MacBook 7,1 RAM & SSD upgrade questions

[peor]

Hello everyone.

I am planning to buy a used MacBook7,1 (Mid 2010).




I would like to upgrade it to SSD (probably Samsung 830 or 840, which has read speed about 510 MB/s). The problem I see is that this computer has SATA II connector (max 300 MB/s) in hard drive bay.

So I was wondering what would the performance be? Will it work without problems (SATA III vs. SATA II)? What would be the read speed in practice? I suppose in theory it would be 300 MB/s.




My next question is regarding the RAM upgrade which I would add 16 GB (2x 8 GB modules). I was wondering would 1333 MHz work OK? I read some posts that the system works well but the graphic card freezes the system (MBPs 2010).

Why 1333 MHz and not the default 1066?
Because later I might switch to MacBook Pro 2011, which has 1333 MHz.





Thank you in advance for your helpful answers!

 

[Jaben3421]

Hello everyone.

I am planning to buy a used MacBook7,1 (Mid 2010).




I would like to upgrade it to SSD (probably Samsung 830 or 840, which has read speed about 510 MB/s). The problem I see is that this computer has SATA II connector (max 300 MB/s) in hard drive bay.

So I was wondering what would the performance be? Will it work without problems (SATA III vs. SATA II)? What would be the read speed in practice? I suppose in theory it would be 300 MB/s.




My next question is regarding the RAM upgrade which I would add 16 GB (2x 8 GB modules). I was wondering would 1333 MHz work OK? I read some posts that the system works well but the graphic card freezes the system (MBPs 2010).

Why 1333 MHz and not the default 1066?
Because later I might switch to MacBook Pro 2011, which has 1333 MHz.





Thank you in advance for your helpful answers!

The hard drive I don't know, I'm going to be upgrading the stock hard drive in my MacBook 6,1 to the Samsung 840 Pro here soon, but don't know what it is now. As for the RAM, I would never put above the speed of the default RAM IMO.

 

[jchase2057]

As for the RAM, I would never put above the speed of the default RAM IMO.

I agree. My girlfriend had 1333 in her mbp that needed 1066 and it ran like ****. I swapped it for 8gb 1066 and she has been good to go ever since. This was a 2009 2.26ghz btw.

 

[ekinnyc]

i put the Samsung 830 into my 5,1 macbook that has SATAII

i am getting 200mb writes, 250mb reads

 

[peor]

So I guess the read speed would be half of the SATA 3.

Thank you (all) for this valuable info. Of course the other opinions are still welcome : )

 

[Weerez935]

I ordered the mercury 3G 128 gb ssd and 8gbs ram upgrade from owc. It'll be here next week for my wife's (7,1). Ill let you know.

 

[dmk1974]

After upgrading your 2010 C2D 2.4 MacBook with an SSD and more RAM, how does it compared speed-wise to, say, a current MacBook Air? The i5 and newer graphics chip in the MBA should make it faster (spec-wise), but is it really noticeable? Or can the C2D still hold up for a while provided the SSD and RAM boost the MacBook's overall performance?

 

[Commy1]

Harddrives that are SATA III in a SATA II computer will work as best they can in the older machine at 300mbps (or whatever SATA II speeds are).
SSD's are extremely fast at any SATA speed, it is likely the best upgrade you can put in a Mac.

Keep in mind however, that SSD's can be expensive and buying a SATA III drive that can't be utilized to its fullest is pointless, buying a cheaper SATA II is a better option. e.g. Crucial V4
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148585