Recommendation 7200RPM for 2009 macbook pro

Superfly611 · Oct 2, 2014

I'm looking to get a new hard drive for 2009 MacBook Pro. I'm looking at an hdd type hard drive because I will be doing quite a bit of transferring and downloading of different things. I know you only get so many writes and reads with them SSD so that's why I decided to stay away from that. I had gotten a new cable that goes to the hard drive inside of the macbook which I believe is the 6gbps Cable? it was because there might be spinning beach ball problems and the cable and ssd which i originally purposed and it could help because of the efi issues?? i changed my mind from ssd to hdd. I guess I may get faster speeds if I use that cable? Does anyone know?
So which 7200 RPM hard drive should I be looking at with the most performance? 500 GB to 1 TB
Thanks in advance

GGJstudios · Oct 2, 2014

Superfly611 said:
I'm looking to get a new hard drive for 2009 MacBook Pro. I'm looking at an hdd type hard drive because I will be doing quite a bit of transferring and downloading of different things. I know you only get so many writes and reads with them SSD so that's why I decided to stay away from that. I had gotten a new cable that goes to the hard drive inside of the macbook which I believe is the 6gbps Cable? it was because there might be spinning beach ball problems and the cable and ssd which i originally purposed and it could help because of the efi issues?? i changed my mind from ssd to hdd. I guess I may get faster speeds if I use that cable? Does anyone know?
So which 7200 RPM hard drive should I be looking at with the most performance? 500 GB to 1 TB
Thanks in advance

First, it's very unlikely that you'd be doing so much reading and writing to a SSD to cause it not to be a viable option for you. It will likely outlast your need for your computer, and the performance advantage would be significant.

If you still elect to go with a HDD, there is no need to restrict your search to a 7200 rpm drive, as spindle speed is only one factor in overall drive performance. A higher density 5400 rpm drive can outperform a lower density 7200 rpm drive, so if you're going for a 500GB or 1TB drive, you'll likely find a 5400 rpm drive to be quite satisfactory and a better performer than a lower-capacity 7200 drive.

TechGod · Oct 2, 2014

Superfly611 said:
I'm looking to get a new hard drive for 2009 MacBook Pro. I'm looking at an hdd type hard drive because I will be doing quite a bit of transferring and downloading of different things. I know you only get so many writes and reads with them SSD so that's why I decided to stay away from that. I had gotten a new cable that goes to the hard drive inside of the macbook which I believe is the 6gbps Cable? it was because there might be spinning beach ball problems and the cable and ssd which i originally purposed and it could help because of the efi issues?? i changed my mind from ssd to hdd. I guess I may get faster speeds if I use that cable? Does anyone know?
So which 7200 RPM hard drive should I be looking at with the most performance? 500 GB to 1 TB
Thanks in advance

I don't know who told you that garbage about SSD's but no. SSD's have a very long useful lifespan of upwards of 10 years.

simonsi · Oct 3, 2014

Don't worry about lifespan, my SSD is reporting 97% life remaining after a year's usage as a boot drive. That means it should last me 30yrs - which is longer than I would expect the 1TB HGST 7200rpm HDD to last (which is what I would recommend if you want a 7200rpm HDD).

iamMacPerson · Oct 3, 2014

Superfly611 said:
I'm looking to get a new hard drive for 2009 MacBook Pro. I'm looking at an hdd type hard drive because I will be doing quite a bit of transferring and downloading of different things. I know you only get so many writes and reads with them SSD so that's why I decided to stay away from that. I had gotten a new cable that goes to the hard drive inside of the macbook which I believe is the 6gbps Cable? it was because there might be spinning beach ball problems and the cable and ssd which i originally purposed and it could help because of the efi issues?? i changed my mind from ssd to hdd. I guess I may get faster speeds if I use that cable? Does anyone know?
So which 7200 RPM hard drive should I be looking at with the most performance? 500 GB to 1 TB
Thanks in advance

Your MBP has a 3Gbps SATA II connection. I know this as I have worked on 2010 models and they are 3Gbps. Apple didn't switch the MBP line to SATA III 6Gbps until the 2011 models.

The amount of read and write cycles for SSDs are ridiculously high and unless you are running them on an online server, they are perfectly fine. They are going to be the future, and HDDs for boot drives will be a thing of the past in a few years. The OSes have just gotten so big and complex (both OS X and Windows) that to boot from a HDD it'll just take too long.

