Pimpin' the Black macbook (Mid-2008) with SSD+RAM

[solaris7]

Hi Guys,
Instead of taking the leap into buying the new MBP's I have decided to keep my MB and just upgrade it.
I was wondering if there was any good website that I could go to to figure all of this out? Stuff like best and compatible RAM, compatible and durable SSD's, screwdrivers etc.. Have any of you upgraded the RAM or moved from HDD to SSD on your macbook? If so, please tell me the resources you used.
Also, this thing still has 4 months in warranty, should I screw anything up, will Apple help?

Thanks

 

[Barnzee]

http://www.macsales.com/
you can find everything you need here

your model should fall here I believe
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/DDR2/

 

[ShiftClick]

As long as you don't break anything in the process of upgrading your macbook, apple will still honor the Apple Care warranty for their parts. Obviously they won't cover your new HD and RAM.

 

[solaris7]

The fastest RAM that they have for this model is 667MHz, can this macbook support any higher?

 

[ddehr026]

I think your fsb is 800mhz, but I'm not positive.

 

[QCassidy352]

everymac.com to figure out what exactly your model can support. I like your idea, btw. The black macbooks are awesome. Only flaw is that the graphics are pretty sub-par at this point, but if you're not playing games, that will be a great little machine.

 

[solaris7]

Looks like I can't put in an SSD, that sucks...

 

[ddehr026]

Why would you say that?

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

I think your fsb is 800mhz, but I'm not positive.

FSB is indeed 800 MHz, but the RAM is still limited to 667 MHz and cannot in any way be sped up (unless, I guess, you know how to modify the logic board itself, which would be ridiculous).

@solaris: you can most definitely put an SSD in your computer, there's no question about it.

 

[solaris7]

Guys, which SSD (128 GB) should I get? I currently hear the names intel, OWC and OCZ being thrown around, which one offers the best bang for buck?
Also, just to make sure, unlike RAM, an SSD will be compatible with all models right?

 

[secksthoi]

Thread Share. Black Macbook (4,1)

If you don't mind if I just jump on this topic with you, but I'm also on the same boat with wanting a performance upgrade from my black Macbook (4,1). I was never much of a computer DIY techie but seeing OWC's ram and HDD upgrade video I just wanted to blow my freakin' head off of how simple that was!

But about the ram, I'm planning to do a jump from 2gb to 4gb. Which is the proper one to purchase from macsales? I too see OWC tossed around a bit, but seeing as there's two options for the 4gb with a 2 dollar difference maybe someone can enlighten me.

As for the HDD, I was thinking of upping to a SSD but I've been reading around that there isn't much of a performance boost on such. May someone explain?

And before I upgrade is there something I should do to the old HDD? Maybe for security reasons?

Pretty excited to upgrade this 3 year old machine. Still runs awesome. But could be better.

 

[Hagakure13]

Hey Guys !
Just wanted to add my contribution I also have a macbook black so this topic is very interesting if still up to date !
So here is what I found about upgrading my mb black:
- RAM needs to be DDR2 667MHz. The brand doesn't really matter but try to get the most popular. According to some people, we can put up to 6Go of RAM... But I'm definitely not sure of this information ! I would have said 4Go. I don't know if I'm gonna by more RAM, but if I do, I will definitely take Corsair, which is one of the best brand. Also, cheap (60€ for 4go).

- About the SSD, you need to know few things. First, SSD are currently SATA II (which means they will read at a speed of 300Mo/s). However, our mb blacks are only SATA I. An HDD SATA II is always compatible with SATA I, but will NOT provide a rate of 300 Mo/s, but of 150Mo/s. Which is still far more better than usual HDD. I read somewhere that the increase was of more than 200%. So, yes, speed increase will not be as great as on new macbooks, but it will still be better than old HDD 5400 rotate/minute. I do have an HDD 7200, which is faster than 5400, but I have not idea how much slower it is compare to an SSD.
If there is one thing you should remember about SSD is that it will still be better than an HDD (even 7200). It should bring the starting time to 20 seconds and should still launch an app instantly. Also, if you decide to change your macbook, you will still be able to transfer your SSD (but not your RAM).
About the brand, I think I will take an OCZ. I checked the different brands and I was hesitating between Intel and OCZ. However, it appears that OCZ Vertex 2 is better than Intel Postville.

Finally, about your previous hdd, you have two options: use it as external HDD, or remove your dvd drive and replace it with your old HDD. Lots of people did it and it works perfectly. Also it will allow you to have an SSD only for your system and an HDD only for your data (security improvement). That's what I plan to do. The only difficult part (not that difficult) is to open your macbook to remove the DVD drive.

Hope it helped !
H.