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To those with aging 3 years+ MBP, I suggest upgrade the harddrive

C

christall109

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 15, 2007
351
5
Hey Guys,

So today I upgraded my MBP's (3 years old mind you) Harddrive form 80GB to 500GB. I just followed iFixit's guide and everything worked great.

What I did notice though was that the performance of the computer has increased x10. I no longer get the colored beach ball. It runs a lot better. This isn't just me, I ran xbench and scored a 123 where as previously I got 80.

It wasn't that bad of a replacement. Though now I need to give my lid an extra 'nudge' for it to lock.

Anyone else there have a similar experience? For those debating on whether or not to upgrade, I strongly recommend it.
 
In most computers, HD write/read speed is the bottleneck of performance. So having faster HD will increase the performance of MBP.
 
Wow, did not know that HDD was the even a significant factor on performance. I know it mattered somewhat, but thought it would be unnoticeable for the most part.

I've noticed my Mac has gotten slower (more beachballs) over the past couple of months.

Unfortunately, iFixit's guide seems intimidating and I have horrible dexterity.
 
Im planning to upgrade 7200rpm drive soon, my MBP is just over a year old, so its not feeling slow yet, just ordered 4Gb of RAM, will see how it goes.
 
FSMBP said:
Wow, did not know that HDD was the even a significant factor on performance. I know it mattered somewhat, but thought it would be unnoticeable for the most part.

I've noticed my Mac has gotten slower (more beachballs) over the past couple of months.

Unfortunately, iFixit's guide seems intimidating and I have horrible dexterity.
Click to expand...

I ended up using iFixit for the parts (drive and tools) and a video of the replacement by OWC. The video made it MUCH more easier than following the written iFixit guide.

I just had a little trouble getting the top off the machine. The last repair I got on it was when I got my SuperDrive replaced, they ended up glueing some parts of the top (keyboard/trackpad/speakers big piece) to the rest of the structure when it was only suppose to be snapped into place.
 
I'm pretty sure that unless you're upgrading the speed of the hard drive, the difference that you'll notice is not from a new hard drive, but from a new OS install. OS X tends to get slower with time, and wiping and doing a clean install can work just as well, and without voiding your hard drive warranty;)
 
Upgrade HD to SSD

OS X doesn't get as slow over time as Windows does... ;)

Anyway, I recently upgraded my original MBP's hard drive as well... Went from a 100 GB 7200 rpm HD to a 64 GB SSD. As it isn't my primary Mac anymore, the loss in storage isn't that bad... But my oh my, with the SSD, it feels like a new computer! :D

I know that my newer MBP has better specs all around (save for an SSD), but my old MBP feels much faster and is far more responsive! :eek:
 
thejadedmonkey said:
I'm pretty sure that unless you're upgrading the speed of the hard drive, the difference that you'll notice is not from a new hard drive, but from a new OS install. OS X tends to get slower with time, and wiping and doing a clean install can work just as well, and without voiding your hard drive warranty;)
Click to expand...

Nope 5400rpms is not the only thing you have to factor in, his new hard drive is WAY more dense then his old 80GB. Even if you figure it was a single platter 80gb, and his new one is dual platter that is 250GB vs 80GB. So for each of those revolutions the drive will read that much more data.
 
genereyes said:
OS X doesn't get as slow over time as Windows does... ;)

Anyway, I recently upgraded my original MBP's hard drive as well... Went from a 100 GB 7200 rpm HD to a 64 GB SSD. As it isn't my primary Mac anymore, the loss in storage isn't that bad... But my oh my, with the SSD, it feels like a new computer! :D

I know that my newer MBP has better specs all around (save for an SSD), but my old MBP feels much faster and is far more responsive! :eek:
Click to expand...

It can, actually. If you have less than 10-15% free space on your drive, the automatic defragmentation won't work, and the drive will become fragmented and slow down. You can defragment by restoring from a Timemachine backup.
 
m85476585 said:
It can, actually. If you have less than 10-15% free space on your drive, the automatic defragmentation won't work, and the drive will become fragmented and slow down. You can defragment by restoring from a Timemachine backup.
Click to expand...

Well, I meant that comment in general. The slowness of OS X over time is no where near as obvious/dramatic as on a Windows computer. Still remember the days when I had to reformat my Windows PC more than once a year just to get back to a usable speed. Never had that problem in OS X. :cool:
 
genereyes said:
OS X doesn't get as slow over time as Windows does... ;)
Click to expand...

but still he could have old programs filling up and maybe even they start up with the computer resulting in less ram being free for other tasks. Ofcourse you will get better performance with a newer disk but not that much... i think :)
 
FnuGk said:
but still he could have old programs filling up and maybe even they start up with the computer resulting in less ram being free for other tasks. Ofcourse you will get better performance with a newer disk but not that much... i think :)
Click to expand...

In fact going from a 60mb/s to a 100mb/s HDD in my desktop with the same installation cloned was like day and night. Modern hard disks are much faster and have better access times because of the higher density.
 
FSMBP said:
Wow, did not know that HDD was the even a significant factor on performance. I know it mattered somewhat, but thought it would be unnoticeable for the most part.

I've noticed my Mac has gotten slower (more beachballs) over the past couple of months.

Unfortunately, iFixit's guide seems intimidating and I have horrible dexterity.
Click to expand...

