New SSD....boot drive or VI drive?

[Armageddon]

Ruminating on this matter led me to go a different way: purchase a 2TB SSHD. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the Black2.

[HCMarkus]

Maybe throw it in an inexpensive USB case and use as Time Machine backup drive or as an "Done for the Day" working project backup drive? If your MBP has an available USB3 port, get a USB3 case. Although slow, if only USB2 is available, it will still work for backup purposes.

[Tobor]

This is pretty much a no brainer. Clone the primary drive to the SSD and put it in as the system drive. Remove the optical drive and put it in an enclosure for those rare situations when you need it. Put the HDD in optical drive position. Put your digital audio on the HDD (ideally it is a 7200RPM drive). I have some samples on my SSD such as Superior Drummer, some on my HDD and most on an external HDD drive connected via USB3 to a Thunderbolt hub. This works well enough. Save up to replace the HDD with a second SSD.

When I changed my boot drive from a 7200RPM HDD to a Samsung 850 EVO SDD it was a huge improvement in performance. Boots up super fast. Does everything faster. Nothing but upside, significant upside.

Thanks for providing me with an aha/duh! moment. I realized that I already have a 1TB SSD drive (an OWC Envoy) and an OWC spinner with overflow VIs and DP audio files that I use with my laptop via USB3. My iMac doesn't have USB3. I also realized that I don't really do a whole lot of prod work on my laptop (tiny CME gigbag keyboard etc.), and although it's more powerful than my iMac I've been building it from scratch for when I'm away from home for an extended period (which currently hardly ever happens).

The realization is that I should just get a Thunderbolt dock so I can use it for USB3 on my iMac, still plug in my Apollo, and keep my second TB port free for my FW800 drives and for when I need to fire up my original 828. Will only take a moment to detach my OWC Envoy and/or DP file spinner if I want to take it to work. I had worried about having to reconfigure my Kontakt libraries if I only occasionally used my Envoy with my iMac, but with a dock it will be easy. Duh!

Then I will mount my EVO in the prime slot and hopefully be able to move the HDD into the optical drive position as suggested above. One question here, will this solve the potential heat issue with an HDD and SSD in the two drives in my iMac??

What I love about this idea is that my libraries are already in place, I'll hardly have to transfer or download a thing! Maybe I should just think about cloning/replacing my original iMac spinner as well since it's getting on 6 years old....are fusion drives available as replacements? Need all of that 2T or more for all the 'stuff' that continually accumulates through downloads and docs etc.

Anyway thanks to everybody who has chimed in....sounds like this discussion is also beneficial to at least a few others as well, great.

[Krakadon]

No, it will run very hot and the fan will run very loud. It is super annoying. When you put in the bracket for the second drive it covers the slot that was used for optical media but which also provided an orifice for cooling. But it has been reliable for a long time and the performance improvement is still well worth it. Forget about open mics without an isolation enclosure or some other isolation.

[Krakadon]

I decided I wasn't going to replace my 500 GB system drive (minimal ROI) and 500 GB 7200RPM HDD internal audio drive (mainly because I don't want to disassemble the computer again, but it isn't that hard) and my external drives continue to grow and grow.

[Krakadon]

Oh forgot you're on an iMac. I don't know how iMac users deal with the fan and drive noise and open mics in the control room. Since I have a MBP it just stick it into an MDF box with acoustic foam that I built for sound isolation. It works well but gets hot in there. I need to upgrade it with some kind of silent cooling solution.

[HCMarkus]

Oh forgot you're on an iMac. I don't know how iMac users deal with the fan and drive noise and open mics in the control room.

Hence my love for the Mac Pro in a machine room.

[Armageddon]

Maybe throw it in an inexpensive USB case and use as Time Machine backup drive or as an "Done for the Day" working project backup drive? If your MBP has an available USB3 port, get a USB3 case. Although slow, if only USB2 is available, it will still work for backup purposes.

I don't think I'd use it as an external drive (and I'm not even sure if you can). My ultimate solution is to swap my new 1TB SSD in as my system drive, keep my samples there, then put in the 1TB 7200rpm drive I'm using as the system drive right now as the secondary drive for audio projects, video projects, documents, mass storage, etc. until I can afford a 2TB SSD. Not sure why I didn't think of it before. I wound up listing the Black2 on eBay yesterday for $250.

[Saintmatthew]

An important note for these 2011 Mac systems: I recommend using the primary HD slot for your SSD upgrade. Using the optical bay can bring reduced performance since the SATA interface sometimes only runs at 1.5 or 3 GB/s vs. the 6 GB/s primary interface runs at, In some models, the optical interface will have stability issues for drives that are rated to run at 3 or 6 GB/s. Honestly, putting your fast SSD on the primary controller, and then larger, slower SSD (cheaper too) on the optical is your best bet.

