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Seagate 7200.4 500gb Hard Disk + Ram upgrade/results for White Unibody MacBook

M

mrwashi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 1, 2010
28
0
Hi guys

It's been about a week of use since upgrading my Unibody Macbook.

I've upgraded the hard drive and ram to:

Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500gb without G Sensor (7200rpm/16mb)
Apple Original 4gb ram (2 x 2gb Samsung Ram)

Firstly, I'll post up some results:

Booting time before upgrade was 39.2 seconds.
Booting time after upgrading the hard disk was 28.1 seconds.
Booting time after upgrading both the hard disk and ram is now 23.7 seconds.

The booting time was measured by timing from pressing the power button, to the start of the desktop wall paper showing.

Also another interesting point is the OS X install times.

OS X install time before hard drive upgrade was 45 minutes.
OS X install time after hard drive upgrade is now 31 minutes.

Secondly my impressions,

The hard drive is much better than I thought but with most owners who are contemplating an upgrade to 7200rpm drives but are being scared about the battery life, vibration and heat - DON'T WORRY IT'S NOT THAT BAD

-After a week of use, the battery life has not been much different at all.
-After a week of use, I did notice very very slight vibration on the left side of the palm rest but its not life threatening as some users make it out to be.
-After a week of use, yes there is slight heat/warmth from the left side of the palm rest but it's not overly annoying or worrying as well.

The ram is great, I didn't need to worry about compatibility because I used Apple Original ram (using Samsung chips). I bought it from ToshComputers as I'm from New Zealand and I bought the 4gb ram kit for USD 119.

I don't think I need to point out how much better the system runs as most people should know about the benefits of upgrading ram on their macs.

Overall I'd like to think I got a great 40% boost in times and efficiency from my Macbook and i think it's been a very worth while upgrade. :D

BTW those silicon keyboard protectors are just the best ;)
 
sml238

sml238

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2010
163
0
i ordered 2x 2gb of crucial ram for my new macbook

still deciding on what hard drive to get...

how do you know your hard drive doesn't have the sensor?

and what are your average HD temps? just normal browing/music and then at work reading/writing/seeking?

ill provide you with my details one i get everything installed, but first ofc figure out which hard drive to get.
 
M

mrwashi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 1, 2010
28
0
sml238 said:
i ordered 2x 2gb of crucial ram for my new macbook

still deciding on what hard drive to get...

how do you know your hard drive doesn't have the sensor?

and what are your average HD temps? just normal browing/music and then at work reading/writing/seeking?

ill provide you with my details one i get everything installed, but first ofc figure out which hard drive to get.
Click to expand...

It says on the model number. Ones with G sensor has the letter g at the end of the model number while mine doesnt.

My avg temps seems to be around 35-39 doing normal things and climbs up to 45 when being used.
 
M

mrwashi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 1, 2010
28
0
sml238 said:
just ordered my seagate 7200.4 along with the nice owc external caddy + tool kit :)
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/YST9500420AS/

my 4gb of crucial ddr3 ram is already here.

once i get the seagate ill install both and let ya know how i like them.
Click to expand...

Congrats on your purchase :)

I forgot to mention that I measured temps after running windows 7 x64 on bootcamp and going back to OS X.

After just using OS X the hard drive temps are much lower, around 27-30 doing browsing etc and climbing to 37ish when doing hdd intensive apps.
 
sml238

sml238

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2010
163
0
mrwashi said:
Congrats on your purchase :)

I forgot to mention that I measured temps after running windows 7 x64 on bootcamp and going back to OS X.

