Computers & Electronics

Upgrading Mac mini to a SSD

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  • Nov 12th, 2014 7:35 pm
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Member
Feb 1, 2013
297 posts
92 upvotes

Upgrading Mac mini to a SSD

Hi everyone, I'm thinking of upgrading my late 2012 Mac mini i5 to a SSD but I have a few questions first,I would prefer to leave the original hard drive in and use it alongside the SSD via Fusion, is this the best way to go or would it give me better results if I just swap out the old hard drive and replace with the SSD ?
Storage isn't much of an issue as my music and aperture library are stored on an external hard disk.
Had a quick search for SSD's on the hotdeals forum, couldn't see much and to be honest I'm not entirely sure what would be the best one for my setup, I'm looking at spending upto $150, any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks !
8 replies
Member
Feb 1, 2013
297 posts
92 upvotes
Thanks ! I didn't realize I needed a mounting kit as well, you just saved me some extra hassle !
Deal Fanatic
Jan 15, 2004
7631 posts
2175 upvotes
Installing it doesn't take too long and it's not hard. You can decide to run the SSD and HDD separately or use them like a fusion drive (where OSX figure out what to put in each for you). I chose to run them separately, run OSX, all programs and photos for editing in the SSD, store everything else (documents, music and video) in the HDD.
Member
Feb 1, 2013
297 posts
92 upvotes
golden wrote: Installing it doesn't take too long and it's not hard. You can decide to run the SSD and HDD separately or use them like a fusion drive (where OSX figure out what to put in each for you). I chose to run them separately, run OSX, all programs and photos for editing in the SSD, store everything else (documents, music and video) in the HDD.
Ok thanks for the advice, so in your opinion turning it into a fusion drive wouldn't make much of difference in performance than using them as 2 separate drives, I would have to store my photos and videos on the original hhd or external usb hard disc as I have over 300gb.
Deal Fanatic
Jan 15, 2004
7631 posts
2175 upvotes
Fusion let OSX optimize it for you while 2 separate volume is user managed. I also had concern about one drive dies and the other won't be able to function when used in fusion. I guess it's up to you. For me mainly using my machine on photography work, it makes sense to use solely SSD in photo work.
Member
Feb 1, 2013
297 posts
92 upvotes
Thanks, So in theory I could just swapout the hdd replace with a SSD and just use my external USB to store photos and videos on.
But then I might as well put in the old hdd if I'm opening up the mini.
Next step is to buy the SSD, I've seen the crucial mx100 for $116, seems pretty reasonable.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Dec 7, 2012
32228 posts
8694 upvotes
GTHA
bevanpfc wrote: Hi everyone, I'm thinking of upgrading my late 2012 Mac mini i5 to a SSD but I have a few questions first,I would prefer to leave the original hard drive in and use it alongside the SSD via Fusion, is this the best way to go or would it give me better results if I just swap out the old hard drive and replace with the SSD?
Have you read the iFixit guide (contains lots of pictures) "Installing Mac Mini Late 2012 Dual Hard Drive Kit"?

They have their own kit "Mac Mini Dual Drive Kit" on sale for $29.95 USD.

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