Is an SSD worth it in first gen intel MBP?

[RPJones]

I have a MBP 2.16 CD (not C2D). It has a 7200 rpm HD. I was considering an OWC mercury drive, but I'm not sure it's worth it in an older machine.

The thing is the sata is limited to 1.5 gb, not 3 gb as in later models.

Would there be much of a speed boost?

Since it's a year out of AC, it would be fun to open it up and have a look inside.

 

[Hellhammer]

SATA 1.5Gb/s has theoretical maximum of 187.5MB/s so ~160MB/s in real life. Seeing that most SSDs have speeds over 250MB/s, the interface will limit it by a lot son in my opinion, it's not really worth it unless you get slower and cheaper SSD

 

[caonimadebi]

unless you're constantly transferring large amount of data between disks, it's really the super low latency, and not theoretical read speed, that you will notice with an SSD. When I put an entry-level PATA SSD into my circa-2004 Powerbook G4, that laptop really took a spike in performance. Your MBP is leaps and bounds more advanced than my PB, and I think you can easily appreciate the benefits of an SSD.
(granted anything was faster than the powerbook's stock 4200rpm HDD)

 

[Jaro65]

^^^^^
I agree with your perspective. The very low latency of SSD's is what helps to improve the overall perception of how fast the laptop is. It was pretty amazing when I put an SSD in my 2008 MBP. The apparent performance increase was very noticeable.

 

[Hellhammer]

Totally forgot the latency Thanks for correcting me

Latency will speed up launching small apps and various system stuff but when reading/writing more data, the SATA will slow it down, e.g. in boot and when opening big files/apps

SSD will speed up but you're not getting the FULL advantage of it. Of course the speeds of SSDs are also theoretical so in real life they'll be lower

 

[chopper dave]

Just don't get the most recent models. An older one will be just fine for you, like Intel G1 or any of the Indilinx drives.

 

[RPJones]

Thanks for the comments.

Actually, the other problem with this machine is that it's only 32 bit, so when I upgrade to some apps (like the Adobe CS5 suite), they're not going to run since they're 64 bit.

C2D and the 15/17 are 64.

Might have to go shopping soon.

 

[Thiol]

Also discussed in old thread here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/888087/

I would get the SSD.

 

[melmo]

I just took out my superdrive and replaced it with a Newmodeus drive bay, and installed an Intel x25-m SSD into my MBP 2,1 (one gen newer than the OP's machine). It's like a new machine, it boots in about 20 seconds and apps launch almost instantly. In general it just feels snappier than before.

No regrets, and I've been eyeballing one of the Core i5/i7's - the SSD has delayed my need to upgrade, and when I do, the SSD is coming along to the new machine too.