Upgrade HDD to SSD

Discussion in 'hardware' started by Dark Shadow, Oct 3, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Dark Shadow

    Dark Shadow Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2007
    Posts:
    4,553
    Location:
    USA
    Have you upgraded from HDD to SSD and was it worth it.? I am thinking about it on my MacBook as its real easy to remove the HDD.I was thinking of getting the crucial 128GB with Data transfer kit.
     
  2. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2005
    Posts:
    12,175
    Location:
    NSW, Australia
    Dark Shadow,

    It is well worth it. Everything you have read about faster OS loading, faster apps, etc, is true. I was able to copy ten OS partitions from my old HD to the SSD and they booted normally. I still have the old HD installed so I can boot OS off the SSD or the old HD for comparison purposes. With a laptop, make sure the SSD is mounted internally for the copy process. For geometry reasons it is not ideal to have the SSD attached by USB for the copy process.

    Does that Data transfer kit work with a Mac OS? The latest TeraByte apps work with HFS+ (iMac) partitions.
     
  3. Dark Shadow

    Dark Shadow Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2007
    Posts:
    4,553
    Location:
    USA
    Crucial.com has a mac compatiable SSD 128GB for $123.00 with Data kit which I believe it comes with the SATA cable and software to clone the drive.Should it not be done this way in your experience.? The video I watched they show the SSD being cloned from the HDD with software to the SSD with SATA USB.However the video is for windows but includes OS X from the same software.Correction not sure but I guess I watched a video elsewhere and confused it with crucial.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2012
  4. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2005
    Posts:
    12,175
    Location:
    NSW, Australia
    It will probably work but you can experience inexplicable failures when the target drive is not being seen in its "final resting place". If it fails you can always use another method of copying.

    In the past, computers that failed this USB procedure were those with 240 Heads geometry such as IBM, Lenovo and HP. I don't know whether they still use that geometry. USB HDs are seen with 256 Heads geometry.
     
  5. Dark Shadow

    Dark Shadow Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2007
    Posts:
    4,553
    Location:
    USA
    Thanks Brian much appreciated.I believe you about the speed difference and I also read 30 + minutes in battery and a cooler running system.I just wish it was not so expensive for the a 256 GB.
     

  6. YES it's worth it, speed speed speed....256GB SSD can be had for $150 these days. A Crucial M4 that is. Check Amazon is my advice.
     
  7. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2003
    Posts:
    2,720
    Location:
    USA
    If your motherboard supports SATA 3. Otherwise only two "speed".
     
  8. Yes but I'd expect most people are rocking SATA III by now, SATA II you will still get a great improvement in speed.
     
  9. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2003
    Posts:
    2,720
    Location:
    USA
    Not to belabor the point, but the SATA 3 boards have only been available for about 3 years. I would guess many viewers here have older motherboards. Yes, one would still would see a boost. Just not as much and each will have to decide if it is worth the $ w/ only a SATA 2.
     
  10. pajenn

    pajenn Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2009
    Posts:
    930
    It was worth it for me. Windows boots super fast now and programs launch significantly faster than before.

    My laptop has two drive bays, so I moved the the OS and most commonly used programs to a 256 GB SSD, but also have a 1 GB HDD for data (movies, downloads, documents, large programs that I use infrequently, ...).
     
  11. NGRhodes

    NGRhodes Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2003
    Posts:
    2,381
    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    I've just downgraded back to HDD as my SSD on my laptop was too small to store all my files locally . The performance gains of the SSD were negated by having to access some of my files across the network.
     
  12. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2009
    Posts:
    6,491
    I "upgraded" my HDD to another HDD but this time a Velociraptor, let's see if there are noticeable improvements. I'm still not ready for SSD tech. :D
     
  13. PJC

    PJC Very Frequent Poster

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2010
    Posts:
    2,959
    Location:
    Internet
    SSD Storage Capacity is limited compared with the one of HDD.
    For the time being, I'm staying with the HDD...
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.