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Time to upgrade ram and ssd, which to choose?

B

bsurb

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 1, 2012
90
1
FL
I finally went out and purchased a used mid 2012 macbook for $500 and was wanting to possibly upgrade the ram/SSD.

I'm mainly using my Mac for everyday browsing online, but also using photoshop and illustrator on almost a daily basis as well.

The computer currently has 4GB memory and a 500GB drive.

What do you guys recommend? Can I get anything local at Best Buy? Or is it better ordering somewhere online? Which brands and size would you recommend?

Will a upgraded SSD and ram help my Mac boot up faster and open programs like Illustrator quicker?
 
The harddisk is the slowest component of your system, a bottleneck, therefore ssd is the best you can do for it. It will feel like a much newer machine.

For Photoshop and Illustrator, ram will probably also help out, depending on the workload.
 
http://www.crucial.com

Screen Shot 2016-03-05 at 12.52.05 PM.png


As long as you get the correct spec. RAM from a reputable vendor, it will work fine. What I find is easiest it to download and run Crucial's scanner there on the right and run it and that will tell you what specs you need. Then you can either buy from Crucial or another vendor as long as the specs are the same. An odd thing I noticed is you can take the Crucial part number and search for it on Amazon and often get it cheaper.

As far as the SSD, the Samsung EVO 850 and the Crucial MX200 are about the best bang for the buck right now. Just look for whichever you can find cheapest in the size you want. The SSD would definitely be a nice speed bump on that Mac.
 
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Ok so basically for about $90, I could get a $250GB SSD, which is less than what originally comes with the HD on the Mac (500gb)?

So to get around the same amount of space I currently have I need to look for a SSD that is 50GB or greater?

Or what do you recommend for me wanting to load Illustrator and Photoshop on my mac? What size SSD? Its just for simple files and designing pretty much.

What is the Max amount of RAM you can put in the mid 2012? This link at BestBuy says 8GB so I could replace one of my 2GB slots for this one 8GB? For only $40? Good deal?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pny-8gb...mory/4680400.p?id=1219797088103&skuId=4680400
 
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bsurb said:
Ok so basically for about $90, I could get a $250GB SSD, which is less than what originally comes with the HD on the Mac (500gb)?

So to get around the same amount of space I currently have I need to look for a SSD that is 50GB or greater?

Or what do you recommend for me wanting to load Illustrator and Photoshop on my mac? What size SSD? Its just for simple files and designing pretty much.
Click to expand...

Unless you need 500GB of space, a 250GB SSD will most likely suit you just fine. As Weaselboy already said, the Samsung 850 evo and the Crucial MX200 are the top picks.

What is the Max amount of RAM you can put in the mid 2012? This link at BestBuy says 8GB so I could replace one of my 2GB slots for this one 8GB? For only $40? Good deal?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pny-8gb...mory/4680400.p?id=1219797088103&skuId=4680400
Click to expand...

16GB is the max. I usually buy on Amazon or newegg. Just check the reviews. 2 X 8GB 1600MHz RAM will do the trick. Crucial and Corsair both make good stuff.
 
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Best Buy has the 850 on sale for $90. I may scoop that up along with a stick of 8GB ram so I can get shop kicks also :p
 
T5BRICK said:
Just FYI, your MBP uses dual channel RAM. It'll perform better installed in pairs.
Click to expand...

But you guys would recommend the Samsung 850 all day?

And when upgrading the ram, make sure to upgrade both instead of just one... For what I'm using, do you think two 4GB would work or two 8GB making it 16gb is going to be sufficient?
 
bsurb said:
But you guys would recommend the Samsung 850 all day?

And when upgrading the ram, make sure to upgrade both instead of just one... For what I'm using, do you think two 4GB would work or two 8GB making it 16gb is going to be sufficient?
Click to expand...
Just grab whichever of the SSDs I mentioned is cheapest for you. You will not be able to tell the difference either way.

On the memory, if you are working with VERY large PS files, more memory can help. Otherwise, it does not make much difference. Give this a read.
 
bsurb said:
But you guys would recommend the Samsung 850 all day?
Click to expand...

They're both great. I think most people go with Samsung. I had a Crucial M4 in my old MBP and it worked great. I also have a Samsung 830 Pro in my PC and it's great too.

For what I'm using, do you think two 4GB would work or two 8GB making it 16gb is going to be sufficient?
Click to expand...

For the usage you listed, 2 x 4GB would be fine. But if you want to go with 2 X 8GB it won't hurt anything!
 
I bumped down to an SSD. Felt like a new computer. Went down from 500 GB to 250 GB. Didn't notice the difference in storage honestly. I use the 500 for external storage now. Hardly access it. Will upgrade the RAM next.
 
Do the SSD before ram. I did my aunt's 2008 Macbook Aluminium and I put an SSD and even with the standard 2GB of ram, its a massive improvement and much better than sticking with the 5400RPM drive + an upgrade to 4GB of ram. I guess what I'm saying if you have a budget, an SSD is more important than more RAM. If you can do both thats obviously preferable.

Have used OWC SSDs, Crucial MX100s and BX200s and I have an Evo 850 in my own laptop.
 
You guys have an awesome help so far I really do appreciate it. I went ahead and purchased a SamSam 850 but now here's my dilemma. On my current hard drive I don't have anything on there I really need to save so without buying that USB to plug in the new hard drive to clone my current files and hard drive, is there anyway to just plug in the new ssd and download Yosemite somehow? Without a cd?

I have a external 8gb flash drive but I don't have that usb kit to plug in the drive for the clone

And wow that's a good deal on the crucial 16gb of ram on new egg.

I paid $44 for each 8gb ram at Best Buy. I believe I'm going to return it so I can order the 16gb crucial online. That will save me over $20!
 
It says I am under about my Mac. But I have the el captain or what ever under my applications and App Store says that it's downloaded already.
 
bsurb said:
It says I am under about my Mac. But I have the el captain or what ever under my applications and App Store says that it's downloaded already.
Click to expand...
If you previously "purchased" Yosemite it will be listed in the App Store app in your purchased list. You can just download it again and make a USB key installer with it.
 
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