Hard drives are the biggest bottlenecks in computers today. Thats why we have to use RAM :eek:
 
Gabriel GR said:
In fact going from a 60mb/s to a 100mb/s HDD in my desktop with the same installation cloned was like day and night. Modern hard disks are much faster and have better access times because of the higher density.
Click to expand...

That's why bigger disks are generally faster. It is usually good to get the biggest disk possible just for the speed. (though not always. Check the Tom's Hardware drive chart too just to be sure).
 
christall109 said:
Hey Guys,

So today I upgraded my MBP's (3 years old mind you) Harddrive form 80GB to 500GB. I just followed iFixit's guide and everything worked great.

What I did notice though was that the performance of the computer has increased x10. I no longer get the colored beach ball. It runs a lot better. This isn't just me, I ran xbench and scored a 123 where as previously I got 80.

It wasn't that bad of a replacement. Though now I need to give my lid an extra 'nudge' for it to lock.

Anyone else there have a similar experience? For those debating on whether or not to upgrade, I strongly recommend it.
Click to expand...

The best upgrade recommendation for an older laptop is to upgrade to an SSD, not a hard drive.

Gabriel GR said:
In fact going from a 60mb/s to a 100mb/s HDD in my desktop with the same installation cloned was like day and night. Modern hard disks are much faster and have better access times because of the higher density.
Click to expand...

SSD: < .1 millisecond latency (usually .01-.05ms)
HD: > 6 millisecond latency


mikes70mustang said:
pretty sure upgrading a computer in general is beneficial.
Click to expand...

We're talking about laptops here, the only thing you can upgrade is RAM and hard drive. Adding more RAM than 4GB of RAM isn't beneficial compared to a much faster disk that has lower latency.
 
MikhailT said:
The best upgrade recommendation for an older laptop is to upgrade to an SSD, not a hard drive.



SSD: < .1 millisecond latency (usually .01-.05ms)
HD: > 6 millisecond latency




We're talking about laptops here, the only thing you can upgrade is RAM and hard drive. Adding more RAM than 4GB of RAM isn't beneficial compared to a much faster disk that has lower latency.
Click to expand...

Ok sorry. Let me rephrase that

pretty sure upgrading a Laptop in general is beneficial.

Yah right, more than 4gb isnt beneficial:rolleyes: maybe the way you use your computer. Speed or not, bigger is better.
 
FSMBP said:
Wow, did not know that HDD was the even a significant factor on performance. I know it mattered somewhat, but thought it would be unnoticeable for the most part.

I've noticed my Mac has gotten slower (more beachballs) over the past couple of months.

Unfortunately, iFixit's guide seems intimidating and I have horrible dexterity.
Click to expand...

Yep. Hard drives hold the true performance potential of computers back.

Check out this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dWOEa4Djs&feature=fvst


BTW can anyone tell me a site i can check with to see what SSD drives will work with my MBP 1,1 2.16Ghz.
 
mikes70mustang said:
Ok sorry. Let me rephrase that

pretty sure upgrading a Laptop in general is beneficial.

Yah right, more than 4gb isnt beneficial:rolleyes: maybe the way you use your computer. Speed or not, bigger is better.
Click to expand...

Read the whole sentence before making that comment. I never said it is not beneficial or bigger isn't better. I said adding more RAM than 4GB isn't any beneficial when COMPARED to adding a much faster storage drive. People will gain more speed, performnace and multitasking capabity with a much faster responsive system than they would from more RAM, more RAM won't add speed or performance, it'll remain the same with just more free space to do something. Majority of people aren't power users, they won't need more than 3-4GB.

Also, almost none of those pre 2009 laptops will take more than 4GB and some not more than 3GB.

borcanm said:
BTW can anyone tell me a site i can check with to see what SSD drives will work with my MBP 1,1 2.16Ghz.
Click to expand...
I know there are some users that has MBP1.1 working with the OCZ Vertex drives, you can find them at OCZ SSD forums.
 
MikhailT said:
Read the whole sentence before making that comment. I never said it is not beneficial or bigger isn't better. I said adding more RAM than 4GB isn't any beneficial when COMPARED to adding a much faster storage drive. People will gain more speed, performnace and multitasking capabity with a much faster responsive system than they would from more RAM, more RAM won't add speed or performance, it'll remain the same with just more free space to do something. Majority of people aren't power users, they won't need more than 3-4GB.

Also, almost none of those pre 2009 laptops will take more than 4GB and some not more than 3GB.


I know there are some users that has MBP1.1 working with the OCZ Vertex drives, you can find them at OCZ SSD forums.
Click to expand...

SSD will improve any laptop for sure. And seeing that a large number of mac users have a VM, ram would be more beneficial, and vista on bootcamp-the more ram on vista is usually better.
 
MikhailT said:
The best upgrade recommendation for an older laptop is to upgrade to an SSD, not a hard drive.



SSD: < .1 millisecond latency (usually .01-.05ms)
HD: > 6 millisecond latency




We're talking about laptops here, the only thing you can upgrade is RAM and hard drive. Adding more RAM than 4GB of RAM isn't beneficial compared to a much faster disk that has lower latency.
Click to expand...

SSD's are faster? WOW. I didn't know that :rolleyes:
 
genereyes said:
I upgraded my MBP 1,1 2.16 GHz with a Crucial 64 GB SSD. I think that any SSD in the 2.5" form factor will work.
Click to expand...

Don't get any SSD, a second generation SSD is the way to go. Second generation includes the Intels, Indilinx and Samsung P256 controller based SSDs. Don't get any jMicron, older Samsungs and so on.
 
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