The cable in your MBP is fine to use with SSDs as long as you don't crimp the cable. In fact, stay with it. Don't change it unless you have to. All SATA cables are interchangeable as long as its the correct connector for your motherboard. There is no specific cable for SATA I, II, or III it has to do with the on-board SATA bus of your computer. Your computer has a SATA II bus, so the max speed you'll get is 3Gbps no matter what cable you use. This will not cause EFI issues so don't even worry about it.

Get the SSD, it will speed your machine up and it will be faster then ever. I swear by SSDs and there is no way of going back to HDDs after using one. They are cheap nowadays (around $.50 a GB or less) so check Amazon or elsewhere and you'll find a good one.

Samuelsan2001 · Oct 3, 2014

This is spot on

iamMacPerson said:
Your MBP has a 3Gbps SATA II connection. I know this as I have worked on 2010 models and they are 3Gbps. Apple didn't switch the MBP line to SATA III 6Gbps until the 2011 models.

The amount of read and write cycles for SSDs are ridiculously high and unless you are running them on an online server, they are perfectly fine. They are going to be the future, and HDDs for boot drives will be a thing of the past in a few years. The OSes have just gotten so big and complex (both OS X and Windows) that to boot from a HDD it'll just take too long.

The cable in your MBP is fine to use with SSDs as long as you don't crimp the cable. In fact, stay with it. Don't change it unless you have to. All SATA cables are interchangeable as long as its the correct connector for your motherboard. There is no specific cable for SATA I, II, or III it has to do with the on-board SATA bus of your computer. Your computer has a SATA II bus, so the max speed you'll get is 3Gbps no matter what cable you use. This will not cause EFI issues so don't even worry about it.

Get the SSD, it will speed your machine up and it will be faster then ever. I swear by SSDs and there is no way of going back to HDDs after using one. They are cheap nowadays (around $.50 a GB or less) so check Amazon or elsewhere and you'll find a good one.

I'd just add that the samsung evo line is top quality as is the latest crucial line of SSD's, a 512gb one can be had for under $300.

Superfly611 · Oct 3, 2014

GGJstudios said:
First, it's very unlikely that you'd be doing so much reading and writing to a SSD to cause it not to be a viable option for you. It will likely outlast your need for your computer, and the performance advantage would be significant.

If you still elect to go with a HDD, there is no need to restrict your search to a 7200 rpm drive, as spindle speed is only one factor in overall drive performance. A higher density 5400 rpm drive can outperform a lower density 7200 rpm drive, so if you're going for a 500GB or 1TB drive, you'll likely find a 5400 rpm drive to be quite satisfactory and a better performer than a lower-capacity 7200 drive.

Like I said I will be doing ALOT of writing and downloading and it's an older machine as you know. I tried installing an SSD in it once before and had all sorts of spinning beach balls all the time so sort of gave up on it. I just want something that's going to work. It's basically going to be for downloading.

I do want something that's cheap though $50-90 maybe.

I really thought 7200 RPM would be faster than 5400??I never understood that but I guess I have to do some reading. When you say higher and lower density can you elaborate? The appreciate your advice and will be looking into it.

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TechGod said:
I don't know who told you that garbage about SSD's but no. SSD's have a very long useful lifespan of upwards of 10 years.

I understand everyone's saying not to worry about the life span but I as I stated in one of my comments I had quite a bit of trouble with the spinning beach ball. Tried all sorts EFI modifications and still nothing. I'd hate to buy another SSD that I can't using in anything. That's why I am still leaning towards an hdd type drive.

GGJstudios · Oct 3, 2014

Superfly611 said:
Like I said I will be doing ALOT of writing and downloading and it's an older machine as you know. I tried installing an SSD in it once before and had all sorts of spinning beach balls all the time so sort of gave up on it. I just want something that's going to work. It's basically going to be for downloading.

A SSD will be fine for your projected needs, even long after you've upgraded your computer for a newer model. You really don't have to worry that you're going to wear it out any time in the near future. If you got beachballs with your earlier installation, something was obviously not normal. If they're installed properly, they will be screaming fast.

