Upgrading SSD for Mid-2009 Macbook Pro

yeah -- I've noticed a HUGE difference now that I doubled my RAM.

One guy said he ran el capitan on a mid 2009 mbp, and that after a couple of months, he went back to 10.6.8. It may be better since their last update in December, but I am thinking I'll stick with 10.6.8 as long as I can... I am guessing that eventually, my Opera browser will stop working, as did Safari. Mozilla already became blazingly slow, but it still runs... as does Chrome.

KimUserName, would that AGPtek run as fast as the OWC data doubler? I'm guessing it wouldn't be that big of a deal since my stock HDD can only run up to 3 gb/s SATA speeds. I noticed that the ones that support firewire would be as fast as 800 mb/s, and the usb ones would be MUCH slower (since I only have USB 2.0). Is there a good way to upgrade my macbook pro to be USB 3.0?

If I could avoid paying for the external drive case or USB to SATA cable, it would be ideal since I am on a limited budget. I wonder if I could install the new SSD into the optical bay and then do the cloning... make sure it boots okay from the SSD, and then switch the SSD to the 7" drive bay and the old HDD over to the optical bay. Do you recommend that, or do you think that would cause issues? Guessing by what you said, I am thinking maybe there might be issues with that method... but $50 spent just to use the darn thing once is crazy! Maybe, I will return it after using it... lol.

*edit* nevermind -- duhh.

yeah, I would just use the case for the 2nd drive via usb or firewire, but I plan on storing my media files on the hdd (for using audio files in ableton live for example).

Thanks again KimUserName.

Is there any advantage to going with the EVO 850 instead of the EVO 840?

Also, why would I need the data doubler instead of the AGPTek for cloning the drive using the method above? What are the advantages of having the data doubler instead of the AGPTek caddy or any cheap/generic caddy, and why?

I was looking at this $7 one, for example:

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Unibody-MacBook-SuperDrive-Replacement/dp/B0058AH2US /ref=pd_sim_sbs_147_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41HVpNsjquL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160% 2C160_&refRID=003EBRDVGJAXMMFEEG6C

I was also wondering if a USB 3.0 to SATA cable like in the link below is backwards compatible with USB 2.0, all though I will probably look for a firewire one for faster speeds:

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=pd_bxg y_147_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1MEPDSVEA02REPS8H4D2

I was also wondering if you think a Super Slim USB SATA External Slot in DVD Burner Case is a good idea for keeping the ability to read/write DVD's and also use it to put the install disc 2 for os x 10.6 for purposes of running apple hardware check:

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Slim-SATA-External-Burner/dp/B005RFOJT6/ref=pd_bxgy_ 147_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0M7NX8T6TKJPXHH6EBX3

Edit on that last bit -- I realize now that is a case for a hard drive to be connected via USB. For some reason I thought it was a DVD read/write drive that was connected via USB.

Also, never mind about asking about if the data doubler had any advantages over a generic/cheap caddy -- I reread your last reply.

Just wondering if the 850 Evo would hold an advantage over the 840 EVO, and if any other drives should be considered as alternative choices.

Also, I read something about combining both drives into one, in the process of formatting. I'm wondering about opinions about combining the HDD and SSD into one formatted hard drive (or if its even possible) -- what are the advantages/disadvantages of such a thing.

Thanks again KimUserName. You are great!

I bought a caddy a a nylon pry tool for the installation.

I haven't fully decided on a drive yet. I was considering a SSHD for more storage/cheaper option... but I'm about 85% decided on the EVO 850, thanks to you and some others.

I explained on reddit something that I recently read:

["The key is how much data passes under the head in a given time period, this is affected by at least 2 things, density of data, and the speed with which it passes under the head, 7200 rpm drives are roughly 33% faster so 33% more data passes in any given time period. The Areal Density of a single platter 1tb drive is 100% greater than a 500G, easily overcoming the 33%speed increase of a 7200 rpm drive over a 5400 rpm drive. A 750G drive has 150% of the Areal density of a 500G, so it also would be faster regardless of the rotational speed increase from 5400 to 7200."

So, basically thats saying a 1 TB drive will be twice as fast as my 500 GB HDD if they are both 5400 RPM's... but a 7200 RPM, 500 GB HDD or SSHD will only increase it by 133% if the SATA link speeds are the same.

I am still not sure how this applies or compares to the fact that I get 1.5 GB/s negotiated SATA link speeds with my current HDD and can get 3 GB/s with a different drive (either SSD or HDD).]

Reddit link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/46dw3g/options_for_upgrading_drives_for_mi d2009_mbp/

With that considered, an SDD still seems like a longer lasting, more safe, and faster option (but I am not sure how much faster it a 500 GB SSD would be [with 3.0 GB/s SATA link speed], compared to a 1 TB, 2 TB, or 3 TB HDD or SSHD [also with 3.0 GB/s SATA speed]). Also, I've been reading that an SSD will mostly only effect the booting speed and application opening speeds -- where as what I really want is more speed while running ableton live with many VST's and audio files open/playing. I'm assuming that keeping my audio files on the secondary HDD would kind of defeat the purpose of having the SSD speeds, all though I've read in ableton forums that using multiple drives works great for this purpose (more so for targeting files that are being recorded to be written to the secondary drive, which they say should preferably be 72,000 RPM's -- so it looks like I might want to buy two new drives since the stock one is 5,400 RPM's).

Since I already upgraded to 8 GB of RAM, I am thinking the only thing that would truly help my cause is a newer computer (with a faster CPU).

What do you think?

I've got a little under $300 to spend, so a 500 GB SSD would be the most I can go with that... or else I'd get a 1 TB SSD.

Also, I was considering installing OS X onto the new SSD as a fresh install, as I feel that my current OS X may be not working as well as it could due to some issues I caused at some point by installing stuff.

Would copying over the applications, libraries/application support, libraries/audio/plugins folders be sufficient? Or, is copying the entire drive my only reasonable option for keeping all of my VST plugins and applications without fresh installations? A wild guess is that I'll have to either reinstall everything or copy the whole darned thing with CCC.