Early 2011 MBP 13" upgrade to Samsung Evo SSD 120gb

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Level 1

4 points

Early 2011 MBP 13" upgrade to Samsung Evo SSD 120gb

Hello community.

Being an apple fan for a couple years, just bought a 3 year old Early 2011 MBP 13". 4gb ram 1333mhz , i5 second generation 2.3 ghz and Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB, 320gb HDD. Battery backup almost 3 hours (Cycle Count: 1303), just upgraded to OS X 10.9.4. To considerably increase the speed, I bought a Samsung Evo SSD 120GB. The following are my queries:

1. Is it a good idea to install this SSD in place of the HDD to increase the speed of softwares like Photoshop, Unity3D, Sketchup etc. ?

2. If yes, what is the best installation process or method you guys recommend?

2.a. Is there a way to keep the same 320 HDD installed in while removing the DVD rom/writer? Like both HDD and SSD working, and how would it effect the battery performance ?

3. After upgrading to 10.9.4 the battery backup has been reduced to almost 2-2.5 hours at the max. Any idea how to check if the fault lies in the apps I have installed or the OS is not much of a support ?

4. I work in the field of design: Graphics, 3D, Illustrations, Photoshop, Game design and development, Architecture. What is the best practice to follow you guys recommend, so that the battery backup stays good and the performance increases ?

Bottomline : I really want to increase its performance ( with SSD at first and later on with more RAM) and meanwhile keep the battery back still good (atleast 4hours). Also am looking for recommendations for : apps for a new user like me, and apps for design stuff etc.

Thank you for the help 🙂

Carpe Diem

Posted on Jul 11, 2014 2:35 PM

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Answer 1

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Jul 11, 2014 7:33 PM in response to SkrillexFan

SkrillexFan,

For a performance increase with your graphics apps, you would have been better off upgrading your RAM first (your Early 2011 model can hold up to 16 GB of RAM), and then considering a SSD afterwards. Since you’ve already bought the SSD, replacing the HDD with the SSD will speed up disk-bound software; it will be most noticeable when comparing boot time.
You’ll need a small Phillips-head screwdriver to remove the screws on the bottom of the case (keep track of which screw went in which hole; there’s three different types of screws used) and a T6 Torx screwdriver (four Torx screws keep your internal disk in place in its bay) to replace your HDD with your SSD. Make sure that you discharge static electricity on yourself by touching something metallic before doing anything inside of your MacBook Pro.
2. a. There are third-party products which can be purchased to allow replacing the SuperDrive with a second drive. The most significant caveat to that approach is that the disk in the optical bay will be problematic if it’s a SATA III drive; you should choose a SATA II drive for best results there.
With a cycle count of 1303, your battery is long overdue for replacement.
Once you’ve replaced your battery, to maximize its life, start recharging it once it gets down to 20%. To maximize its time on a single charge, set your display to be as dim as you can stand it, and turn off anything unnecessary for your tasks (e.g. WiFi, Bluetooth, &c. if they’re not needed).

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Answer 2

SkrillexFan Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 13, 2014 12:21 PM in response to Melophage

Thank you Melophage for precise to the point suggestions.

1. According to the company specifications, this model can at the max hold 8gb of Ram. Traversing through forums I figured people are using 16gb though. Here is the link http://support.apple.com/kb/sp619 . The next question is, if I buy just one 8gb today, and replace one of the 2gb Ram with this 8bg, resulting : Slot1 =2gb and Slot2 =8gb, do you think it is recommended with this variety of motherboard ? Would this setup actually increase performance(2+8)? Why I questioned on the performance of motherboard is because 3 of my friends from college have this make 13",15"; and all of them have had variety of problems, from crashing of HDD(Toshiba), to crashing of motherboard(/logic board), overheating etc. Please glance this : http://goo.gl/USgTT1 and this : http://goo.gl/QiiLhQ

2. Would it be possible for you to share the link of two screwdrivers you mentioned? Either company product link or ebay link (ebay.in). Though I do have a set of screwdrivers (in office, not at home)which I believe has all set of bids(/attachments). Will share the image once I reach office! And what do you mean by discharging static electricity! I remember reading about it in class 5 or 6, but it would be really really helpful if you could share some youtube link with correct method of doing it with case of MacBookPros ?

2.a. All my life I have known just one SATA. Visited the biggest computer market in India; none these knew what is SATA2 or SATA3. Can you please elaborate the whole point number 2.a?

Lastly: This is something one of my MacBookPro user friend recommend to do. I make the Samsung SSD(120gb) as my primary boot disk with OSX, and I buy this http://goo.gl/0cxsIB, make the other 320gb(stock HDD) in this casing, and remove the optical drive, place this in that and have extra GBs ready. Any pros and cons on the performance, battery backup, handling etc ?

and I again thank you for the read and reply 🙂

Carpe Diem

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Answer 3

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Jul 13, 2014 7:35 PM in response to SkrillexFan

SkrillexFan,

Apple itself never offered 8 GB RAM modules for the Early 2011 MacBook Pro, so they restricted their recommendations to those RAM modules which they’d offered as upgrades at the time of that MacBook Pro’s purchase. Your Early 2011 MacBook Pro can accommodate 16 GB of RAM, but it can be picky about the type of RAM which it finds acceptable; RAM from Crucial and OWC is typically quite reliable with Macs. You could have an 8 GB module in one slot, and a 2 GB module in the other slot; there will be a slight performance penalty for having mismatched modules, but that would certainly be outweighed by your apps having 10 GB of RAM available instead of 4 GB of RAM. Regarding your first link, I’m not going to “glance” at a discussion with over 6,000 replies. Your second link discussed problems with the 15-inch and 17-inch Early 2011 models, but since you have a 13-inch Early 2011 model, I don’t see how that article relates to your MacBook Pro.
Small Phillips screwdrivers are quite common; they’re sometimes referred to as “jeweller’s screwdrivers”, and they’re typically used with screws in eyeglass frames. The best-fitting size for your MacBook Pro’s screws is a #00 Phillips screwdriver. The T6 Torx screwdrivers are harder to find; try searching for t6 torx esd screwdriver in your preferred search engine. I have a small set from Moody Tools (stock no. 55-4000) which includes both of these; such sets are doubtlessly available from other manufacturers of quality tools. I don’t use YouTube myself, and in this case I don’t see what benefit a video would provide; just touch something metallic to discharge static electricity from yourself before doing anything inside of your MacBook Pro.
2. a. You can find an explanation for the differences between the SATA revisions at Wikipedia. As I’d mentioned before, if your 320 GB disk is a SATA III disk, then you’ll have problems with it if it’s installed in the optical bay; to minimize trouble, install a SATA II disk there. I have not done that conversion myself; I prefer to keep the SuperDrive in the optical bay, and I’ll attach an external disk as needed for extra storage capacity. Since I haven’t done that conversion myself, I can’t comment on the performance/battery/handling differences.

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