Macbook white 6.1 9400m SSD and memory Upgrade

[Duuster]

Hi forum!

I've been getting annoyed with my late 2009 macbook white unibody. It boots slow, slow opening programs freezes when running out of memory. And i just made a huge upgrade to my desktop pc, so I don't want to use money on a entirely new macbook. But just now my charger died, so i figured that since i have to spend money on it now, I might aswell get it running smoothly for a few more years, untill i have the money for a new laptop for school.

Anyway, i need your experience. As mentioned above i know a bit or two with computers and parts, but what i hate about macbooks is that they're not very compatible.

I've been looking at some SSD's, and seen that the OCZ agility 3 120gb seems to work fine on my model. So should i just go ahead and buy it? I'm running lion atm, will create a bootable Lion USB for a fresh ssd install. If anyone have any tips on that please comment.
http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-agility-3-sata-iii-2-5-ssd.html

The second thing is the memory, I've been thinking about getting a corsair 2x4 gb mac ram upgrade. These should work fine right? I'm from denmark but found it in usa with the serial number:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Channel-204-Pin-SO-DIMM-CMSA8GX3M2A1066C7/dp/B00505EZYW

And the last thing is the screwdrivers needed. I tried to open my mac, but I don't have any screwdrivers that fit the screws. Could i get a precise name for the screwdrivers needed, or an internatinal kit, since it's hard to find these in Denmark.

And lastly any tips and tricks for this is much appreciated.

 

[brop52]

Hi forum!

I've been getting annoyed with my late 2009 macbook white unibody. It boots slow, slow opening programs freezes when running out of memory. And i just made a huge upgrade to my desktop pc, so I don't want to use money on a entirely new macbook. But just now my charger died, so i figured that since i have to spend money on it now, I might aswell get it running smoothly for a few more years, untill i have the money for a new laptop for school.

Anyway, i need your experience. As mentioned above i know a bit or two with computers and parts, but what i hate about macbooks is that they're not very compatible.

I've been looking at some SSD's, and seen that the OCZ agility 3 120gb seems to work fine on my model. So should i just go ahead and buy it? I'm running lion atm, will create a bootable Lion USB for a fresh ssd install. If anyone have any tips on that please comment.
http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-agility-3-sata-iii-2-5-ssd.html

The second thing is the memory, I've been thinking about getting a corsair 2x4 gb mac ram upgrade. These should work fine right? I'm from denmark but found it in usa with the serial number:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Channel-204-Pin-SO-DIMM-CMSA8GX3M2A1066C7/dp/B00505EZYW

And the last thing is the screwdrivers needed. I tried to open my mac, but I don't have any screwdrivers that fit the screws. Could i get a precise name for the screwdrivers needed, or an internatinal kit, since it's hard to find these in Denmark.

And lastly any tips and tricks for this is much appreciated.

The RAM should be good. Is 120GB enough for you? OCZ seems to have some mixed reviews. I've heard good things about it and others say they fail early. The top brands are the Crucial M4, Samsung 830 or 840, and OCZ.

 

[Duuster]

The RAM should be good. Is 120GB enough for you? OCZ seems to have some mixed reviews. I've heard good things about it and others say they fail early. The top brands are the Crucial M4, Samsung 830 or 840, and OCZ.

Yea i checked my mac and saw to my surprise that i only used 50 gb of the 250 avaialable. If i were to get movies etc. i would put them on an extern. And i'm happy for your comment about the ssd. I've just never seen any white macbook with the samsung 830/840's so thought they might have some compatility problems. I was looking at the samsung 840 120gb. My desktop is running a 250 830 and it has been running excellent and smooth so far. So if you from your experience know that the 840 should run smoothly i will get it. It's also cheaper and better in my country

 

[brop52]

Yea i checked my mac and saw to my surprise that i only used 50 gb of the 250 avaialable. If i were to get movies etc. i would put them on an extern. And i'm happy for your comment about the ssd. I've just never seen any white macbook with the samsung 830/840's so thought they might have some compatility problems. I was looking at the samsung 840 120gb. My desktop is running a 250 830 and it has been running excellent and smooth so far. So if you from your experience know that the 840 should run smoothly i will get it. It's also cheaper and better in my country

I'd wait for further input as I haven't used it personally.

 

[Duuster]

I'd wait for further input as I haven't used it personally.

Okay. But if you've seen someone who have it please send me a link

 

[Duuster]

I always find OCZ agility 3 ssds working well with the white macbook when searching for it. I think i'm going to get it, considering that there's no result for a 840 functioning in a white macbook late 2009.

