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hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,727
1,215
Hello, I have a MBP 17" Mid 2010 model. 2.66 gHz i7, 8GB RAM. As I have been using rMBP 15" for the past three years, I feel this 17" computer too slow. Upgrading to EI Capitan does not help. I feel that it became even slower. It may be due to the hard drive. Is it worth to upgrade to SSD? Is the improvement in performance noticeable? About how many percentage of performance improvement will that be?
 

CoastalOR

macrumors 68040
Jan 19, 2015
3,020
1,147
Oregon, USA
Hello, I have a MBP 17" Mid 2010 model. 2.66 gHz i7, 8GB RAM. As I have been using rMBP 15" for the past three years, I feel this 17" computer too slow. Upgrading to EI Capitan does not help. I feel that it became even slower. It may be due to the hard drive. Is it worth to upgrade to SSD?
It would not be for me, but that would have to be your personal decision. Do you have a need/use for the 17" and want to spend the money for a SSD.
Is the improvement in performance noticeable?
It would be noticeable, but not as great as the rMBP. Maybe with a older OS it might be faster.
About how many percentage of performance improvement will that be?
About 180% for read and write. The 2010 cMBP is only SATA II so it is only 3 Gbps.
 

Erdbeertorte

Suspended
May 20, 2015
1,180
500
Yes it's worth it and very noticeably, even if SATA II slows the read and write speed down to about half of what it could be with SATA III, anyway it's much faster than what you get from the HDD that is now in it.
Also flash storage has a very much faster data access speed compared to spinning drives. So read and write speed is not the only advantage of SSDs.

I had a 2008 17" MBP, 4GB RAM, HDD, El Capitan.

Booting up the system took 1-2 minutes, starting stock applications like Safari and Mail had been slow too and I got "beach balls" when I did too much at the same time.

I replaced just the HDD with an SSD and it is running now almost like a new Computer, with still just 4GB of RAM.

(Comparable experiences I had with a Late 2009 17" MBP and a Mid-2010 13" MacBook.)

You have got a much newer faster CPU/GPU, double amount of RAM so the HDD seems to be the bottleneck, at least for most simple stuff (I don't know your usage).
SATA-SSDs up to 500GB are not very expensive anymore, you can even get 1TB SSDs for less than 2 x 500GB sometimes.
 

hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,727
1,215
My current computer at work is rMBP 2012 15" 16GB i7. Do you think after upgrade, the performance of my 2010 17" MBP will be compared with this one at work?
 

Samuelsan2001

macrumors 604
Oct 24, 2013
7,729
2,153
My current computer at work is rMBP 2012 15" 16GB i7. Do you think after upgrade, the performance of my 2010 17" MBP will be compared with this one at work?

Depends what you mean by performance!!! It will boot up and open apps, files, folders etc just as fast but actual performance in apps etc is a product of the speed and architecture of the CPU, GPU, RAM and motherboard and that will not change.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,415
43,304
My current computer at work is rMBP 2012 15" 16GB i7
Does your work computer have an SSD? I think you'll be impressed by the boot time, and any other process that requires disk i/o, i.e., applications starting up. I think overall, it won't be as fast, i.e., computational speed.
 

freddiecable

macrumors 6502a
May 16, 2003
656
196
Sweden
Yes! It will become a brand new computer. We have a 2011 MBP. We put a 512 SSD (200 USD) in it and I would pay double that for the value it brings. SSD is the one thing to make your computer revitalized, then RAM, then CPU.
 
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Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,240
12,388
YES, it IS worth it.
You will be amazed at the performance increase.

The drive swap should be easy, but be sure to use THE RIGHT TOOLS.
Consult ifixit.com for the illustrated replacement guide.

Re SSD buying:
DON'T spend a lot of money for "the fastest" SSD. A 2010-vintage MacBook should have only a SATA-2 internal bus. What this means is that ALL currently-selling SSDs, from the "economy" models to the "top of the line", will perform at the same speeds. This is because your SATA-2 bus is the "limiting factor" here insofar as speed is concerned. More $$$ WILL NOT equate to "more speed".

I'd suggest a Crucial or Sandisk SSD. I've had good experiences with both brands.

Also -- I wouldn't spend more $$$ to buy a high-capacity SSD.
240gb is probably enough, maybe 480.
The cost for either is low (I just picked up a Crucial BX200 240gb a couple of days ago for $65 at amazon).

Pick up a USB3 external enclosure, and put your old HDD into it, for a backup or for scratch storage...
 

killawat

macrumors 68000
Sep 11, 2014
1,947
3,581
It'll be very fast with an ssd but not as fast as the rMBP. I'm not sure why you think it would be, the rMBP is two years newer and built for speed. The 2011 mbp will get you closer because it has 16 gb memory but still not as quick. I was in the same boat , 2010 17 inch at home, 16 gb rMBP at work, the rMBP was superior in every way considering usb 3.0 , more ram and faster SSDs. What I did on my 17 inch was to throw in an Intel ssd 520 series, though you can get a 512 Samsung ssd for around $100 bucks nowadays. You can get usb 3.0 on there as well with a fresco based express card, around $20 bucks on Amazon.
 

