Refurbing an old Macbook - SSD questions

[ftaok]

OK, so my wife has fully transitioned from her 2006 Core Duo Macbook (2ghz) to her rMBP. The kids are pretty much the only users of the Macbook, unless I need to use Remote Drive or some app that hasn't made the transition to later versions of OS X.

Anyways, I figure it's time to spruce up the old Macbook with a few upgrades.

1. I'm going to take it apart and clean out all the dust. It runs really hot with the fans on all the time. Might have to replace the fan and thermal paste once I get inside. This should help it run cooler.

2. Replace the HDD with an SSD. This is what I really need help with. I'm not sure what to buy? Lots of posts referring to this, but they're several years old. I'm trying to eek a little more life out of this, so I want to keep the budget reasonable, so I'm looking to get a drive that the MB can fully utilize. I've checked Newegg, and it seems that 240GB drives run from about $90 to $180. I'm looking at a budget around $100-$125.

The MB is running Snow Leopard (I think 10.6.8) and has the max 2GB of RAM.

Any drive suggestions? Any brand of drive/controller should I look for? How about read/write speeds? I think the MB is SATA I or II ... definately not III.

Thanks.

ftaok

 

[Samuelsan2001]

To be honest

OK, so my wife has fully transitioned from her 2006 Core Duo Macbook (2ghz) to her rMBP. The kids are pretty much the only users of the Macbook, unless I need to use Remote Drive or some app that hasn't made the transition to later versions of OS X.

Anyways, I figure it's time to spruce up the old Macbook with a few upgrades.

1. I'm going to take it apart and clean out all the dust. It runs really hot with the fans on all the time. Might have to replace the fan and thermal paste once I get inside. This should help it run cooler.

2. Replace the HDD with an SSD. This is what I really need help with. I'm not sure what to buy? Lots of posts referring to this, but they're several years old. I'm trying to eek a little more life out of this, so I want to keep the budget reasonable, so I'm looking to get a drive that the MB can fully utilize. I've checked Newegg, and it seems that 240GB drives run from about $90 to $180. I'm looking at a budget around $100-$125.

The MB is running Snow Leopard (I think 10.6.8) and has the max 2GB of RAM.

Any drive suggestions? Any brand of drive/controller should I look for? How about read/write speeds? I think the MB is SATA I or II ... definately not III.

Thanks.

ftaok

It's on sata I so sequential speeds won't be stellar but the random read writes is what counts in most scenarios. Any SSD will work fine they are all back compatible. I'd reccomend a crucial BX 100 for that machine.

Cheap not the most brilliant performance but it'll max out that sata 1 with ease.

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-BX100...&qid=1431003871&sr=8-1&keywords=Crucial+BX100

 

[jcmeyer5]

I agree. I use Crucial as my go-to brand. Never been disappointed. Newegg has that BX100 on sale for $80 right now (after MIR). Ends today.

 

[JTToft]

It's on sata I so sequential speeds won't be stellar but the random read writes is what counts in most scenarios. Any SSD will work fine they are all back compatible. I'd reccomend a crucial BX 100 for that machine.

Cheap not the most brilliant performance but it'll max out that sata 1 with ease.

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-BX100...&qid=1431003871&sr=8-1&keywords=Crucial+BX100

- Completely agree with this. Crucial BX100 is a good choice for older machines.

 

[clyde2801]

If you can find it, I think the old early core 2 duo's would (unofficially) take up to 4gb of ram, but only end up using 3.2 or 3.3 gb.

Also a seagate hybrid drive would give you much more space and better performance than the stock hd for the same money or less. Heck, any modern hd would.

The only question is, how much money is worth putting into a 74 pinto?

 

[ftaok]

Thanks for the advice guys. Looks like I'm gonna try to get the Crucial BX100.

As for putting money into 74 Pinto, I figure for $100, it's a better laptop for the kids than anything I'd find on Craigslist. Plus I already own it and it's in decent shape. And the current HDD is a 500GB/7200RPM drive, so I'll just pop it in an enclosure and use it as an extra drive to back up stuff.

 

[clyde2801]

Thanks for the advice guys. Looks like I'm gonna try to get the Crucial BX100.

As for putting money into 74 Pinto, I figure for $100, it's a better laptop for the kids than anything I'd find on Craigslist. Plus I already own it and it's in decent shape. And the current HDD is a 500GB/7200RPM drive, so I'll just pop it in an enclosure and use it as an extra drive to back up stuff.

OR...if you don't use the optical drive, it may be possible to put the drives into the optical drive bay and use a terminal command to turn them into a combo drive. You can then put the optical drive into an enclosure so it will be a external super drive.

 

[jcmeyer5]

OR...if you don't use the optical drive, it may be possible to put the drives into the optical drive bay and use a terminal command to turn them into a combo drive. You can then put the optical drive into an enclosure so it will be a external super drive.

... said the guy who called it at 74 Pinto

 

[clyde2801]

... said the guy who called it at 74 Pinto

If you're going to pimp a Pinto, why go half assed?

 

[jcmeyer5]

If you're going to pimp a Pinto, why go half assed?

Fair enough