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Upgrading My 15" Macbook Pro

xxBURT0Nxx

xxBURT0Nxx

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 9, 2009
2,189
2
So I bought the newly updated macbook pro a few weeks ago to replace my stolen one from 2009. I have been planning on upgrading a few things since I bought the laptop, and I think that now the time has come. Just wanted to stop by here and post everything to make sure that it will work and that there aren't any particularly negative things about any of the new hardware. I am looking to upgrade to 8gb ram, remove the optical drive in favor of an SSD, and potentially upgrade the stock hard drive to a 7200rpm drive, possibly at a larger capacity than the stock 500gb one, but that upgrade may wait until later, we will have to see.

1. 8gb RAM from Newegg for $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233081&cm_re=8gb_ram-_-20-233-081-_-Product

2. Optibay Converter from Amazon for $16.99
http://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Compatible-9-5mm-high-SuperDrive-Interface/dp/B004FM4UGE

3. Intel X25M 120gb SSD from Amazon for $229.99
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Internal-Technology-2-5-Inch-SSDSA2MH120G2K5/dp/B00486UR2I/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1302187055&sr=1-2

Amazon also has a Crucial C300 here and an OCZ Vertex 2 here for about the same prices. Not sure of any positives or negatives to any of the above SSDs so anyone with experience feel free to chime in, trying to get as many opinions as possible before I order later this weekend.

4. Seagate Momentus XT HDD from Amazon for $99.99
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Momentus-7200RPM-Hybrid-ST95005620AS-Bare/dp/B003NSBF32/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1302187055&sr=1-6

Not even sure if this would fit or work inside the macbook pro, i thought the xt had some type of built in ssd in them? is this true, if so any benefit? If not a regular momentus 7200 can be found here or a WD scorpio black here for much cheaper, but I'm not even sure the WD is 7200rpm?

Anyways, these are the parts I'm looking to upgrade, if you have any comments or reviews on any of the above hardware, think you can recommend something cheaper or better, please feel free to do so! Thanks in advance for all of your help!
 
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That RAM will not work with your computer, as it is too slow. You will need 1333MHz DDR3 10600.

The optibay and SSD will be fine, but I would definitely pass on the Momentus XT. It's power hungry and since you're already getting the SSD, pretty pointless. I'd probably get a 5400 RPM drive over the 7200 RPM as well. They're quieter, use a little less power, vibrate less, and since you have the SSD, you wouldn't really notice the difference in performance. You just have to know how to arrange files and folders between the two drives, and there are plenty of threads on that around here.

Also, I believe it typically works better if the SSD goes where the hard drive normally does and the hard drive goes in the optibay.
 
alust2013 said:
That RAM will not work with your computer, as it is too slow. You will need 1333MHz DDR3 10600.

The optibay and SSD will be fine, but I would definitely pass on the Momentus XT. It's power hungry and since you're already getting the SSD, pretty pointless. I'd probably get a 5400 RPM drive over the 7200 RPM as well. They're quieter, use a little less power, vibrate less, and since you have the SSD, you wouldn't really notice the difference in performance. You just have to know how to arrange files and folders between the two drives, and there are plenty of threads on that around here.

Also, I believe it typically works better if the SSD goes where the hard drive normally does and the hard drive goes in the optibay.
Click to expand...

thanks, see glad i didn't purchase yet hahaha! Yeah i will probably hold out on the hdd upgrade at least until this one is filled up. I was planning on ssd where the current hdd is and then this hdd or a new one in the optibay. I was mainly looking at 7200rpm for all of the music and stuff that won't be on the ssd. I will probably only put the os and applications on the ssd, all actual content (music, movies, pictures, games, etc.) would end up on the hdd, do you think a 7200 would make a difference in that situation? If not I won't upgrade it but $60 for a 500gb hdd isn't really too much so if it will help i'd be willing to spend the money.

as for the ram, this would work yeah?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144468
 
xxBURT0Nxx said:
thanks, see glad i didn't purchase yet hahaha! Yeah i will probably hold out on the hdd upgrade at least until this one is filled up. I was planning on ssd where the current hdd is and then this hdd or a new one in the optibay. I was mainly looking at 7200rpm for all of the music and stuff that won't be on the ssd. I will probably only put the os and applications on the ssd, all actual content (music, movies, pictures, games, etc.) would end up on the hdd, do you think a 7200 would make a difference in that situation? If not I won't upgrade it but $60 for a 500gb hdd isn't really too much so if it will help i'd be willing to spend the money.

as for the ram, this would work yeah?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144468
Click to expand...

That ram would be fine. I wouldn't bother with 7200 RPM for music, simply because it really won't load faster, or it at least wouldn't be noticeable. Once you're in your applications, typically the only things that have to be loaded are small or don't need to be really fast, so any old HDD should do for your extra storage.
 
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