If my negotiated link speed is 3 GB (instead of 6 GB), does this still mean I'm using SATA III on my early 2011 Macbook Pro 17-inch laptop?
I ask because I'm currently upgrading my HDD with an SSD for this early 2011 Macbook Pro 17-inch model; does my negotiated link speed affect what kind of SSD's I should consider? For example, are there any SSD's that I would need to steer clear of?
Also, can someone explain the difference between installing the SSD in the main drive vs. the optical drive? What is the difference exactly and how can I take full advantage of it to maximize the performance of my early 2011 Macbook Pro? For example, if I put a Crucial M500 into the main drive bay, would updating the optical drive bay as well make absolutely any difference in my performance?
Here are a few links I considered (and a few others like it), but it did not help answer my specific questions: Is there a way to tell if I can use a SATA III SSD in my early 2011 MBP 15"? and What is an SSD drive's negotiated link speed?
Best Answer
I have done a similar thing with a 13 inch macbook pro 2012. I put a Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5 inch Basic SATA Solid State Drive into the hdd bay and moved the hdd to the optical drive bay. Works great and much faster booting etc. From memory, I don't think it's an issue using a SATA III (6Gb/s) in a SATA II (3Gb/s) environment or vice versa, it's just that your speed will be limited by the lowest speed connection and that would basically mean that you are wasting money on a faster drive but getting a slower connection.
However there may be an issue with your connection - see this link
17 inch Mac Pro SATA issues
I don't think putting 2 ssd drives would make much difference as long as you put your OS on your fastest (ssd) drive with your Application folder. You can then put all your other files on you hd. There are various ways to set this up one way is discussed here
SSD and HDD setup in MBP
although there are other ways (google will produce other results).
I so seem to remember having trouble booting up from the optical drive bay though, so if memory serves correctly, I would suggest keeping the OS on the drive that you will be putting in the hdd bay (so presumably the ssd drive)