After just using OS X the hard drive temps are much lower, around 27-30 doing browsing etc and climbing to 37ish when doing hdd intensive apps.
Click to expand...

nice nice. i actually read a review on the seagate 5400/7200, the hitachi 5400/7200. and in most cases the seagate 5400 was faster than the hitachi 7200. except the hitachi can multi task very well. but the seagate 7200 really just blew hitachi away in almost every test.

i can link you to the tech report if you want to feel even better about ur hd lol
 
sml238

sml238

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2010
163
0
got the 4gb of crucial ram in. i notice a tiny bit more snappiness on everyday stuff. i havent really done any intensive tasks yet to even use all 4gb of my ram so..
 
iphone1105

iphone1105

macrumors 68020
Oct 8, 2009
2,106
316
sml238 said:
got the 4gb of crucial ram in. i notice a tiny bit more snappiness on everyday stuff. i havent really done any intensive tasks yet to even use all 4gb of my ram so..
Click to expand...

I think 4gb will be good for everything really, if youre not heavy on the work. I mean I used photoshop on my unibody mac w/ 4gb of RAM and had Chrome and iTunes playing and the computer was still beastly quick and responsive. You should be good, enjoy it buddy!:cool:
 
sml238

sml238

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2010
163
0
iphone1105 said:
I think 4gb will be good for everything really, if youre not heavy on the work. I mean I used photoshop on my unibody mac w/ 4gb of RAM and had Chrome and iTunes playing and the computer was still beastly quick and responsive. You should be good, enjoy it buddy!:cool:
Click to expand...

yeah im fine with 4gb. i have no desire to get 8gb. i honestly would never use that much ram unless i get into video editing or something..but even then i wouldnt do it enough to need 8gbs
 
G

gerabbi

macrumors regular
Feb 8, 2009
155
0
sml238 said:
yeah im fine with 4gb. i have no desire to get 8gb. i honestly would never use that much ram unless i get into video editing or something..but even then i wouldnt do it enough to need 8gbs
Click to expand...

Remember never say "never":)
 
sml238

sml238

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2010
163
0
biswasd said:
what is the significance of the gsensor???
Click to expand...

it senses when the hd is falling and it does something to the head so it doesnt damage itself. but macs already have a sensor so you dont need one in the hard drive.
 
M

mjvdl

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2010
2
0
Hello,
could one of the guys with the ST9500420AS installed check if the sudden motion sensor still works?

I replaced the original harddisk of my macbook pro 13" (mid 2009) with the ST9500420AS. Generally it work very good: fast silent, no vibration ...

But since the replacement the disk doesn´t get parked when a sudden motion occurs, although the motion sensor is still enabled and works (I checked with terminal and seismac). With the old disk I heared a "klick" when lifting the mbp to fast and the disk was "parked"

I browsed several forums and have the following information right now:

1. In some cases the drive works with no problems at all.

2. Some people had problems with the ST9500420AS-G model, cause this one has an internal motion sensor that is incompatible with the one from Apple. Those people recommend the ST9500420AS, I am using.

Is there any way to fix that problem? Should I use another drive?

Am I really the only one having that problem?

Thanks for your help.
Jürgen
 
J

Jman6439

macrumors newbie
Mar 6, 2008
19
0
Brea, CA
SMS Not working

mjvdl said:
Hello,
could one of the guys with the ST9500420AS installed check if the sudden motion sensor still works?

I replaced the original harddisk of my macbook pro 13" (mid 2009) with the ST9500420AS. Generally it work very good: fast silent, no vibration ...

But since the replacement the disk doesn´t get parked when a sudden motion occurs, although the motion sensor is still enabled and works (I checked with terminal and seismac). With the old disk I heared a "klick" when lifting the mbp to fast and the disk was "parked"

I browsed several forums and have the following information right now:

1. In some cases the drive works with no problems at all.

2. Some people had problems with the ST9500420AS-G model, cause this one has an internal motion sensor that is incompatible with the one from Apple. Those people recommend the ST9500420AS, I am using.

Is there any way to fix that problem? Should I use another drive?

Am I really the only one having that problem?

Thanks for your help.
Jürgen
Click to expand...



I have to agree with you. Before my upgrade to the non-G model, the original drive made a "click" as I jerked the macbook (aluminum unibody). Ever since I upgraded however, I havent noticed a thing and It worries me of its security. I checked SMS, its enabled.
 
