Feedback re: upgrading 4GB to 8GB and 250GB HDD to SSD

Question

Level 2

158 points

Feedback re: upgrading 4GB to 8GB and 250GB HDD to SSD

I purchased a new MacBook back in 2011 with Snow Leopard 10.6 (MC516LL/A). This has been a great college/work/travel machine and I am exploring:

upgrading the 4GB DDR3 to 8GB DDR3
upgrading the factory HDD to SSD

I am wondering if anyone give me feedback on their experience they had with these upgrades and what brand DDR3 and SSD to purchase. This 13" machine is portable with excellent battery life, and still perfect for my college work. These are among the reasons I am committed to keeping this machine even if I end up purchasing newer Apple products.

I am not looking to upgrade the OS. I love new technology like my iPhone 6 Plus but at this point SL 10.6.8 meets my needs and still runs current software like Adobe Reader 11, Google Chrome/Firefox, iTunes 11.4, etc.

Thank you in advance.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 4GB 13" Mid-2010 (MC516LL/A)

Posted on May 29, 2015 12:47 AM

Reply

Answer 1

May 29, 2015 3:55 AM in response to sdfox7

I wouldn't spend a nickel trying to update the drive or add more RAM to that old of a machine.

Save the money and put it toward your next machine.

Reply

Answer 2

BobHarris

Level 9

53,081 points

May 29, 2015 6:24 AM in response to sdfox7

I would not over spend on upgrades, but I'm not against keeping your system running.

Crucial.com or MacSales.com (OWC) for RAM. They will sell you the correct RAM for your Macbook, and stand behind their products. Well recommended by long term forum contributors.

An SSD will give you the best performance boost for the aging system (did this to my 2009 27" iMac and my 2011 Macbook Pro - best thing I did for those systems). You might look to MacSales.com (OWC) for an SSD as they configure their SSDs so you DO NOT need to worry about TRIM support.

You might even check if OWC sells a DataDoubler kit for your Macbook that will replace the DVD with an SSD, so you can keep your hard disk and have a smaller (less expensive) SSD in the DVD slot that runs your OS and applications, while your bulk storage of music, photos, movies remains on the hard disk.

Again, do not over spend. After you get your prices, look at that expense vs buying a new Mac. The new (or Apple Refurbished) Mac will come more RAM, more disk, more speed, better screen, etc...

Reply

Answer 3

sdfox7 Author

Level 2

158 points

May 29, 2015 9:22 AM in response to BobHarris

Thank you for the information. This machine still performs well and has some years of life left in it, I just want to upgrade it to its maximum potential. It seems wasteful to throw out a perfectly good machine. They still fetch $400 or so on eBay depending on configuration.

Seeing that I can get 8GB RAM and an SSD for under $150, I feel it is worth the investment. It's only 10% of the cost of a new MacBook. The machine actually supports 16GB RAM from what I understand.

Reply

Answer 4

May 29, 2015 10:07 AM in response to sdfox7

Depending on what brands your looking at for RAM and SSD it may be a little more than $150.

For what its worth, I would go ahead and do it for up to $250. but nothing more. OWC has both RAM and an SSD for it.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/SSD/Mercury_Electra_3G_Solid_Sta te

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_Whi te

It does support up to 16Gb of RAM, but that can be tricky if its not good quality guaranteed RAM.

You should in fact notice a significant improvement with both upgrades. Faster boot times, and more responsive apps overall. But just keep in mind this is indeed a 5 year old machine with 6 year old hardware, and the processor is going to start showing its age if you need to run newer things.

Also the new SSD at 250GB will likely be either the same size or smaller than what you currently have , so think about external storage for the files that will not fit on the SSD, and whether or not you plan on keeping your current HD.

Other than that, it can be a worthwhile investment if you use the time to save up the money for a newer computer in around 1 to 2 years tops.

Reply

Answer 5

sdfox7 Author

Level 2

158 points

May 29, 2015 1:27 PM in response to Phil0124

Thanks Phil. I am a very modest college user, web browsing, Netflix and writing papers and spreadsheets. I appreciate the Mac's solid build quality and fit and finish. I am not a "gamer" or "Photoshopper" or anything else that would be considered resource intensive.

In fact, Netflix is probably about as intense as it gets and the computer has no issues whatsoever keeping up. I just figured adding an SSD would improve the reliability of the computer going forward as it gets a little older.

Reply

Answer 6

May 29, 2015 8:50 PM in response to sdfox7

sdfox7 wrote:

In fact, Netflix is probably about as intense as it gets and the computer has no issues whatsoever keeping up. I just figured adding an SSD would improve the reliability of the computer going forward as it gets a little older.

Yup, It should do just that.

Good luck with the upgrades.

Reply

Answer 7

sdfox7 Author

Level 2

158 points

Jun 2, 2015 9:17 AM in response to Phil0124

I went with the 120GB SSD and RAM upgrade, very happy with it! I don't store a lot of data on the MB so 120GB is plenty. Most of what I do is on my iPhone (pictures and videos) on on the web. System boots to desktop in 15 seconds!

Thinking about possibly dual booting with Yosemite to have the best of both worlds. Snow Leopard will always be special IMO and it's the last OS with Rosetta.

http://sdfox7.com/macppc/IMG_0704.MOV

Reply