There is no reason why you can't leave the original HDD inside the mini. Using Disk Utility, I can still mount/unmount that HDD any time after boot. To uncomplicate having two drives mounted with OS X 10.8.2, I created an /etc/fstab file on the SSD that blocked mounting the original HDD on boot. I installed my SSD as a primary boot/application/user drive, and left the original 500GB drive in place. The drive should be large enough that in operation, it is not more than 50% capacity, or slower drive algorithms in the SSD controller may slow the device down. Oh, and a 9.5 mm, fast SSD compatible with Mountain Lion and with current firmware. The two things you need to bring to the SSD upgrade party is plenty of patience, and the OWC (macsales) Mac mini SSD drive kit. Are there any other factors to consider in making my decision? My question is, will having 2 internal drives both operational degrade performance? If so, any idea how much? BTW my Mac mini model is SATA 3 6GB. So now I'm trying to decide whether to remove the mechanical WD drive to an extenal enclosure or leave it in. I've seen statements in several palces that benchmark testing has established that which bay a drive is installed in makes no difference as to its performance, apparently either drive will work equally well in either bay position. I know that several places (such as iFixit and OWC) offer kits to add a second internal to my model. I'm familiar with the fact that my model has space for a second internal 2 1/2 HD, and also has a second SATA connector on the mother board.
#Mac mini 2011 sata connector install#
My choice is to either install the new SSD as a second internal HD in the mini, or to pull the old conventional drive and retire it to an external enclosure, leaving the new SSD as the sole internal HD in my mini. (Macmini 5,2) I'm planning to upgrade to a Solid State Drive (SSD). I have a mid 2011 Mac mini, 2.7 MHz, i7, 8 GB Ram with the 7200 RPM Western Digital 750 GB factory upgrade drive.