Dual SSD upgrade for 17" Non retina Macbook Pro i7

Question

Dual SSD upgrade for 17" Non retina Macbook Pro i7

Hi Guys, i'd like some advice regarding upgrading my old (ish) Macbook Pro workhorse. She's a legendary 17" Quad Core 2.4 i7. I currently have a 512GB M500 Crucial SSD and she's approaching her max limit for space and slowing down rapidly. I've tried to make some space but i've identified the need for another internal drive.

I mainly run Final Cut Pro X, Lightroom, some light Photoshop and general usage with OS apps

I'm looking at ripping out the optical drive and inserting another SSD. So what would be better???:

OPTION 1

To insert another 512GB crucial drive and run them as a Raid 0 set up. I'd have to get either the MX100/200 because the M500 is no longer available. Not sure that will have an affect having an M500 and MX200??? I guess the Raid setup will only be as good as the slowest drive (the M500).

OPTION 2

To install a 256GB Samsung 850 Pro (seems to be the fastest value SSD around currently) and designate this drive for just running the OS and Apps only and store all my media on the existing 512GB M500.

I know the draw back of Raid 0 is the need for constant backups incase of failure. But I'm looking for a speed improvement when running apps. Will I benefit from a Raid 0 set up or will it only benefit when i'm copying large files etc. Will it be more beneficial to just designate the faster Samsung Pro drive for running the OS?

Hope to hear your comments.

Thanks

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2), 17" Quad Core i7

Posted on Mar 30, 2015 1:26 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 30, 2015 1:33 PM in response to Reelsick Productions

Unless you have the last of the 17" models, Late 2011, the optical drive used a 3 Gb/s port. You don't want to create a RAID with them because it will default to the speed of the slowest port. You'd be better off putting a good 6 Gb/s SSD in the HDD's location and a very large storage drive where the optical drive is.

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Answer 2

Mar 30, 2015 1:39 PM in response to Kappy

Hi, it is indeed the last of the 17" models. Since I already have the m500 ssd would I be ok to designate that as my media drive? I've noticed she's become sluggish when reading RAW files in Lightroom and slow in Final Cut Pro C when scrubbing through 1080p 120 frames

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 30, 2015 1:56 PM in response to Reelsick Productions

I would not use the SSD that's in the HDD spot as a media drive. It should be your boot/applications drive. Put a large HDD - 2TB or larger in the optical drive's compartment and use it for media storage.

If the SSD is getting slow it's likely in need of some garbage collection. You will need to make a backup of the SSD. Boot from the backup drive and then reformat the SSD using one-pass Zero Drive security. This is effectively like a full trim job and should restore the SSD to its normal speed.

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