baypharm

macrumors 68000
Nov 15, 2007
1,951
973
I say go ahead and add an SSD. I have a 2009 17" MBP with antiglare screen. 8GB ram. I added a Samsung 2TB Pro SSD and everything flies. Boot up time is about 7 seconds. Photoshop, LR, FCP rendering times are lightning fast. Huge huge difference. It really does make it seem like a new computer. And since Apple doesn't make 17" laptops with antiglare screens anymore - I am keeping mine running in tip top condition.
 

padapada

macrumors regular
Jun 20, 2010
132
16
Hello, I have a MBP 17" Mid 2010 model. 2.66 gHz i7, 8GB RAM. As I have been using rMBP 15" for the past three years, I feel this 17" computer too slow. Upgrading to EI Capitan does not help. I feel that it became even slower. It may be due to the hard drive. Is it worth to upgrade to SSD? Is the improvement in performance noticeable? About how many percentage of performance improvement will that be?

I have the same machine except I have the original Apple 512gb SSD. The machine is still as fast as the first day. Bought a maxed out 15" MBP earlier this year. In normal use it's marginally faster than the old laptop. Of course the difference is notable in gaming and benchmarks. Just bought the new laptop because of the Retina display.

Just go for the SSD and if nothing else breaks, I am sure the machine is more than useable (for mail/browsing/office/photography) for years to come.

Patrick
 

hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,727
1,215
I have the same machine except I have the original Apple 512gb SSD. The machine is still as fast as the first day. Bought a maxed out 15" MBP earlier this year. In normal use it's marginally faster than the old laptop. Of course the difference is notable in gaming and benchmarks. Just bought the new laptop because of the Retina display.

Just go for the SSD and if nothing else breaks, I am sure the machine is more than useable (for mail/browsing/office/photography) for years to come.

Patrick

Thanks. I do use the computers for 3D simulations, CAD and Matlab.
 

ron1004

macrumors 6502
Feb 6, 2010
335
33
Louisville, KY
The performance increase is significantly lower on the 2010 with SSD, compared to the 2011, because it's not SATA-3, but still well worth it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252034394010?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
This USB-3 card does not need 3rd party drivers - no drivers needed at all, and it's fast.

The previous card needed 3rd party drivers and was slow and unreliable detecting portable drives - I used a glue gun to secure it, and a soldering iron to release it making way for the new card.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/usb-3-0-expresscard.911141/page-5
 

TheMTtakeover

macrumors 6502
Aug 3, 2011
470
7
I have a 2012MBP and I just upgraded it with a SSD. I can definitely see the performance benefits. If you are planning on hanging onto the computer I would definitely recommend it.
 

TonyK

macrumors 65816
May 24, 2009
1,032
148
Heck, I'm upgrading a 2007 MBP (17") with a SSD and going for the 6GB of memory. That cost is ultra cheap when compared to getting a new laptop. Not my every day machine, just a luggable (it is a 17" screen) for when I'm traveling and the iPad won't do.
 
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fessen

macrumors regular
May 4, 2011
104
12
The performance increase is significantly lower on the 2010 with SSD, compared to the 2011, because it's not SATA-3, but still well worth it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252034394010?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
This USB-3 card does not need 3rd party drivers - no drivers needed at all, and it's fast.

The previous card needed 3rd party drivers and was slow and unreliable detecting portable drives - I used a glue gun to secure it, and a soldering iron to release it making way for the new card.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/usb-3-0-expresscard.911141/page-5
Are you using that new one now?
I'm a little bit leery of buying from vendors I don't really know anything about. Could they have installed malicious code in the drivers?
Have you checked to see whether the device is calling home (or calling anywhere that you didn't intend for it to be)?
 
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ron1004

macrumors 6502
Feb 6, 2010
335
33
Louisville, KY
Are you using that new one now?
I'm a little bit leery of buying from vendors I don't really know anything about. Could they have installed malicious code in the drivers?
Have you checked to see whether the device is calling home (or calling anywhere that you didn't intend for it to be)?
I am using the new Express Card and its Highly unlikely that it can call home or install malicious code - I have Little Snitch installed and it did not detect any contact attempts.
 
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MrAverigeUser

macrumors 6502a
May 20, 2015
874
386
europe
Are you using that new one now?
I'm a little bit leery of buying from vendors I don't really know anything about. Could they have installed malicious code in the drivers?
Have you checked to see whether the device is calling home (or calling anywhere that you didn't intend for it to be)?

If you buy it without HDD or "erase in save mode" (= erase and rewrite it in random-mode completely 3-10 times) the old HDD/SSD (but that will take some hours depending on capacity) you will be safe. the most safe is to buy without drive and put in your old one or a new one.

in general, you are much more in danger if you SELL your equipment with your old HDD, because if you don´t erase definitely in REAL safe mode it is very easy to recover all your data.
 
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jsagurton

macrumors member
Aug 6, 2014
43
7
Pennsylvania
I also have a mid-2010 17" MBP, and adding an SSD made a WORLD of difference. I only wish I had done it sooner (I did it a bit over a year ago). I'm holding out for the next redesign, and I'm still pretty comfortable using the 17". It does what I need it to (I don't do anything particularly intensive, other than sometimes running several VMs simultaneously).
 

Atreyu25

macrumors 6502
May 31, 2005
288
162
Depends on your climate, because your logic board at that age could be drying out and be non functional soon...
 
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