I am in a confusion to buy a new Macbook Air or just upgrade my existing macbook pro with a SSD.
My current Macbook Pro details :
2009 Mid Unibody Macbook pro 15''. Dual Core Processor + 2.8 Ghz. + 8 GB RAM + 500GB HDD.
If I upgrade this existing notebook with an SSD , will the performance be great?
Also, which SSD is the best compatible one for this model?
Please suggest.
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.1), 2009Unibody, 15'', 2.8Ghz,8GRAM
There are a lot of us here using the Crucial M4 with no issues....
There are however, faster ones out there like the Samsung 830 series, Plextor M3 and Sandisk Extreme.
You'll get a nice performance boost with your 8GB + SSD combo.......
suggestion - upgrade to a SSD and you'll see how fast your macbook performs....
good luck..
There are a lot of us here using the Crucial M4 with no issues....
There are however, faster ones out there like the Samsung 830 series, Plextor M3 and Sandisk Extreme.
You'll get a nice performance boost with your 8GB + SSD combo.......
suggestion - upgrade to a SSD and you'll see how fast your macbook performs....
good luck..
Thanks you for your encouraging comments.
Is this a good configuration ? ==> Having my regular HD + replacing Optical Superdrive with an SSD?
I would like to run core OSX and apps from SSD but keep all my music, videos etc on the regular Hard disk.
Especially, I am asking from the perspective of editing video in FCP X or iMovie with videos existing on hard disk but app running off the SSD.
Please throw some light on this. Also,what is opionion on OWC SSDs? : http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/
Are they reliable than Samsung 830 series or Plextor M3 or Sandisk Extreme?
OWC drives are as reliable as the Samsung and Plextor M3.....
It's a good idea to buy it from them since their drives are compatible with Macbooks....
Install your SSD in your hard drive bay and install your hard drive in you optical bay.
Doing it the other way will not make use of the SSD's full speed since your optical bay might have a negotiated link speed of 1.5Gb.
Bimmer 7 series, incredible faster and helpful response. Cannot thank you enough.
One more question : How do I know how much speeds my Hard Drive bay can support? 3Gb or 6Gb. I am not by my Macbook Pro and hence I am asking. I am assuming I should be able to see in the "About my mac" System info section..
click on your apple logo - top left - about this mac - more info - system report - serial ata - left hand side.
you'll see if the link speed and negotiated link speed of your hard drive and super drive...
So, both link and negotiated link speed for my harddisk and super drive are same and is mentioned below :
QUESTION : Now should i be purchasing AWD 6Gig SSD or 3Gig SSD? Based on the info given, it seems like I cannot get more than 1.5Gig even if I purchase 3Gig SSD.
I want to re-evaluate my original question - is it worth upgrading an SSD for getting max 1.5 Gigabit speed? Please advice.
Details
For my harddisk bay :
NVidia MCP79 AHCI:
Vendor: NVidia
Product: MCP79 AHCI
Link Speed : 3 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed : 1.5 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported
For my DVD bay(SuperDrive) , it says:
NVidia MCP79 AHCI:
Vendor: NVidia
Product: MCP79 AHCI
Link Speed : 3 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed : 1.5 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported
srini_hyd wrote:
QUESTION : Now should i be purchasing AWD 6Gig SSD or 3Gig SSD? Based on the info given, it seems like I cannot get more than 1.5Gig even if I purchase 3Gig SSD.
I want to re-evaluate my original question - is it worth upgrading an SSD for getting max 1.5 Gigabit speed? Please advice.
You can still purchase a 6G SSD and it is backward compatible to 3G........
srini_hyd wrote:
NVidia MCP79 AHCI:
Vendor: NVidia
Product: MCP79 AHCI
Link Speed : 3 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed : 1.5 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported
Your Negotiated Link Speed is at 1.5Gigabit right now becuase your current hard drive is SATA1....Once you move up to SATA 2, your negotiated speed goes to 3 Gigabit.....
That is what what happened to my late 08 Uni....went from 1.5 Gigabit to 3 Gigabit when I installed a SATA 2 Drive.
srini_hyd wrote:
For my DVD bay(SuperDrive) , it says:
NVidia MCP79 AHCI:
Vendor: NVidia
Product: MCP79 AHCI
Link Speed : 3 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed : 1.5 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported
The most i've seen so far is 1.5 Gigabit when some users installed a SATA 2 drive here....Although I can not give you a definite answer to this since I only have my superdrive installed in this bay..
Good luck...
"You can still purchase a 6G SSD and it is backward compatible to 3G........"
Thanks Bimmer 7 Series, for your kind help. So, one more question, what is the use of purchasing a 6G SSD, when I can only get maximum 3G. Perhaps I could just buy a cheaper 3GSSD, is it not? Please advice.
srini_hyd wrote:
Perhaps I could just buy a cheaper 3GSSD, is it not? Please advice.
You can........But what happens when you decide to buy a newer Macbook in the future that has 6G support?
Are you willing to sell your old Macbook with the SSD installed? or will you install the old hard drive back?
It's really all up to you.....If you can still find a 3GB SSD for a good price, then by all means go for it.....But if the price difference is only $10 - $20, why not take advantage of the 6G.....
Amazing forward thinking 'Bimmer 7 series'. I see your point. I guess I will buy 6G as the delta is not so huge.
Again cannot thank you enough for everything. I will post my experiences, once I install my SSD.
good luck....
yes, do post back your experience and results once you've got your SSD installed....
cheers..
Q1. Did you install the SSD? any experiences to share?
I have a 2009 MB Pro also and am debating between
- buying a new MB Pro - rather expensive and I feel the prices will go down,
- installing a 128 or 256Mbps SSD and HDD in optical drive bay
- instaling a 512GB SSD
- staying put with my current MB Pro config (I al ready have a hybrid drive which is a tad faster than the stock drive that comes with MB Pro)
Also, I have heard that the HDD noise is much higher given the Optical drive location.
Q2. Is that so?
Hi There
I have an HD in my optical bay, and yes it is noisier than when in the standard bay. Also my mid 2009 MBP runs at a negotiated speed of 1.5 gigabit both on the main and optibay although the 2 drives in the machine are SATA 2, the link speed is 3 gigabit and I am on EFI 1.7
My Late 2008 MBP runs at 3 gigabit so it is pretty annoying that the later machine will not. I want to get an SSD for the optibay in the 2009 MBP, but will be gutted if it only runs at 1.5 gigagbit.
Also i have heard of many people having big issues when using 3rd party SATA 2 drives in 2009 MBP's.
Just as an aside, I did try two 2010 stamped HD cables in my machine and on both it would not even see the hard drive.
All the best
Berni
Hi
Actualy I realised that both the drives in my machine are original Apple supplied, I just tried the upgraded main drive from my 2008 MBP an Hitachi 750gb 7200 which runs at 3 gigabit in that machine, in my 2009 MBP and although it runs at 3 gigabit, as soon as I open Safari it hangs giving the spinning beachball pizza and is basically unuseable.
Does anyone know of an SSD or even large SATA2 HD apart from an Apple supplied one that will run at SATA2, 3 gigabt in my MBP?
Berni
@berni29 - the 1.5G speed is quite a shame. I have not upgraded yet and I was hoping based on the spec that 3G speed will be possible. Did you reasearch as to whether you can fix something or whether it is to do with the SSD that you purchased?
Anybody else with experience on this speed issue?
Given the noise level that you mention, I have figured that if I purchase I will purchase a 512GB so that I do not use my HDD at all. My HDD is noisier than normal because it is 7200 RPM.
SSD replacement on 2009 Macbook Pro
