Updating my white MacBook

[aratio]

I have an early 2009 MacBook with the default specs. Do you think will this update be worthing?

1. Buying 4Gb of 800MHz RAM

2. Buying a 320Gb 7200rpm HDD and replacing the 120Gb 5400rpm HDD

3. Buying a firewire case to have the 120Gb disk available for... say... virtual machines...

do you think it will work?

Will 7200rpm disk work with no problems? I read somewhere such disks get hot easier than the 5400rpm ones.

To firewire or to USB? that's the problem... is the performance difference heavily noticed between using an external drive connected to firewire or to USB?

800MHz memory will be fully used? the specs say 667 is the top but a lot of people said that the 800MHz is supported anyway.

 

[flopticalcube]

7200RPM is supported but drains battery a little more and has a slight vibration.

800MHz should work at full speed.

FW400 is about 20% faster than USB in real-life situations but USB enclosures are much more common and cheaper.

 

[tayloralmond]

I have a 7200RPM drive and I've never noticed any extra heat. My battery does drain a bit quicker (maybe 30 or so minutes faster), but I'm never that far away from a power source anyway.

 

[jsw]

800MHz should work at full speed.

Just curious: I know the white MB's were somewhat recently upgraded to ship with 800MHz RAM. Were the early-2009 ones compatible with that speed as well?

FW400 is about 20% faster than USB in real-life situations but USB enclosures are much more common and cheaper.

In my opinion, it's even more than 20% faster, but, of course, it depends on the sizes of the files you're transferring. I've found perceived speed to be a lot better on FW, but I suppose my actual improvement might be less than I've felt it was.

 

[flopticalcube]

Just curious: I know the white MB's were somewhat recently upgraded to ship with 800MHz RAM. Were the early-2009 ones compatible with that speed as well?

Apparently. Several forum members with the Early 2009 have confirmed that it clocks at 800MHz so Apple is only officially acknowledging it with the new MBs rather than making any changes per se.

In my opinion, it's even more than 20% faster, but, of course, it depends on the sizes of the files you're transferring. I've found perceived speed to be a lot better on FW, but I suppose my actual improvement might be less than I've felt it was.

Yes, it certainly feels much faster. It also depends what you are doing on the laptop at the time since USB is heavily CPU dependent.

 

[MarkMS]

7200RPM is supported but drains battery a little more and has a slight vibration.

800MHz should work at full speed.

FW400 is about 20% faster than USB in real-life situations but USB enclosures are much more common and cheaper.

The MB is only clocked at 667, so there will be no speed advantage if he gets the 800. Only the new White MBs that came out a few days ago are clocked at 800. Right? I may be wrong.

EDIT: Never mind, flopticalcube elaborated a bit more. Thanks!

 

[relativist]

The MB is only clocked at 667, so there will be no speed advantage if he gets the 800. Only the new White MBs that came out a few days ago are clocked at 800. Right? I may be wrong.

EDIT: Never mind, flopticalcube elaborated a bit more. Thanks!

I can vouch for early 2009 white macbook's ability to run RAM at 800MHz. BTW, I recommend that you don't get the 320GB but get the 500GB 7200 rpm drive, it's much faster. Also note the bus speed is 1066MHz. As for an external case, I always get cases that have at least USB & eSATA, an I recommend you do the same.

 

[andalusia]

Just curious: I know the white MB's were somewhat recently upgraded to ship with 800MHz RAM. Were the early-2009 ones compatible with that speed as well?

Just check my sig