure it would be much faster over firewire then the internal HD.

  • by RRFS,Solvedanswer

    RRFS RRFS Jun 13, 2012 6:59 PM in response to JeremyR
    Level 5 (4,490 points)
    Jun 13, 2012 6:59 PM in response to JeremyR

    Jeremy

    I put a Crucial 128GB into my 2008 iMac but before I did I ran it for a week or so in a Firewire 800 docking cradle as my boot drive. It was much faster for startup and application launch but it performs noticably better installed. I also noticed my system runs cooler and quieter (I was starting to hear the drive spinning). I didn't notice any difference in the system running on Firewire 800, once the drive was set in Preferences it started normally using the SSD in the dock.

  • by JeremyR,

    JeremyR JeremyR Jun 13, 2012 7:11 PM in response to RRFS
    Level 1 (40 points)
    Jun 13, 2012 7:11 PM in response to RRFS

    Thanks for that.

     

    I think I am going to get the DVD kit that allows me to install an SSD in the drive bay, and then has an enclosure for the DVD, so I can install it externally. That way I can get an SSD that's 256 or 512, yet still have the 1TB in the computer for file storage.

     

    I really don't want to open the computer up, but I guess I can if I have to.

  • by RRFS,

    RRFS RRFS Jun 13, 2012 7:27 PM in response to JeremyR
    Level 5 (4,490 points)
    Jun 13, 2012 7:27 PM in response to JeremyR

    Don't know what Applications you run but I've saved enough money buying the smaller drive to have more external storage for all my data and still retain a large piece of the SSD for the Applications to r/w for data manipulation.

  • by David M Brewer,

    David M Brewer David M Brewer Jun 13, 2012 7:45 PM in response to JeremyR
    Level 6 (9,419 points)
    Video
    Jun 13, 2012 7:45 PM in response to JeremyR

    The fastest transfer speed for FireWire 800 is 9.5 MBs not 95 MBs.

  • by RRFS,

    RRFS RRFS Jun 13, 2012 7:53 PM in response to David M Brewer
    Level 5 (4,490 points)
    Jun 13, 2012 7:53 PM in response to David M Brewer

    I seem to recall the reason it's called Firewire 800 is a 780Mb/s data rate. Divide by 8 and you get 97.50MB/s. Of course that would be optimal.

  • by David M Brewer,

    David M Brewer David M Brewer Jun 13, 2012 8:17 PM in response to RRFS
    Level 6 (9,419 points)
    Video
    Jun 13, 2012 8:17 PM in response to RRFS

    You'll get nothing faster on a 800 FireWire drive than around 9 MB/s... transfer speed between two HD.

     

    I have a mid2011 iMac i7 with a SSD and two gig internal drives. Transfer speeds between the two internal drives is about 95 MB/s. Transfer speed between the internal drives and a 800 FireWire drive is about 9 MB/s.

  • by RRFS,

    RRFS RRFS Jun 13, 2012 8:24 PM in response to David M Brewer
    Level 5 (4,490 points)
    Jun 13, 2012 8:24 PM in response to David M Brewer

    David,

     

    From Apple:

     

    Logic Express 9 - User Manual

    FireWire 800 FireWire 800 , also called IEEE 1394b, is the next generation of FireWire after IEEE 1394a, a higher-bandwidth version capable of data transferspeeds of up to 800 Mbps. FireWire 800 is also capable of supporting cable distances of up to 100 meters.

    http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Logic_Express_9_User_Manual.pdf

  • by den.thed,

    den.thed den.thed Jun 13, 2012 9:15 PM in response to David M Brewer
    Level 7 (27,639 points)
    Jun 13, 2012 9:15 PM in response to David M Brewer

    You must have another problem David, because I get 29 to 34 MB/s with 2 different USB drives and a solid 38.6 MB/s with peaks up to 44.7 MB/s with a couple of old Maxtor FireWire 400 drives.

  • by Marco MacFool,

    Marco MacFool Marco MacFool Jun 30, 2012 7:25 AM in response to JeremyR
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 30, 2012 7:25 AM in response to JeremyR

    Jeremy,

     

    Did you actually swap the drive bay with the SSD? I am planning on doing the same to my 2010 iMac 27' and I would be grateful if you could tell me:

     

    - Where did you get the instructions?

    - Did you use a bay adapter, if so which one?

    - Was it a difficult operation?

    - Any problems to report?

     

    Many thanks

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Jun 30, 2012 7:40 AM in response to JeremyR
    Level 6 (10,497 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 30, 2012 7:40 AM in response to JeremyR

    jeremy, put the SSD in the HD place instead of in the Superdrive bay. There is a good chance that an SSD in the superdrive bay starts at 3GB/s "Negotiated Link Speed" instead of at 6GB/s on the original HD connector. Then place the 1TB drive in the Superdrive bay. you see these figures in Apple/AboutThisMac/ More Info/ SystemReport/Hardware/ Serial-Ata.

  • by JeremyR,

    JeremyR JeremyR Jun 30, 2012 7:50 AM in response to Marco MacFool
    Level 1 (40 points)
    Jun 30, 2012 7:50 AM in response to Marco MacFool

    I have yet to do it. I am still debating on if I want to update this iMac, or get a MBP retina. I have added 16 gig of ram, and that did make a difference over the 8 I had.

  • by Marco MacFool,

    Marco MacFool Marco MacFool Jun 30, 2012 7:57 AM in response to JeremyR
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 30, 2012 7:57 AM in response to JeremyR

    Thanks for the reply.

    I have already upgraded my ram to 8GB but my biggest complaint is with boot time which is over 1 minute. I think extra ram will do little for this. Am I right?

    I have considered placing the SSD where the HDD is and the HHD on the superdrive bay (as LexShellings says), which is what I did with my 2008 Macbook (black), but I am afraid that on the iMac it is too hard a task for my limited skills.

  • by JeremyR,

    JeremyR JeremyR Jun 30, 2012 8:00 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (40 points)
    Jun 30, 2012 8:00 AM in response to Lexiepex

    Thanks for showing me where to find that. Sadly however, the negotiated speeds on this mac are 3GB/s and 1.5GB/s respectivly.

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