lee1578

Q: Macbook (Mid 2010) 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 2GB Upgrade Help

Hello.

 

After 5 years i've finally signed up to the forum and in need of help. I have the following Macbook:

 

Macbook 13inch (Mid-2010)

2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo

250GB SATA Disk

2GB 1067 MHz DDR3

OS X: 10.9.5

 

I started having performance issues over a year ago and after repairing the disk several times through disk utility I finally had to wipe the hard drive. Since then i've been managing and only using a very small amount of my hard drive. However for the past 6 months I've been having issues again with performance to a point when it became unbearable and where I couldn't make it to the log in screen on start up, thus having to reinstall OS X Mavericks twice through recovery mode. Yesterday it seemed that every time I would click to close an application or open a new window the spinning beach ball would appear. So I backed up all my data (not that I have much) and wiped the hard drive again.

 

Everything is running fine at the moment but I would like to make some upgrades rather than splashing out on a newer model. Firstly I know Apple state that the max RAM upgrade for this model is 4GB but actual is 8GB or even 16GB if using the right operating system. The main application I use is Microsoft Office and sometimes a sports trading programme but that is about it. How much memory would you recommend, would 16GB be too much? I'm aware OWC sell 16GB but i'm based in the UK and wondered if this from Global Memory would work http://www.amazon.co.uk/1066MHz-PC3-8500-204-PIN-MEMORY-MACBOOK/dp/B00EYNPLFI/re f=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1449955…

 

Secondly if I was to upgrade my hard drive what is the maximum size it can take and again how much would be necessary. Prior to deleting my hard drive yesterday I was only using a very small percentage of the available space.

 

Thanks in advance.

MacBook (13-inch Mid 2010), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Dec 13, 2015 3:42 AM

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Q: Macbook (Mid 2010) 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 2GB Upgrade Help

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  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Dec 13, 2015 4:54 AM in response to lee1578
    Level 6 (17,233 points)
    Apple Watch
    Dec 13, 2015 4:54 AM in response to lee1578

    I'd recommend purchasing the correct OWC ram through Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/PC3-8500-1066MHz-SO-DIMM-Upgrade-OWC8566DDR3S16P/dp/B00B KVQFCU/ref=pd_sim_sbs_147_4/279-9328735-…

    Regarding the hard drive there is no size limit but if you're not using much of your available storage in the first place why increase it? Better idea would be to replace the hard drive with an SSD of similar or slightly larger size and have a blazing fast system.

  • by lee1578,

    lee1578 lee1578 Dec 13, 2015 6:10 AM in response to Mike Sombrio
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Windows Software
    Dec 13, 2015 6:10 AM in response to Mike Sombrio

    Thanks for your reply Mike.

     

    Do you think the 16GB is needed or would 8GB suffice?

     

    So would same same size but SSD be much better?

     

    Thanks again

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Dec 13, 2015 6:39 AM in response to lee1578
    Level 6 (17,233 points)
    Apple Watch
    Dec 13, 2015 6:39 AM in response to lee1578

    8Gb is probably sufficient but when it comes to ram, more is almost always better. I always recommend buying as much as you can afford, especially when it's inexpensive like it is now.

    An SSD is a tremendous speed upgrade over any spinning hard drive. If you're hardly using any space on your existing 250Gb hard drive one of similar size makes the most sense.....at least to me! I've put SSD's in my macbook and my iMac and those have been the single best computer upgrades I've ever done. Both macs feel like brand new machines with the addition of an SSD. Just for example from pressing the power button to desktop is less than 20 seconds and opening Word or Excel is less than 3 seconds.

  • by lee1578,

    lee1578 lee1578 Dec 14, 2015 9:41 AM in response to Mike Sombrio
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Windows Software
    Dec 14, 2015 9:41 AM in response to Mike Sombrio

    I think i'll try and go for the 16GB then! Are the modules from Global Memory the same as the ones offered by OWC?

     

    Is there a particular SSD that you would recommend?

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Dec 14, 2015 2:50 PM in response to lee1578
    Level 6 (17,233 points)
    Apple Watch
    Dec 14, 2015 2:50 PM in response to lee1578

    lee1578 wrote:

     

    I think i'll try and go for the 16GB then! Are the modules from Global Memory the same as the ones offered by OWC?

     

    Is there a particular SSD that you would recommend?

    No, the ram modules aren't the same, that's why I and many others here recommend OWC whenever possible. They test their ram with specific mac models and guarantee that it will work. Brands other than Crucial or OWC like to play fast and loose with the specs, they will sometimes consider close to be good enough and it isn't. Macs require exact spec ram or you could end up dealing with kernel panics and possible data loss or corruption.

    OWC also offers a complete line of quality SSD's but like spinning disk drives just about any one that is the same form factor as your hard drive will work. I have an OWC SSD in my iMac and a Samsung SSD in my macbook and am equally happy with both but some folks have been unhappy with the newer Samsung Evo line.