Upgrade 2009 mini to SSD drive

[lamerica80]

I have an old 2009 mac mini that im going to use mainly for garage band and music production.

Im toying with the idea to upgrade the drive to a SSD to make it a bit snappier.

I have three questions if someone could help:

1. Is it possible to put a SSD in a 2009 mini?
2. Can anyone reccomend any of the cheaper 256 GB models that would fit?
3. Will I se a noticable increase in snappiness that would justify the expense?

I also plan on upgrading the ram from 4 gb to 8 gb since the box (and my wallet) is open anyway.

 

[blanka]

I have a 2009 and upgraded it from 2 to 4Gb and from 5400rpm 160Gb to a 7200RPM Scorpio Black, a way better deal IMO as it is only 70 bucks and still allows a lot of storage. A world of difference, and booting outperforms my 2011 Mini (until I have the SSD mounting kit for that).
But an SSD is perfectly possible as well. It has Sata 3Gb/s, so you don't need a Samsung 840 Pro for it.
Do all the Garage band files fit on the 256Gb?
You can also consider a Samsung Momentus XT, that drive is a hybrid, like a Fusion Drive: 8Gb flash for most used OS and App files and 750Gb 7200RPM for storage. Gets good reviews, and just a few bucks more expensive than the Scorpio.

 

[WharfRat1971]

I went 8gb ram and a http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDEX3G120/ from OWC. My old mini is pretty fast and I use a lot of Photoshop and Lightroom. It was like night and day after the upgrade.

 

[lamerica80]

ok! I actually allready have a 7200 drive in it from a previous upgrade, so maybe ill just upgrade the RAM to 8 GB instead of as of now 4 GB..

 

[benwiggy]

1. Is it possible to put a SSD in a 2009 mini?
2. Can anyone reccomend any of the cheaper 256 GB models that would fit?
3. Will I se a noticable increase in snappiness that would justify the expense?

1. Almost certainly. A site like http://www.ifixit.com/Device/Mac_Mini will show you how.

I put an SSD in my 2009 MacBook, which has similar technology, and it makes a huge difference. I got a cheap 240Gb OCZ SSD. There are probably better options and deals to be had now.

 

[Giuly]

As far as the SSD goes, get the Crucial m4 or the SanDisk UltraPlus, whichever you happen to find for less.
And 8GB Crucial 1066MHz RAM should work fine.