Late 2009 Mac Mini HDD and Memory Upgrade

[karatekidk]

Hi everyone. I have owned a late 2009 Mac Mini (C2D, 2.53ghz, 4GB ram, stock 320GB HDD, Mtn Lion). My itunes library is getting filled with TV programs and videos, and it gets really sluggish with multiple applications open (Safari, Chlome, EyeTV etc.). It has served me well, so rather than getting a new Mini, I would like to upgrade HDD and memory.

I know it can take 8gb ram, but I am a bit confused with what kind of internal HDD it can take. I definitely would like a 7200rpm drive. What I found is below.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST750LX003/

Would love to know what you think. Also, if anyone has any recommendations, I'm all ears. Thank you for your time!

[phoenixsan]

the link you posted directs to a hybrid Seagate drive. That HDD combines flash and normal storage in one drive, to my knowledge. Not sure about some performance gain or how it will work in your mac Mini. If my memory works, that mini uses SATA in 3 Gb/s capacity/speed. SATA 6 Gb/s I know can be backward compatible, but the HDD itself will be slower because the controller in your mac Mini. So, take a look in these link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...20and%20higher

Hope that helps

[karatekidk]

Originally Posted by phoenixsan

the link you posted directs to a hybrid Seagate drive. That HDD combines flash and normal storage in one drive, to my knowledge. Not sure about some performance gain or how it will work in your mac Mini. If my memory works, that mini uses SATA in 3 Gb/s capacity/speed. SATA 6 Gb/s I know can be backward compatible, but the HDD itself will be slower because the controller in your mac Mini. So, take a look in these link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...20and%20higher

Hope that helps

Thanks for the link and input. I thought the idea of "hybrid" would be great, but it sounds like the whole thing won't work well with the mini I have.

[karatekidk]

Ok, sorry for my ignorance, but when I was looking at a few different HDDs I wondered about the difference of "Cache" numbers.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/HGST/0J26005/
This has 32MB cache.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/HGST/0J26005/
with 16MB cache.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST9750420AS/
with 16MB cache.

I guess the more, the better?

[belltree]

I just upgraded my early 2009 Mac Mini to 8GB and what a world of difference! I have a 7200rpm 750GB HDD in it as well but may add in an SSD in next year.

[Darby67]

Originally Posted by karatekidk

Ok, sorry for my ignorance, but when I was looking at a few different HDDs I wondered about the difference of "Cache" numbers.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/HGST/0J26005/
This has 32MB cache.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/HGST/0J26005/
with 16MB cache.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST9750420AS/
with 16MB cache.

I guess the more, the better?

Generally yes. If it is used on the startup disk and where programs are run from it potentially helps to speed things up a bit. You wouldn't notice much in the case of the disk being used for storage only. All things being equal, you probably won't notice much of a difference.

Personally, I would shy away from Seagate as I've had a few that work well while working but all began getting noisey and failed withing a few years. I've only owned a few Hitachi drives, all seem rather solid.

[karatekidk]

Originally Posted by belltree

I just upgraded my early 2009 Mac Mini to 8GB and what a world of difference! I have a 7200rpm 750GB HDD in it as well but may add in an SSD in next year.

Cool. I wonder what brand your HDD is.

----------

Originally Posted by Darby67

Generally yes. If it is used on the startup disk and where programs are run from it potentially helps to speed things up a bit. You wouldn't notice much in the case of the disk being used for storage only. All things being equal, you probably won't notice much of a difference.

Personally, I would shy away from Seagate as I've had a few that work well while working but all began getting noisey and failed withing a few years. I've only owned a few Hitachi drives, all seem rather solid.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I've read mixed reviews for Seagate, so I think I'm going for Hitachi. Seems like they don't have 750GB/7200rpm, but a 500GB HDD coupled with 8GB ram should be fine for another year or so.

[belltree]

Originally Posted by karatekidk

Cool. I wonder what brand your HDD is.

WD Caviar 750 GB - 5,400rpm
(WD7500BPVT-22HXZT1)

Still very satisfied with the performance increase btw.