Revamping my mini

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Level 1

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Revamping my mini

I'm looking to revamp my late 2009 Mac mini. It is starting to show its age, but has performed wonderfully. It's getting slow, but since I don't use it for much other than streaming anymore, it hasn't bothered me. I've tried wiping it and starting fresh and I've got some results but they don't last. I've heard you can swap out the hard drive for SSD to help improve speed and I don't have anything I can't live without on it. What is the best brand and how might I improve further?

• late 2009 Mac Mini

• 2.6GHz Intel Core Duo

•2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

running OS 10.11 El Cap

VIN,Mac mini (Late 2009)

Posted on Apr 8, 2016 11:22 PM

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Answer 1

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Apr 9, 2016 12:49 AM in response to Bausriel

Yes, replace the slow rotating HD with an SSD.

Any SSD will work fine. Do not pay for a fast SSD since your Mini only support SATA II (3 GB per second) and not the newer SATA III (6 GB/sec)

I would also increase the RAM. 2 GB is not enough. As min I would replace on 1 GB stick with a 4 GB stick if yo can't max out the memory to 8 GB (2x4 GB)

Here are videos for how to replace RAM and install SSD.

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/mac_mini_server/

This place, OWC, also sells RAM and SSDs. Macs are picky about memory so only get memory from a place like OWC that guarantees it will work with your Mac. You can get SSD from places like Newegg that's are just as good for your application as those from OWC.

With an SSD make sure your enable TRIM

http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/29/use-trimforce-trim-ssd-mac-os-x/

I had a late 2009 Mini and went to 8 GB, an SSD and replaced the non-working optical drive with the original HD

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