But thanks for your help anyway, I don't think I'm going to regret this. Any tips on how to get os x installed, partitioning etc?

 

[brop52]

Okay. But if you've seen someone who have it please send me a link

Take a look here.

As for partitioning, Just do it as normal. GUID partition scheme. Mac OS Extended (Journaled). What OS are you using? I'm using 10.8. It works fairly well with my system. If you have the SSD (and since you have a newer machine) I'd bet it will run even better than my system.

 

[ybz90]

You really shouldn't have compatibility issues with any modern SATA2 or SATA3 drives.

IIRC, the Agility 3 (which is not a current gen drive, btw) uses a last-gen Sandforce controller; it's very, very fast but I've heard about reliability issues with those controllers. I had a few Agility 3's myself, didn't have any issue with any of them, they can probably be had very cheap if you can find old stock (I know Microcenter has been clearing them out for as little as $30/64GB). If you can find a Samsung 830 or Crucial M4, I really recommend those -- really speedy and with the long-term reliability you can expect from an Intel SSD. The recent generation Sandisk drives are rated well too, but they are pricier and I don't think your computer has SATA3 anyway for the highest speeds.

Basically, all of these SSDs should work perfectly. I've put virtually every brand and model you can imagine into Macs of all types, and never had an issue. Like brop52 says, partition it properly (don't use MBR, use GUID) and once OS X is installed, download the TRIM Enabler tool and run it so you can have TRIM. It will help maintain the long-term speed/stability of your SSD and prolong its life.

 

[Duuster]

You really shouldn't have compatibility issues with any modern SATA2 or SATA3 drives.

IIRC, the Agility 3 (which is not a current gen drive, btw) uses a last-gen Sandforce controller; it's very, very fast but I've heard about reliability issues with those controllers. I had a few Agility 3's myself, didn't have any issue with any of them, they can probably be had very cheap if you can find old stock (I know Microcenter has been clearing them out for as little as $30/64GB). If you can find a Samsung 830 or Crucial M4, I really recommend those -- really speedy and with the long-term reliability you can expect from an Intel SSD. The recent generation Sandisk drives are rated well too, but they are pricier and I don't think your computer has SATA3 anyway for the highest speeds.

Basically, all of these SSDs should work perfectly. I've put virtually every brand and model you can imagine into Macs of all types, and never had an issue. Like brop52 says, partition it properly (don't use MBR, use GUID) and once OS X is installed, download the TRIM Enabler tool and run it so you can have TRIM. It will help maintain the long-term speed/stability of your SSD and prolong its life.

Take a look here.

Thanks for reply, but you might understand while I'm questioning wether or not the 840 will be compatible, since i've seen a lot of posts about ssd's not functioning in macs. And brop52 what is the link for? i can't find anything about the 840 there. But if what you're saying ybz90 is true, then I don't see any reason not to buy the samsung 840 120.

 

[ybz90]

Thanks for reply, but you might understand while I'm questioning wether or not the 840 will be compatible, since i've seen a lot of posts about ssd's not functioning in macs. And brop52 what is the link for? i can't find anything about the 840 there. But if what you're saying ybz90 is true, then I don't see any reason not to buy the samsung 840 120.

I myself haven't really heard anything about incompatibility, every modern SSD should work, just again remember to enable TRIM. Personally, I'd recommend getting the 830 if you can find it over the 840. I am philosophically opposed to the technology in the 840; specifically its use of TLC NAND chips.

To give you a quick primer on the types of NAND cells in SSDs, there's SLC, MLC, and now, TLC (technically a type of MLC). They stand for single-level cell, multi-level cell, and now triple-level cell. In short, they store 1 bit, 2 bits, and 3 bits respectively, and because of this, they # of states needed to be maintained to read the data on each cell is 2^1, 2^2=4, and 2^3=8; the higher this number, the more wear there is on each cell, so while MLC-based SSDs (pretty much most SSDs and everything from last generation) should easily outlast your computer, the jury is out on TLC, which may last as little as 3.5 years before the NAND literally starts breaking down and failing to store data. (that wasn't so quick after all I guess, ended up using more words than planned).

