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SSD upgrade suggestion for mid-2009 MBP

S

summerdream

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 22, 2012
17
0
I am considering upgrade my 2009 13" MBP by adding a SSD as a system drive (replace the optical drive) and use existing Seagate Momentux XT 500GB as storage drive. My MBP only support SATA II and it seems mid-2009 MBP has compatibility issues with third party HDD/SSD, so some have to downgrade EFI firmware from 1.7 to 1.6 (SATA I 1.5Gb/s).

I am wondering if anyone has suggestion on which SSD to get. I think 120/128G SSD should be enough for me. Do I need latest drive (e.g. Samsung 830, Intel 520, Crucial M4, OCZ Vertex 4)? I will probably use my MBP for another 2-3 years before getting a new computer. Thanks.
 
summerdream said:
I am wondering if anyone has suggestion on which SSD to get. I think 120/128G SSD should be enough for me. Do I need latest drive (e.g. Samsung 830, Intel 520, Crucial M4, OCZ Vertex 4)? I will probably use my MBP for another 2-3 years before getting a new computer. Thanks.
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Budget? I'd consider an enterprise class 60gb as boot only. It will be more expensive, but more reliable. All SSDs are pretty damn fast to the extent that no amount of speed increase on your boot drive will overcome the time lost by a faster cheap drive failing sooner.
 
My budget is <=$120 for the hard drive. I will have my OSX SuperDuper backup to an external drive and data Time Machine daily backup to my NAS. As long as the SSD comes with good warranty service, I am not too concerned about data loss due to hard drive failure (they all fail at some point, don't they). I need a reliable drive to improve my MBP.

throAU said:
Budget? I'd consider an enterprise class 60gb as boot only. It will be more expensive, but more reliable. All SSDs are pretty damn fast to the extent that no amount of speed increase on your boot drive will overcome the time lost by a faster cheap drive failing sooner.
Click to expand...
 
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I would suggest a Samsung 830 128GB, they can be had for around $100. You may not be able to reach Sata 3 speeds, but they are still the most reliable on the market.
 
yusukeaoki said:
I say M4 since your MBP cant run the speed of 830 or the 520.

M4 is the slowest of the choice and it is the cheapest.
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His computer can't run the full speed of an M4 either because 2009 MBP is SATA II. So whether the OP chooses an M4 or 830 it doesn't matter because the speeds will be throttled.
 
I've upgraded a mid 2009 MBP 15" to the 830 with no need to downgrade EFI firmware.. seems the controller plays well with 1.7 ..no 'cable issues', either... I'd recommend the 830..2 months with nary an issue, which includes daily use and an update to 10.8.1
 
Thank you all for the suggestions. I will be looking at 830 or M4 (prefer 830) for reliability. I realize I may not be able to utilize the full speed of SSD due to SATA II limitation, but because this particular model of MBP already has compatibility issue with 3rd party HDD/SDD, think I should get something reliable.
 
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