SOLVED 2012 MacBook Pro upgrade advise

[Scott199]

One for you computer tech guys.

I have a 2.9g i7 MacBook Pro mid 2012 and looking to upgrade. (Serial C1MKW5CGDTY4)

So the questions are

1. Which ram is best, looking at the 16g(2x8) of the hyperX 1600mhz (is this the fastest it will take ? )

2. Slightly more complicated this one, SSD, which one ? Is there really much difference, looking at these

Check out this Idea List on Amazon: macbook upgrade by Scotty http://amzn.eu/1uFP60L

Any better/worse ?

3. Single SSD and leave cd drive, duel SSD running parallel or duel SSD running raid 0
(I understand the loss and it’s fine, I will use the 1t sata as a constant back-up)

If I go duel running raid, will 1tb work or will I need 2tb as I understand SSD’s need empty space.

All about speed for LR/PS and Prem Pro

Cheers

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

That is a MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012). Officially it supports 8 GB RAM in two slots, but unofficially it can support 16 GB. The RAM specs are: 204-pin PC3-12800 (1600 MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM. It can accommodate a standard 2.5" SSD, so really and will fit. I personally recommend Samsung SSDs, as I use them in all of my Macs.

I don't recommend the SATA-USB adapter, or even trying to run a RAID with the internal SSD and an external combined. I would install the SSD internal, and use it for macOS and the Adobe apps. I would then use an external Thunderbolt RAID 0 drive for the working files/scratch disk, which is what most A/V folks do when using a MacBook Pro for editing.

Hope that helps,

C

 

[Scott199]

Hi Cory.

Thank you.
So to confirm 1600MHz is max I can use ?

As for drive options, sorry I didn’t explain myself very well.
I mean internally single SSD or remove disk drive and replace with another SSD,
If I do that run them parallel one with OS and the other as storage/working drive or run raid and use both for everything

 

[Cory Cooper]

Correct, 204-pin PC3-12800 (1600 MHz) DDR3 is the max.

Understood about the SSDs. I wouldn't recommend replacing the optical drive with another SSD. Yes, it may work, but its bus is slower than the hard drive bus. You wouldn't want to run them via a software RAID 0, as they would need to be the same capacity, you would get half the total as the available space, and they would then contain the OS, applications, files, and the scratch disk. You could run them individually.

Honestly, the external RAID via Thunderbolt is the way to go, especially if you will be doing video work with Premiere, as those files can get quite large and easily eat up a 1 TB SSD in a hurry.

C

 

[Scott199]

Hi Cory, thanks again for your time.

So if I’m right your saying run a single internal and then a external through thunderbolt.
Could I run these raid 0, so in theory an internal 1tb and an external 1tb and run as a single 2tb raid 0 or have I got confused ?

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries.

Scenario:
-Single internal SSD
-External RAID 0 enclosure via Thunderbolt (external enclosure with two drive set to hardware RAID 0)
-No need to make RAID between internal and external. Plus, that won't really work, as the RAID would break if the eternal wasn't connected.

C

 

[Scott199]

SSD’s for external as well?

So in theory I’m looking at a 500g internal with OS and such and then 2x 500g raid0 external and thunderbolt enclose or possibly larger if funds allow ? (For general storage and use) Will the external drives need to be identical size, ie 2 x 500g/1tb or could it be a 1tb and a 500g ?

This works out better as I can stagger the cost, get ram and internal sorted then push on external as funds allow

Any links to the type of enclosure I need ?

Again, thank you for taking the time to help

 

[Cory Cooper]

You can do SSDs in the external RAID, but it may be cost prohibitive to get a large amount of space. You can get an external enclosure that already has two drive and is setup for RAID 0. You want them both in the same enclosure, not separate.

Something like these:
OWC - Mercury Elite Pro Dual - Performance RAID Enclosure
G-RAID with Thunderbolt 3
LaCie - 2big Professional 2-bay RAID Drives

You buy a pre-made RAID, or an enclosure and add your own drives. Yes, RAID 0 drives have to be the same capacity and brand/model.

C

 

[Scott199]

Again perfect, loads of help and appreciated.

After looking at options I’ve oredered 16g hyper X ram and after your advise I’m going to start with a 2t internal SSD and then look at a 4tb enclosure down the line.

Thanks again saved me a load of hassle and money.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries.

Let us know how it goes.

C

 

[Scott199]

Will do, found out something last night that annoyed me.
Was going to the Samsung eco and found out the migration/disk software doesn’t work on mac OS

I can’t believe Samsung, back to the 80’s
Anyway ordering the crucial MX500

 

[Allen Davis]

In my identical MBP, I installed a 500 GB 6G Pro SSD from Other World Computing for about $100. 5 Year Warranty.

The thing runs like a scared rabbit, and boots up cold in 15-20 seconds.

I bought 16 GB of RAM from them, too. Never a complaint.

I can't understand why more people don't seem to know about OWC.

Lastly, I've had horrible experiences with Samsung SSDs. They're too expensive, don't seem to last as long, and gave me a host of other problems.