Superfly611 said:
I really thought 7200 RPM would be faster than 5400??I never understood that but I guess I have to do some reading. When you say higher and lower density can you elaborate? The appreciate your advice and will be looking into it.

For example, a 100GB 7200 rpm drive won't be as fast as a 1TB 5400 rpm drive, since the 1TB drive has data packed more densely, making it faster to access more data without moving the read/write arm as far. A 7200 rpm drive is faster than 5400 if the capacity is the same, or near the same. As the capacity increases, the rotation speed becomes less a factor.

This may help: When Slower Is Actually Faster
Choosing High Performance Storage Is Not About RPM Anymore

Superfly611 · Oct 3, 2014

All that being said and all of your advice you've given me should I still go with an SSD then since every comment has mentioned that?

My last resort which is not likely to fix the spinning beach ball SSD problem is to replace the Cable I purchased a while back which was ''Hard Drive Data Cable for the MacBook Pro 15" Unibody - 922-9034''
Not sure if it's safe to post a link in the forum so I just gave you the model I got from online. I read that could possibly fix my SSD spinning beach ball problem but then in further reading is unlikely as well. I was desperate to try to make it work finally got tired of it. I still would like to get my older laptop a little bit faster and working again.
Thanks again all.

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GGJstudios said:
A SSD will be fine for your projected needs, even long after you've upgraded your computer for a newer model. You really don't have to worry that you're going to wear it out any time in the near future. If you got beachballs with your earlier installation, something was obviously not normal. If they're installed properly, they will be screaming fast.

I used the directions on the Apple website to install Mavericks by way of thumb drive. It works fine for my iMac. When you say if it was installed properly?? I've installed hard drives before with no problems. What could you mean?
Thanks for those links for that information

GGJstudios · Oct 3, 2014

Superfly611 said:
All that being said and all of your advice you've given me should I still go with an SSD then since every comment has mentioned that?

I would highly recommend you go with a SSD, since your goal is performance enhancement. There is no cause for concern about the amount of read/write activity generated from your expected use.

Superfly611 said:
My last resort which is not likely to fix the spinning beach ball SSD problem is to replace the Cable I purchased a while back which was ''Hard Drive Data Cable for the MacBook Pro 15" Unibody - 922-9034''

The beachball could be caused by many things, including a non-hardware issue. It would just take some troubleshooting to discover the source of the problem.

Superfly611 said:
Not sure if it's safe to post a link in the forum so I just gave you the model I got from online.

Yes, it's safe.

Superfly611 said:
I used the directions on the Apple website to install Mavericks by way of thumb drive. It works fine for my iMac. When you say if it was installed properly?? I've installed hard drives before with no problems. What could you mean?

Any time hardware is installed, there is a potential for something to go wrong... a connector not securely connected, a part touching another and causing a short, a bent or broken part, etc. Like any other drive, if a SSD is installed properly, it will work well. There is nothing inherent in a SSD that would cause it not to work when a HDD would work.

Merode · Oct 3, 2014

1. I'd risk saying that SSDs are a lot more durable than HDDs. Low cost HDDs tend to exhibit issues after about 3 years. If you're lucky it'll never die, but here are statistics: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/how-long-do-disk-drives-last/

2. New and not broken SSDs should not and will not give you beach balls. It's either cable or software.

3. SSD lifespan testing here: http://us.hardware.info/reviews/417...-with-final-conclusion-final-update-20-6-2013

First 250GB SSD died after writing 707TB of data and the second one at about 768TB. If you decided to write 30GB each day, it would die after about 72 years (if controller hasn't died earlier).

4. If you're buying HDD, RPM is not everything. I'd risk saying that large cache is a lot more important.

Superfly611 · Oct 3, 2014

Understood I will go with an SSD 256 GB. Now I just need to get one that would be definitely compatible. The last one that I had all the trouble with was
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005V19A0O/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1
When I was looking for them to replace my old hard drive in my old MacBook I read that it was compatible. I know it was installed correctly. I tried installing it and I uninstalling it A couple times. All the connections were correct and seated properly. I also tried to uninstall and reinstall Mavericks and snow leopard being which was what I originally had (snow leopard). Would someone recommend a drive that may be more compatible or work better? I'd like to order today so I can get it by tomorrow or Monday

iamMacPerson · Oct 3, 2014

Superfly611 said:
When I was looking for them to replace my old hard drive in my old MacBook I read that it was compatible. I know it was installed correctly. I tried installing it and I uninstalling it A couple times. All the connections were correct and seated properly. I also tried to uninstall and reinstall Mavericks and snow leopard being which was what I originally had (snow leopard). Would someone recommend a drive that may be more compatible or work better? I'd like to order today so I can get it by tomorrow or Monday

