sjc47 wrote:
I'm considering an SSD upgrade for my 2011 i5 Mac Mini. My intent would be to run Mountain Lion and all my applications from the SSD drive and keep the 500GB HDD for file storage. My first question is if it is even worth it to upgrade to an SSD - in what areas would I actually see an improvement in performance? I have the Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD. Second question is if anyone can point me to a step by step tutorial on how to upgrade to an SSD and if I would need to do a clean install of Mountain Lion or is there a way to transfer just the OS and Applications from the HDD to the new SSD?
Thank you for your assistance.
I upgraded my 2011 Mac mini to primary SSD and secondary 500GB. Boot time to desktop is now about 12 - 15s. Near instant application launch. No more beach balls in Mail or Safari. Here are a couple of installation videos from YouTube. The first does not remove the entire contents of the mini, and the second approach walks you through removing everything inside the mini. I did the latter, as it provides for securing the SSD with screws to the drive carrier.
- Simpler install (1080p)
- Open Heart surgery (1080p)
I purchased the OCW Data Doubler, 2.5 inch hard drive/SSD installation kit for $45 USD. This kit is critical for having the right tools for the job including the correct drive connector. You must be very patient and methodical in either video.
I made certain that the firmware was current on the SSD before it was installed. Many firmware updaters are Windows only, or ISO Linux DVD.
Personally, I would not drag system components back from an external drive. You should perform a clean install on the SSD from a bootable external USB stick. Lion Diskmaker will automate the creation of this tool.
All of my applications reside on the SSD with my home directory. Large, little accessed folders went onto the 500GB. As did my 65GB of VirtualBox guest accounts. If you do not reformat that 500GB drive and leave OS X installed, it will confuse Software update about another Apple ID has purchase authority, when there is only one Apple ID. Spotlight will now try to index both the SSD and the mounted 500GB drive. You may not like that, and it is fixable in System Proferences Spotlight. Timemachine will attempt to back up the 500GB too.