Negotiated link speed considerations for SSD choice? 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&quot;? and What is an SSD drive&#39;s negotiated link speed?
Think of it as the chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Yes, there is. You need to look at the specs on the speed of each of your drives. Check in the About this Mac in your toolbar and go to more info, System report, the the sata section under Hardware. 

In terms of the optical and main drive bay's, it doesn't matter which you use if both are capable of the same speeds. In most cases dealing with older models, the traditional hard drive bay provides the better speeds than the optical. I've read before that the optical bay will not always match the traditional bay.

I'd put my SSD in the main bay and your secondary drive in the optical. You can configure which drive to boot from within System Preferences if you choose otherwise.

I'd def put my OS and your applications on the fastest drive and use that to boot from. If you are using a regular hard drive to place in either of the bays then I'd also recommend you put all you media and other large less accessed files on that (especially if storage space is a concern or for some reason you are concerned about read/writes on your SSD).