M

mrwashi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 1, 2010
28
0
Jman6439 said:
I have to agree with you. Before my upgrade to the non-G model, the original drive made a "click" as I jerked the macbook (aluminum unibody). Ever since I upgraded however, I havent noticed a thing and It worries me of its security. I checked SMS, its enabled.
Click to expand...

I've got a few pointers and tips for all users and prospective owners of this drive.

If you have problems with your drive, like frequent beach balling, you have a few options to try remedy this. This doesnt matter if your hard drive is a G version or non G version it seems both are affected when going into macs.

Option one: Try upgrading the firmware to Dell's seagate firmware. It seems that even pc users have problems with this drive. http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R250679&formatcnt=0&libid=0&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&fileid=366463

Option Two: Use HPADM http://mckinlay.net.nz/hdapm/

Option Three: Disable SMS (Sudden motion sensor) http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1934

I've relegated my seagate to external hdd status at the moment and will get a replacement because my load cycle has gone upto 100000 in the two weeks ive used it.

These drives are optimized for energy saving so these drives will park when ever they can which can cause the beach balling effects.
 
sml238

sml238

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2010
163
0
mrwashi said:
I've got a few pointers and tips for all users and prospective owners of this drive.

If you have problems with your drive, like frequent beach balling, you have a few options to try remedy this. This doesnt matter if your hard drive is a G version or non G version it seems both are affected when going into macs.

Option one: Try upgrading the firmware to Dell's seagate firmware. It seems that even pc users have problems with this drive. http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R250679&formatcnt=0&libid=0&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&fileid=366463

Option Two: Use HPADM http://mckinlay.net.nz/hdapm/

Option Three: Disable SMS (Sudden motion sensor) http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1934

I've relegated my seagate to external hdd status at the moment and will get a replacement because my load cycle has gone upto 100000 in the two weeks ive used it.

These drives are optimized for energy saving so these drives will park when ever they can which can cause the beach balling effects.
Click to expand...

hmm thats odd...i don't ever get the beach ball
 
M

mjvdl

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2010
2
0
@sml238: Do you have version ST9500420AS or ST9500420ASG? And do you hear, when the hard drive gets parked due to sudden motion?

Could maybe others with the ST9500420AS installed also check if the sudden motion sensor still works?

@mrwashi: Your post is sure important information, but in no relation to my post before, or the comment that was made by Jman6439.

Because we have the problem that we don´t hear the momentus even when we should hear it. That means, on sudden motion normally the drive gets parked by the OS, but since we installed the momentus, this doesnt work anymore. (A totally different problem, than the one rfixed by the latest firmware.)

Do you have any experience reg. our observations?

Thanks
Jürgen
 
sml238

sml238

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2010
163
0
i have the non g sensor model. the only time iv ever heard a click was when i went over big bumps on a bus ride back home. but even when i suddenly move the macbook i never hear a click or anything.

i have had zero problems with this drive. works great for me.
 
M

mrwashi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 1, 2010
28
0
sml238 said:
i have the non g sensor model. the only time iv ever heard a click was when i went over big bumps on a bus ride back home. but even when i suddenly move the macbook i never hear a click or anything.

i have had zero problems with this drive. works great for me.
Click to expand...

Touch wood huh? Lol

I haven't heard anything as well after the install of the seagate, it was whisper silent but looking at my load cycle it did seem to park its heads quite regularly.

This isnt a problem for just the seagate the wd scorpio blue 500gb is that same as well.

The power management is causing this, so even if you guys dont hear anything see if you can get some diagnosis software to show your load cycle count to see if your hard drive is truely fine.
 
sml238

sml238

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2010
163
0
mrwashi said:
Touch wood huh? Lol

I haven't heard anything as well after the install of the seagate, it was whisper silent but looking at my load cycle it did seem to park its heads quite regularly.

This isnt a problem for just the seagate the wd scorpio blue 500gb is that same as well.

The power management is causing this, so even if you guys dont hear anything see if you can get some diagnosis software to show your load cycle count to see if your hard drive is truely fine.
Click to expand...

what software?
 
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