Any SSD will work just fine. The beachballing you are referring to is usually caused by a crimped cable. Once to cable is crimped you'll have to replace it to fix the issue. I have seen this happen multiple times; even from Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs) to Apple Store Geniuses and 3rd party repair shops, if that cable is not treated with the upmost care, it'll cause beachballing and other issues.

This is the SSD I'd recommend getting. I'd get that one or its 512GB brother. I have the slower model in a 2010 13" MBP and it works great. Like I said, the issues you had with Crucial SSDs was caused by a crimped SATA cable. The drive is fully compatible with Macs and OS X.

Superfly611 · Oct 3, 2014

I'll get the 256 GB. when I download whatever I want to download I will then transfer to my server or an extra hard drive if i run out of space before i check all the files are of. I usually do no more then 60 GB every couple days or week. I already have the cable so I'll give it a try... Hope it works.

thanks for all the advice i'll be back if it doesn't work for more help.

(Edit)
Just came across this hard drive http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX100-adapter-Internal-CT256MX100SSD1/dp/B00KFAGCWK/ref=pd_cart_sbs_1_p?ie=UTF8&refRID=01Q2T5HJ4FKSQTZD7Z6A
It's cheaper and it looks like it's the newer model I think?? I know you mentioned the 550 but this one should be fine to right?

MacInTO · Oct 3, 2014

Superfly611 said:
I'll get the 256 GB. when I download whatever I want to download I will then transfer to my server or an extra hard drive if i run out of space before i check all the files are of. I usually do no more then 60 GB every couple days or week. I already have the cable so I'll give it a try... Hope it works.

thanks for all the advice i'll be back if it doesn't work for more help.

(Edit)
Just came across this hard drive http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX100-adapter-Internal-CT256MX100SSD1/dp/B00KFAGCWK/ref=pd_cart_sbs_1_p?ie=UTF8&refRID=01Q2T5HJ4FKSQTZD7Z6A
It's cheaper and it looks like it's the newer model I think?? I know you mentioned the 550 but this one should be fine to right?

The Crucial and the MX100 are great!

If you don't want an SSD, try a hybrid drive.

I have one of these,

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Solid-Hybrid-2-5-Inch-ST1000LM014/dp/B00B99JUBQ

I find it's just as fast as any 2.5" HDD (including 7200rpm) I've ever owned.

Superfly611 · Oct 3, 2014

I think I'll just go with the straight up SSD. But thanks for the suggestion. I did come across that drive in my research. But I think everyone is recommending just getting SSD and don't worry about the lifespan it will outlive the equipment. I mean it's a 2009 macbook which is quite old as is, I'm just trying to give it a little more life to use for downloading.
But thanks I'll keep that in mind if I decide for something else.

MacInTO · Oct 3, 2014

Yeah, the SSD will make your machine much faster. I did that to my 2011 mbp. I also removed the optical drive and in its place put my HDD in a caddy. Great for lots of storage because I never used my optical drive.

Larry-K · Oct 3, 2014

I'd recommend the WD Black 750s.

I used to recommend HGST, but I've had a lot of failures in both 500s & 1TB laptop models lately, and I cannot recommend any of their laptop drives.

Seems ever since Western Digital swallowed up HGST things seem to have been going downhill, I've had more desktop failures as well.

If you can find the money, go SSD, I've had very good luck & performance from them, only one failure in dozens and that was a DOA. Some have been running everyday, for 12 hours a day for over four years, just disable "Sleep", that's been the only headache.

Anitramane · Oct 3, 2014

Remember that the SSD will slow down over time if you use it with your mac. You need some kind of Trim software.

Superfly611 · Oct 4, 2014

Just bought the 256gb mx100 and it should be in Monday or Tuesday I will install it with the new cable I had purchased and do a fresh install of Mavericks.