So until we get more long-term information on TLC-based SSDs, I'd avoid the 840 myself. If reliability is your primary concern, go for Crucial, Samsung (not 840), and Intel. I'm of the belief that besides extremely high throughput continuous use (ie building simulations or movies), you cannot notice the speed difference between a slower drive of 400MB/s vs 500MB/s in small I/O like general OS operation. For me, reliability is way more important. Plus, in your case, you're capped at SATA2 anyway. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

 

[Duuster]

I myself haven't really heard anything about incompatibility, every modern SSD should work, just again remember to enable TRIM. Personally, I'd recommend getting the 830 if you can find it over the 840. I am philosophically opposed to the technology in the 840; specifically its use of TLC NAND chips.

To give you a quick primer on the types of NAND cells in SSDs, there's SLC, MLC, and now, TLC (technically a type of MLC). They stand for single-level cell, multi-level cell, and now triple-level cell. In short, they store 1 bit, 2 bits, and 3 bits respectively, and because of this, they # of states needed to be maintained to read the data on each cell is 2^1, 2^2=4, and 2^3=8; the higher this number, the more wear there is on each cell, so while MLC-based SSDs (pretty much most SSDs and everything from last generation) should easily outlast your computer, the jury is out on TLC, which may last as little as 3.5 years before the NAND literally starts breaking down and failing to store data. (that wasn't so quick after all I guess, ended up using more words than planned).

So until we get more long-term information on TLC-based SSDs, I'd avoid the 840 myself. If reliability is your primary concern, go for Crucial, Samsung (not 840), and Intel. I'm of the belief that besides extremely high throughput continuous use (ie building simulations or movies), you cannot notice the speed difference between a slower drive of 400MB/s vs 500MB/s in small I/O like general OS operation. For me, reliability is way more important. Plus, in your case, you're capped at SATA2 anyway. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

Thanks dude, you really cleared up. I'll go searching now for the models you suggested and find the cheapest, since as you say though sata 3 is backwards compatible you won't get the same speeds using it in a sata 2 slot. I had to buy an entirely new motherboard for my pc when installing a ssd, because i wanted the highest performance possible. In this case i just want it to open a program faster than 30 seconds. I'm just not patient enough for my mac anymore.

 

[Duuster]

I myself haven't really heard anything about incompatibility, every modern SSD should work, just again remember to enable TRIM. Personally, I'd recommend getting the 830 if you can find it over the 840. I am philosophically opposed to the technology in the 840; specifically its use of TLC NAND chips.

To give you a quick primer on the types of NAND cells in SSDs, there's SLC, MLC, and now, TLC (technically a type of MLC). They stand for single-level cell, multi-level cell, and now triple-level cell. In short, they store 1 bit, 2 bits, and 3 bits respectively, and because of this, they # of states needed to be maintained to read the data on each cell is 2^1, 2^2=4, and 2^3=8; the higher this number, the more wear there is on each cell, so while MLC-based SSDs (pretty much most SSDs and everything from last generation) should easily outlast your computer, the jury is out on TLC, which may last as little as 3.5 years before the NAND literally starts breaking down and failing to store data. (that wasn't so quick after all I guess, ended up using more words than planned).

So until we get more long-term information on TLC-based SSDs, I'd avoid the 840 myself. If reliability is your primary concern, go for Crucial, Samsung (not 840), and Intel. I'm of the belief that besides extremely high throughput continuous use (ie building simulations or movies), you cannot notice the speed difference between a slower drive of 400MB/s vs 500MB/s in small I/O like general OS operation. For me, reliability is way more important. Plus, in your case, you're capped at SATA2 anyway. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

Okay i searched for the brands and found these 3 (picked the most popular ones)

Samsung 830 Series MZ-7PC128BB/WW 128 GB
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage/MZ-7PC128D/AM


Intel Solid-State Drive 330 Series 120 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167121&Tpk=SSDSC2CT120A3K5

Crucial M4 128 GB
http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT128M4SSD2

I looked up their MTBF and it seems that the Samsung 830 is the most reliable, with 1,500,000 hours MTBF, and also the fastest. I think this is the one. I'll order it today unless someone thinks it's a great mistake.

 

[brop52]

Thanks for reply, but you might understand while I'm questioning wether or not the 840 will be compatible, since i've seen a lot of posts about ssd's not functioning in macs. And brop52 what is the link for? i can't find anything about the 840 there. But if what you're saying ybz90 is true, then I don't see any reason not to buy the samsung 840 120.

It's a thread with hundreds of posts about SSD options.

 

[Duuster]

It's a thread with hundreds of posts about SSD options.

Thanks, but I'm probably not going to go through it. I just wanted a quick decision, and got it, going with the 830. But thanks for looking into it.