Questions About Adding a Momentus XT to a 2010 MBP 15"

Hey guys,

I have been very satisfied by the performance of the SSD in my MBP (specs in sig). However, due to having both OS X and Win7, the space on the SSD only lets me have about 3 games installed. This is becoming a problem now because I'm playing a wider variety of games and I don't want to worry about downloading them (if digital) and installing them every time I get an urge to play another game. So I need more storage capacity.

However, I can't just swap out the SSD for a 500GB HDD because I have grown to absolutely love the speed of the SSD and I can't imagine going back. But due to my low budget (~$200), I can't just buy a new large-capacity SSD. So my options are to either install a new HD in the optical bay or install my games on an external HD. So here are my questions:

1) Is gaming from an external HD (Momentus XT) viable? Or are USB 2.0 speeds just too slow? If they are too slow, is there another way to plug in the external HD that will improve it's speed, such as Firewire?

2) Can I install a Momentus XT on the MBP's optical bay? If so, is this a difficult task? What will I need and how do I go about doing it? Is there anything extra I need to buy besides the HD? Can I use the SuperDrive in the MBP externally via USB once I remove it from the notebook?

Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

Direct transfer speeds for the XT are 125-140MB/s. USB 2 tops out at 25-30 MB/s, FW400 just slightly higher.

I'm not sure whether the OS can interact and cache the Flash memory effectively in a secondary non-system drive, and if so this won't add much advantage for the XT in the optical bay over any standard 7200rpm drive.

There are guides online for how to install a HDD into the optical bay, but this is going to void your warranty. You need to also purchase the caddy and connectors. The SuperDrive is SATA connection, so external use is not possible - spend the $40 and get a USB dvd burner.

 

1: gaming from a momentus XT externally is pointless unless you run one of the new USB 3 encloures or E-sata encosures that will actually like the SSD portion of the drive ( Vantec seems to work well ) but then you need to add ESATA or USB3.

2: it will work fine in the optical bay, all you need is the caddy to mount it. using your optical externally works well except if you want to play movies from it you need to add a piece of software or do some command line work for it to work again properly.

 

Looks like I'm looking at having to replace the optical bay. So a few more questions:

1) Can anyone confirms ClearSkies' point about the Momentus XT's Flash memory not being utilized when used from an optical bay and not a primary HD slot? This will determine if I buy the Momentus XT or just any other 7200RPM drive.

2) Even though it voids my warranty, will it be possible to swap the SuperDrive back in the optical bay before taking it back to Apple so that they aren't aware I modded the optical bay and thus my warranty remains valid?

 

1: yes I can confirm issues as secondary in both my MBP 15" 2010 and my 17" late 2009.

2: easily, pull the baseplate, and remove optibay adaptor then swap

 

With many optibays, you receive an external enclosure where you will still be able to use your superdrive via usb or firewire.
If you ever need to return the system to Apple, you can easily put the superdrive back into the system.

 

Feels like a first post again (been awhile).

The XT won't be fully utilizing it's 4GB cache effectively as a secondary drive, and even as a primary it won't be as quick as an SSD, so why waste the 128GB SSD's speed by pulling it out? Your issue is strictly storage.

I would recommend an OptiBay for your solution, I would suggest keeping the SSD as the main OS drive. Add not a the Seagate XT but a quieter,low battery consumption hard drive like an WD 640GB Scorpio Blue instead to as an optibay drive and install games and other "optional" software that are not critical to the operating system.

The only question you have to ask yourself is whether you use the optical drive...

 

You should be able to use the superdrive if it's a standard SATA connector. I have a SATA external pcb to USB adapter on my keychain lol. It works for all SATA HDs (and SSDs) that can be powered by the USB 5V, but I have never had a SLIM DVD drive but if you can stick a HD in the Macbook Pro in its place, I assume the connections are the same.

 

Yes, the SuperDrive is SATA, and utilizes a standard SATA connector. The only difference is the power connector which is the smaller one for optical drives(but provides the same amount of power for a HDD or SDD)


MCE OptiBay Hard Drive and SSD Drive for MacBook Pro, MacBook, PowerBook G4, and Mac mini

 

Yea I decided to just swap out out the optibay for a 500GB 7200RPM HDD. And from what you guys are saying, I might be able to use the SuperDrive externally. I only ever use it to play games that I have on discs. Since I play those games at my desk, I won't be bothered by the lack of an internal optical drive. And I definitely had no intention of replacing the SSD in my main drive. After experiencing SSD speeds first hand, I just can't go back.