SSD for Boot/Application

[Arthur Woo]

Hey everyone,

Disclaimer - computer hardware illiterate.

Now that that's out of the way, I have a Mac Pro 4,1 Nehalem 8-core/32GB 1033 RAM which has been serving me fine for the past 3 years or so. Noticed boot times for the system and the applications slowing down a bit last year with all the software upgrades and additional software I'm putting on the machine. Not quite sure if I want to go down the route of upgrading the CPU/RAM/etc, it would probably be less of a headache *FOR ME* to just buy a new machine. But financially not committed to doing that yet.

As an alternative, would an SSD for OS and applications improve the time it takes to load up the computer and application speed? I also have a macbook pro from early 2013 with an SSD drive and load times are incredibly fast. Figured I'd ask if anyone has experience w/ replacing an HDD with an SSD. Note that the current boot drive is 1TB and left around half full, with OS/apps/some data on it. All data goes on other drives that are either inside the mac tower or in external enclosures.

Thanks!

 

[D Fuller]

Yes. An SSd for the OS and applications makes a HUGE difference in boot times and the feeling of responsiveness of the machine in the Finder.

BUT: Keep your data off that drive. The system will use it as a swap drive by default, and if you fill it up, you'll use all your new-found responsiveness

 

[Arthur Woo]

Thanks David, very helpful as I've read this is the case from various articles on the interwebz but wanted to verify with someone. I've also recently become aware of separating out any data off the boot drive - I didn't think it mattered much as I've read previously as long as you keep anywhere between 20-50% of the boot drive clear, you're good to go. But it sounds like I should clear everything off it that is not OS or application related.

Any tips on a good starting size, assuming I will be replacing the entire computer in the next 1-2 years and not have to worry about more application data? Mostly how much space do I leave clear on it for it to run optimally? For example, say I have 60 gb of application/os data. Would 120 be good, 400 better? After a certain amt of free space is it just diminishing returns from a financial perspective?