Upgrading Hard Drive 1.5Gbps vs. 3.0Gbps

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Level 1

140 points

Upgrading Hard Drive 1.5Gbps vs. 3.0Gbps

I have the original Black MacBook (Core Duo), wanted to upgrade the hard drive. See there are SATA 1.5Gbps and 3.0Gbps. Is there a noticeable difference between them as far as my MacBook is concerned. Will the first gen. MacBook even take advantage of the faster HD? The 3.0Gbps cost considerably less than the 1.5Gbps models.

MacBook Core Duo 2.0, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 2GB RAM/160GB 7200 HD

Posted on Aug 27, 2009 12:50 PM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

85,314 points

Aug 27, 2009 1:13 PM in response to Woodwyn

Usually that limitation is on the interface on the machine, not the drive.
Thus it will still face a bottleneck when the data gets on the machine.

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Answer 2

Woodwyn Author

Level 1

140 points

Aug 27, 2009 1:32 PM in response to a brody

Yes that is my question ... what is the limitation if any of the original MacBook Core Duo?

As I look at the drives, only the drives under 160GB are 1.5Gbps only and are significantly more expensive than the 500GB 3.0Gbps drives.

If my MacBook has a limitation of 1.5Gbps then obviously the 3.0Gbps drive will not offer any greater advantage, except in price and capacity. Are all 3.0Gbps drives backward-compatible? However, given triple the capcity, I wonder if it even makes sense to use such a large drive?

Is the drive performance affected at all by the bottlenecked transfer-rate compared to the size of the drive?

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Answer 3

a brody

Level 10

85,314 points

Aug 28, 2009 6:04 AM in response to Woodwyn

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/HardwareDrivers/Conceptual/MacBook_0705 /Articles/MacBookDeveloperNote.html

says:

A 1.5 Gbps Serial ATA (SATA) bus for the hard disk drive

That means it can't be upgraded to 3 Gbps.

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Answer 4

Woodwyn Author

Level 1

140 points

Aug 28, 2009 1:53 PM in response to a brody

Thanks for that link. So does that mean the 1st gen MacBook can use a 3.0Gbps drive, but only at 1.5Gbps speed?

Or does it mean the 1st gen MacBook can't use a 3.0Gbps at all and I must buy the more expensive and lower capacity 1.5Gbps drives?

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Answer 5

a brody

Level 10

85,314 points

Aug 28, 2009 2:07 PM in response to Woodwyn

There is one report of upgrading from a SATA 150 Seagate to a SATA 300 Seagate on a MacBook 2.2 Ghz on http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ No negative effects.
Backup your data, and make sure there aren't any unexpected shutdowns. A healthy Mac will shut itself down if there is too much heat.

A notebook cooling fan stand is probably a good idea if you are going to beef up the machine beyond its normal specs.

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Answer 6

ali brown

Level 7

26,493 points

Sep 12, 2009 7:01 AM in response to Woodwyn

Hi Woodwyn!

In regard to your Issue Discussed Here, verify the Email address where this message is sent.

ali b

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