[Armageddon]

An important note for these 2011 Mac systems: I recommend using the primary HD slot for your SSD upgrade. Using the optical bay can bring reduced performance since the SATA interface sometimes only runs at 1.5 or 3 GB/s vs. the 6 GB/s primary interface runs at, In some models, the optical interface will have stability issues for drives that are rated to run at 3 or 6 GB/s. Honestly, putting your fast SSD on the primary controller, and then larger, slower SSD (cheaper too) on the optical is your best bet.

Mine is 6Gbs/s, same as the primary SATA, according to the System Profiler. Not clear if that's an indicator of its actual interface speed. At any rate, that's what I'm going to wind up doing: Cloning my 1TB 7200rpm magnetic drive to the SSD, putting the SSD on the primary SATA port, then erasing the 7200 rpm and putting it in the optical port as a project drive. My main consideration was my sample libraries, which I definitely wanted on a SSD. By just moving my entire drive to the SSD, I'm limiting the amount of sample libraries I can have on it ... but I think this way is a smarter move. I'll have a fairly fast 7200rpm 1TB magnetic drive just for audio and video projects, which would otherwise also be crammed into my 1TB SSD.

[mikehalloran]

Oh forgot you're on an iMac. I don't know how iMac users deal with the fan and drive noise and open mics in the control room. Since I have a MBP it just stick it into an MDF box with acoustic foam that I built for sound isolation. It works well but gets hot in there. I need to upgrade it with some kind of silent cooling solution.

Get the spinners out of it and it runs much cooler. Both of the 2010 and 2011 iMacs around here have negligible fan noise—when there is any at all.

[mikehalloran]

The OP has a 27" iMac from 2011, yes? The following does not apply to any other years nor the 21.5".

The 2011 27" iMac, like the 2010, has three internal SATA busses. All three on the 2010 run SATA II / 3G as did the 2011 originally.

With the 2011, the EFI 1.6 firmware update unlocks two to run SATA III / 6G. The optical drive bus remains SATA II.

It is possible to put 3 SSDs in either. Because of the heat, it is not recommended to install more than 2 if one is an HHD.

OWC offers a turnkey modification for the 2010–2011 27" iMacs only. They will turn that spare bus into an eSATA bus. I did that with my 2010 but think it's unnecessary with the 2011 due to the TB bus. Still, it's in there. Because of the difference between CA and OH Sales Taxes, it cost my very little to have it done.

[Tobor]

The OP has a 27" iMac from 2011, yes? The following does not apply to any other years nor the 21.5".

The 2011 27" iMac, like the 2010, has three internal SATA busses. All three on the 2010 run SATA II / 3G as did the 2011 originally.

With the 2011, the EFI 1.6 firmware update unlocks two to run SATA III / 6G. The optical drive bus remains SATA II.

It is possible to put 3 SSDs in either. Because of the heat, it is not recommended to install more than 2 if one is an HHD.

OWC offers a turnkey modification for the 2010–2011 27" iMacs only. They will turn that spare bus into an eSATA bus. I did that with my 2010 but think it's unnecessary with the 2011 due to the TB bus. Still, it's in there. Because of the difference between CA and OH Sales Taxes, it cost my very little to have it done.

Mmmmm.....velly interesting.

And thanks to all who continue to discuss....Merry Christmas/HH to you all as well!

[Armageddon]

It is possible to put 3 SSDs in either. Because of the heat, it is not recommended to install more than 2 if one is an HHD.

Heat is the one factor I didn't stop to think about. How much extra heat would a combo of 7200rpm magnetic drive and an SSD have over just a 7200rpm?

[mikehalloran]

It is possible to put 3 SSDs in either. Because of the heat, it is not recommended to install more than 2 if one is an HHD.

Heat is the one factor I didn't stop to think about. How much extra heat would a combo of 7200rpm magnetic drive and an SSD have over just a 7200rpm?

Not the issue.

The question: How is the air flow restricted with three internal drives? Followed by How much harder must the fans work if one of those drives generates a lot of heat and is about 8x the size?

If the three drives are SSDs, they generate heat but not like a spinner. Their small size keeps the air flowing.

This bracket allows maximum air flow around a drive replacing the HHD.


This is the bracket for replacing the Super Drive — but that is SSD II/3G


Where does the other drive go—the one that uses the spare connector? Well, you can get a piggy-back bracket or do what most of us do: Use two layers of double-stick tape and mount it to the shielding. Much better air flow.

Personally, I leave the Super Drive alone. Just because one can install three doesn't mean I want to. A 1T 850 EVO is now $250 and you can find the 2T under $600 if you shop around.