About the trim?? What's the best option to take care of that and what exactly is it again? I read about it a while back and I'm pretty sure I have it set on my 2013 MacBook... Or maybe not LOL I can't remember it's been a while I pretty much only VNC into it right now and test software out before I install on my iMac.

On a side note since everyone's being so helpful and I appreciate it very much. My iMac 2011 seems to be moving very slow. I just did a fresh install of mavericks A couple of months ago and seems like it takes forever to load things. What's the best way to go about speeding it up? I'm out of AppleCare so maybe all you guys could be my AppleCare

2011 iMac 27 inch 16 GB 2 TB hard drive 3.4 Ghz i7
2013 MacBook Pro 15'' retina display 8 GB 256 GB 2 Ghz i7
2009 MacBook Pro 15'' 4 GB No hard drive right now And I forget the processor

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Larry I may buy one of those hybrid drives instead for my media center PC . I use my TV tuner with it and it's connected to my TV.

meson · Oct 4, 2014

You got a very good drive, and mine is doing quite well. Good luck with the install and new cable!

For Trim, just download the free version of Trim Enabler. Click a button, restart, and you will be good to go. Also, I let it run its daemon that checks trim at startup. OS updates turn off Trim for nonApple SSDs each time.

About the old iMac, it could be perception compared to using your rMBP, or you could be experiencing HDD issues. Have you tried repairing the disk with Disk Utilities, or running Apple Hardware Test?

joe-h2o · Oct 4, 2014

Superfly611 said:
Like I said I will be doing ALOT of writing and downloading and it's an older machine as you know. I tried installing an SSD in it once before and had all sorts of spinning beach balls all the time so sort of gave up on it. I just want something that's going to work. It's basically going to be for downloading.

I do want something that's cheap though $50-90 maybe.

I really thought 7200 RPM would be faster than 5400??I never understood that but I guess I have to do some reading. When you say higher and lower density can you elaborate? The appreciate your advice and will be looking into it.

----------

I understand everyone's saying not to worry about the life span but I as I stated in one of my comments I had quite a bit of trouble with the spinning beach ball. Tried all sorts EFI modifications and still nothing. I'd hate to buy another SSD that I can't using in anything. That's why I am still leaning towards an hdd type drive.

I really can't imagine that you will do anything that will tax an SSD on writes.

Maybe if you set up a script to constantly write and delete hundreds and hundreds of gigs 24/7/365, and even then you're going to get years out of it.

Also, rotation speed is not everything in hard drives. While there are a lot of people on here who just look at the 7200 number being bigger than the 5400 one, it's only part of the story.

Superfly611 · Oct 4, 2014

meson-- it's definitely not my perception in the difference from my new MacBook and my 2011 imac it was much faster when I first did a fresh install of the new OS. It's slowed down overtime. I have not tried going in disk utilities and the repairing anything. I totally forgot about that step. I'm not going to lose anything if I do that right? I haven't had my Time Machine hard drive plugged in for about a week now so I will do that first just in case.

joe-h2o--yeah I'm not really going to be doing much of anything with my old laptop that I am putting the hard drive in. Someone mentioned it could be a pinched cable so and maybe that's why I was having the spinning beach ball. I have a new Cable anyway that was supposed to help with the negotiated link problem well at least that's what I read somewhere it's a different type of cable. I really haven't done anything with a laptop and quite a few months it's been taken apart and left that way for a while on my desk without a hard drive in it. Looking forward to getting it back up to use for something.

meson · Oct 4, 2014

It's best to backup just in case. Running Disk Utility and repairing shouldn't render your drive useless, but should it fail during the repair, then it's best to have a backup available.

If it passes, then it's time to start troubleshooting and considering a replacement drive. If it fails, hopefully it repairs itself, and if it does, make sure you keep a good backup, because it's tough to tell if it is some sort of fluke or if the drive is on the way out (assume the best, but plan for the worst). Given that you've done a fresh install. Have you tried running in single user mode or on an account without any startup items, etc.? If it's a software issue, running in one of these ways should give you better results and let you know to start looking to software issues.

Another option is to try booting off of an external drive to see if the issue persists.

Good luck troubleshooting. My wife's 2010 iMac feels sluggish, but it doesn't seem to bother her. The toughest thing is finding time for a free install/restore. She's a photog and just doesn't seem to have a day or two to spend on the install/restore.

Recommendation 7200RPM for 2009 macbook pro

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