Upgrading Ram & HD on Macbook Pro 7,1

[Prise]

After upgrading some of our Macs this year, I've decided to tinker and upgrade our older model Macbook Pro 7,1.

Some questions:

1) For RAM, I'm any PC 8500 1066 DDR3 with 204 pin should suffice, I assume. Is it possible (or, advisable) to only add one 4 MB module? In other words, would it run well with a 2 X 4 configuration giving me 6 total MB.

2) For SSDs, do I just pick up any model? Or, is there a laptop specific equivalent?

3) Optical drive is no longer functional. Is it possible to place the SSD into the DVD slot as the boot drive, and use the original HD as s second drive?

Any general advice on the above, or any observations on how to best upgrade would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jaben3421]

After upgrading some of our Macs this year, I've decided to tinker and upgrade our older model Macbook Pro 7,1.

Some questions:

1) For RAM, I'm any PC 8500 1066 DDR3 with 204 pin should suffice, I assume. Is it possible (or, advisable) to only add one 4 MB module? In other words, would it run well with a 2 X 4 configuration giving me 6 total MB.

2) For SSDs, do I just pick up any model? Or, is there a laptop specific equivalent?

3) Optical drive is no longer functional. Is it possible to place the SSD into the DVD slot as the boot drive, and use the original HD as s second drive?

Any general advice on the above, or any observations on how to best upgrade would be greatly appreciated.

So I'm assuming your model is a 13" Mid 2010 MacBook Pro. If so, you model can support up to 16GB of 1333MHz RAM (But you'll need 10.7.5). Some people have no issues with 1333MHz RAM in a 1066MHz slot, myself included, while others have issues. If you want surefire no problems, go with 1066MHz. For RAM modules, they always work best paired in the same amount. So 2X1, 2X2, 2X4, 2X8. So yes, you could get 6GB (By the way, it's GB not MB. 6 MB is an extremely small amount of RAM.) But for the best performance you'll want 4GB or 8GB of RAM.

You can go with any HD/SSHD/SSD that is 2.5 inches and 9mm thick or thinner.

Yes, using this or this or some other optical drive caddy for MacBook Pro's. However, you'll want the SSD in the main SATA bay and the HDD in the optical bay, because the main SATA bay has a faster connection.

Hope that answered all your questions.

 

[undesign]

However, you'll want the SSD in the main SATA bay and the HDD in the optical bay, because the main SATA bay has a faster connection.

I would *strongly* advise against this.

The main bay in MacBook Pro's feature a motion sensor specifically for HDDs. Moving the SSD there and the HDD into a caddy is NOT advised. Secondly, the 2010 MacBook Pro did not feature SATA III, so there would be no difference in speed whether in the optibay or the main bay.

I have a 2011 MBP with SATA II, I put my SSD into the optibay. My storage drive in the main bay is more valuable to me than the SSD boot drive. The motion sensor I would consider critical.

 

[Jaben3421]

I would *strongly* advise against this.

The main bay in MacBook Pro's feature a motion sensor specifically for HDDs. Moving the SSD there and the HDD into a caddy is NOT advised. Secondly, the 2010 MacBook Pro did not feature SATA III, so there would be no difference in speed whether in the optibay or the main bay.

I have a 2011 MBP with SATA II, I put my SSD into the optibay. My storage drive in the main bay is more valuable to me than the SSD boot drive. The motion sensor I would consider critical.

Sorry , I confused the 2011 models with the 2010. You're right with his machine. However, on yours, since it's a 2011, you're supposed to put the SSD in the main bay. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1347247/ There was a whole post about it. Plus, many hard drives have their own motion sensor built in.

 

[undesign]

Sorry , I confused the 2011 models with the 2010. You're right with his machine. However, on yours, since it's a 2011, you're supposed to put the SSD in the main bay. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1347247/ There was a whole post about it. Plus, many hard drives have their own motion sensor built in.

Doesn't matter with mine, both bays are SATA III on the 2011 MPB and my SSD drive is an Intel 320M with speeds that wouldn't saturate even SATA II.

 

[Prise]

Thanks for the tips!

Right, it's GBs. MBs would go back to my old Mac SE.

So, to reiterate, I've got the mid 2010 Macbook Pro 7,1. Should I or should I *not* place the SSD in the main bay?

 

[benji888]

So, to reiterate, I've got the mid 2010 Macbook Pro 7,1. Should I or should I *not* place the SSD in the main bay?

I've got the same MBP. I had a hard drive crap out, got a cheap 500GB HDD black friday sale, and I went with OWC, got an SSD, data doubler (kits), and external case for optical drive (you won't need this). I made a DIY Fusion drive with 10.9 Mavericks following their blog post for 10.8.3. I highly recommend them for any mac upgrades, quality products at decent prices and great warranties on their own products with the best customer service I've had for such (and when you call, you get someone here in the US). They also have DIY upgrade videos specific to your model mac. I recommend getting a 3G SSD as that will match the speed of your mac, and, at least with some brands, some 6G SSDs (SATA III) don't gel well with SATA II buses.

I put the SSD in the first slot, HDD in adapter w/optical bay, because, when I checked before changing things, it looked like the optical bay was running at a slower speed. In any case, I did some reading up, and, it looks to me like the Sudden Motion Sensor is still on as I read it would be. I don't think it really matters, as it turns out, they both run at the same SATA II speed.

Well, if you do the DIY Fusion, for me, installing Mavericks onto it...it stayed at "1 second remaining" during the first portion before initial restart, for about 10-20 minutes, so if you see this and you can still access the menu, it's not locked up, just taking longer than estimated. But, worth the wait, booting and app loading is much faster , most tasks involving drive access are faster, but if you use large files for video or photo editing, these files will load/save only as fast as the HDD.

 

[Jaben3421]

Thanks for the tips!

Right, it's GBs. MBs would go back to my old Mac SE.

So, to reiterate, I've got the mid 2010 Macbook Pro 7,1. Should I or should I *not* place the SSD in the main bay?

You'll want your SSD in the Optical Bay because the 2010 models don't any issues with that.