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Need to update my 2006 MBP!

G

Grosseout

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 27, 2006
9
0
Hello,
I have a Fall 2006 MacBook Pro 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo with 2 gigs of ram.
Part 1
I think that I am going to upgrade my hard drive to a 500gig 7200 rpm hard drive because mine is so full I have to always rely on my external.
That being said are there any recommendations on a particular hd, looking through the forums I spotted these two drives, but I also know nothing of the websites reputations
http://www.powerbookmedic.com/500GB-7200RPM-MacBook-Pro-Hard-Drive-Upgrade-p-17296.html
and
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/DIYST95007U2/
Any other drives I should check out?

Part 2
I work quite a bit in photoshop and do some side gaming, starcraft 2 in bootcamp ect.
I was looking into updating my RAM but it appears as though my system only supports 3 gigs of RAM, so I would lose some of the benefits of having a paired ram config. However, i was reading on a macrumor page about ram and it seemed as though it would be alright to put in a paired 4 gig setup. Is this true or will it screw something up??

If there are any other good ideas for how to get a little more mileage out of this computer, i would be very appreciative.
Thanks!!
 
Grosseout said:
Hello,
I have a Fall 2006 MacBook Pro 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo with 2 gigs of ram.
Part 1
I think that I am going to upgrade my hard drive to a 500gig 7200 rpm hard drive because mine is so full I have to always rely on my external.
That being said are there any recommendations on a particular hd, looking through the forums I spotted these two drives, but I also know nothing of the websites reputations
http://www.powerbookmedic.com/500GB-7200RPM-MacBook-Pro-Hard-Drive-Upgrade-p-17296.html
and
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/DIYST95007U2/
Any other drives I should check out?

Part 2
I work quite a bit in photoshop and do some side gaming, starcraft 2 in bootcamp ect.
I was looking into updating my RAM but it appears as though my system only supports 3 gigs of RAM, so I would lose some of the benefits of having a paired ram config. However, i was reading on a macrumor page about ram and it seemed as though it would be alright to put in a paired 4 gig setup. Is this true or will it screw something up??

If there are any other good ideas for how to get a little more mileage out of this computer, i would be very appreciative.
Thanks!!
Click to expand...

Since space is an issue for you, you may consider a larger hard drive such as the scorpio blue 750GB. There is also a 1TB but I don't know if the 12.5mm drives fit in the non-unibody.
 
Definitely pass on the powerbookmedic link. That is way too much to spend. The OWC option isn't too bad, you could also look at newegg for what you need. The WD Scorpio Black is also a very nice drive to look at.
 
How about this for RAM.
3 gigs is Apples max for my computer, but here
http://guides.macrumors.com/Understanding_Intel_Mac_RAM#Windows_RAM_usage_under_Boot_Camp
it says that "Macs with a 3 GB limit will accept 4 GB of RAM, however 700 MB will not be available to the OS due to hardware limitations and OSX will report 3.0 GB. The advantage of this is that two matched 2GB RAM SODIMMs will work in dual channel symmetric mode if this is available, whereas a 2GB and 1GB SODIMM will not."

Should i go for something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ckTab=true&Keywords=(keywords)#scrollFullInfo
or a 3 gig setup?
 
+1 for deuk1219

I just upgraded from my original 2006 CD 2.16 MBP w/2GB of RAM to an i7 15" MBP and I couldn't be happier. Everything is super quick and it will literally run everything at once with little or no lag (Photoshop, Starcraft 2, FCP), which is more than I can say for the 2.33 C2D MBP.

However, if you don't have the budget for a new MBP, I would stick with just upgrading one of the RAM modules to a 2GB stick. It's not worth the money to pay for 2 x 2GB 5300 sticks if you'll only be able to take advantage of one. Also, since all the newer MBPs use 1066 sticks instead of the older 667 ones, you wouldn't be able to throw your old sticks of RAM into the new machine. Save the money you would spend on an extra 2GB stick for a new rig.
 
Just to note, his 2006 MBP is still a better spec than both new MBAs and is almost equivalent to the current 13" MBP.... it's nice having new stuff, but why not wait until something even better comes along? Not like his current machine is "outdated," compared to current product lineup.
 
I have the same MBP 2006 model, I have upgraded to 4GB of RAM with no trouble and conflicts at all. I have read somewhere that this model supports up to 3GB of RAM, but it utilizes more than 3GB (NOT SURE 3.25 - 3.5GB).

I'm also planning to upgrade the hard drive, I have 160GB HD and I don't want to use external hard drive all the time. I'm considering SSD 500GB, but I may go for 7200 normal hard drive to save money.

Final words, I think this model still can do a decent job for photoshop and video editing.
 
Inside_line said:
Just to note, his 2006 MBP is still a better spec than both new MBAs and is almost equivalent to the current 13" MBP.... it's nice having new stuff, but why not wait until something even better comes along? Not like his current machine is "outdated," compared to current product lineup.
Click to expand...

graphics???? the new macbook air would blow his mbp out of the water
 
I have a similar spec MBP and went for 3GB RAM and 250GB 7200 drive.

I figured that the money saved on RAM will go towards my next MacBook Pro. This one does just fine, though the new i5s are tempting, I should wait a year or more before changing.
 
Cool, Thanks for the feedback. I would LOVE to have a new MBP, but until I finish up with university this year, I can't afford it, so maybe next fall. I just wanted to make it run less bogged down for the rest of this school year as what I'm doing is all on the computer. It sounds like several of you updated to around a 250 gig sized hd, (did I ever mention mine is just a 120gig, I only have about 6 gigs free). Maybe that is the way to go with just a 3 gig RAM setup. Then I won't be spending as much now, since I won't be using it for more than another year or so, but it will have a little more umph...
Yea?????
 
3gb free? thats not good either. Upping the hard drive would give you a performance boost too. You want to keep about 20% ( it think it is) free at all times.
 
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