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Preparing My Mac for Mountain Lion

M

markrox7

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 17, 2011
252
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I have a mid 2010 Macbook Pro 13" 250 gb hdd, 4 gb RAM and 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo running Lion. It runs fine, but slows down when I'm doing a lot of stuff at once.

I'm going to do a clean install of Mountain Lion on my Mac when it comes out and I was wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade my RAM to 8 gb (2 X 4gb)?

Also, is it possible to replace my hdd with an ssd?

Thanks.
 
Yes and yes

----------

I just got a new HDD for my MBP. I'm thinking I should wait for Mountain Lion to come out before I install it, theres no point in downloading Lion only to install Mountain Lion days later.

What should my process be for upgrading to Mountain Lion? Should I download ML over Lion on the old HDD and then install the new one and transfer all the data?

Or should I purchase ML on the old hdd, and use ML recovery to install it on the new HDD?

Not sure what my course of action should be, any advice is appreciated.
 
ECUpirate44 said:
Yes and yes
Click to expand...

Any suggestions as to which SSD I should buy?

I'm thinking of getting 2 X 4 gb RAM from Kingston, but which ssd should I get? Or should I stick with my hdd? (there's nothing wrong with it, I just wanted the speed boost from a SSD)
 
markrox7 said:
Any suggestions as to which SSD I should buy?

I'm thinking of getting 2 X 4 gb RAM from Kingston, but which ssd should I get? Or should I stick with my hdd? (there's nothing wrong with it, I just wanted the speed boost from a SSD)
Click to expand...

Ssd's are expensive. The Samsung 810 is popular right now.
 
markrox7 said:
Yea, I don't think I'm willing to pay ~$300 for a 256 gb SSD. My 250 gb HDD is fine.

So the question is, will the 8 gb RAM upgrade be worthwhile?
Click to expand...

Depends on what you do on the computer, but ram is cheap. I just bought a 750gb hybrid drive for 150.
 
markrox7 said:
Yea, I don't think I'm willing to pay ~$300 for a 256 gb SSD. My 250 gb HDD is fine.

So the question is, will the 8 gb RAM upgrade be worthwhile?
Click to expand...

256gb SSD's have been hovering just below $200 pretty often as of late. Still a not-so-small chunk of change but definitely less than $300
 
ECUpirate44 said:



I just got a new HDD for my MBP. I'm thinking I should wait for Mountain Lion to come out before I install it, theres no point in downloading Lion only to install Mountain Lion days later.

What should my process be for upgrading to Mountain Lion? Should I download ML over Lion on the old HDD and then install the new one and transfer all the data?

Or should I purchase ML on the old hdd, and use ML recovery to install it on the new HDD?

Not sure what my course of action should be, any advice is appreciated.
Click to expand...

Create a ML USB stick and clean install from that. Then restore your data.
 
I'm seriously considering getting the Crucial m4 256 GB SSD and upgrading my ram to 8 gb (2 X 4 gb).
The only really intense thing I do with my MDP (2010 13") is movies in iMovie, and on my current setup it always lags a bit, and exporting takes forever. With this upgrade will it go faster/work smoother? (will the ssd make a difference in this case or just the upgraded RAM?)

Thanks!
 
I think the RAM will be the biggest difference in video editing. SSD will help too. Exporting wise, it's more just raw CPU power so not much difference there.
 
markrox7 said:
Does upgrading hdd to ssd make that big of a difference?
Click to expand...

In terms of overall system responsiveness, boot times, shutdown, opening applications and moving files around an SSD is a MASSIVE upgrade.

It will feel like a totally new machine.

2 x 4GB of RAM should cost $50 or less and between the RAM and the SSD you'll be very happy.

Don't forget to enable trim for your SSD! It's just a few commands in the terminal:
http://digitaldj.net/2011/07/21/trim-enabler-for-lion/
 
Last edited:
CheesePuff said:
Crucial m4 256 GB SSD can be had for $199 with free shipping at a lot of online retailers now. Highly recommended.
Click to expand...

+1

I run this in my desktop & it rocks. I plan to install in my MBP once I get enough to buy one & a caddy for my 750GB.
 
ECUpirate44 said:
Yes and yes

----------

I just got a new HDD for my MBP. I'm thinking I should wait for Mountain Lion to come out before I install it, theres no point in downloading Lion only to install Mountain Lion days later.

What should my process be for upgrading to Mountain Lion? Should I download ML over Lion on the old HDD and then install the new one and transfer all the data?

Or should I purchase ML on the old hdd, and use ML recovery to install it on the new HDD?

Not sure what my course of action should be, any advice is appreciated.
Click to expand...

My suggestion : Buy a USB external case for your old HDD. Boot your system from the old HDD (in the USB case) with Lion installed on it. Download Mountain Lion on this HDD, then start the installer and choose to install ML on the internal SSD then.

It will be a clean install (or course).
 
I have the same MBP, upgraded HDD to 750GB and RAM to 8GB and Mountain Lion works great.

ianwuk
 
Hey,

I'm doing the same with my MacBook. Specs in my signature!

It came with 2GB when I bought it but I upgraded to 4GB not long after buying it in 2008. I recently upgraded to 8GB. You really can't go wrong with updating the RAM. It cost me £50/$87 for 8GB. Right now, it's down to £38/$59 for 8GB.

I see you currently have 4GB RAM installed. My advice would be to forget about upgrading the RAM just now. Why? I haven't noticed much difference between 4GB/8GB. I only upgraded because I had enough money to spare and I wanted to make my MacBook last as long as possible.

If you're looking for improved performance then it's gonna come from an SSD much much more than from RAM. If you're wanting an SSD then instead of buying RAM just now put the money towards an SSD. Leave buying RAM until you've got an SSD and installed ML. The price of RAM will only get cheaper. See how your Mac performs on 4GB with an SSD and then if you still want 8GB buy it for a bit cheaper :)

SSD's are still quite expensive. A HD cost about £0.20/$0.32 per GB while an SSD costs about £0.61/$0.96 per GB. For a 250GB HD it's ~£50/$78 and for a 256GB SSD it's ~£155/$243. If you don't buy RAM then that £38/$59 will go towards the SSD. Every little helps! :)

My choice of SSD was the Crucial M4 256GB. Haven't tested it out yet but a lot of people recommend it. I will be installing it in my MacBook after I download ML.

Here is how I'm going about it:
  1. I'll download ML from the Mac App Store
  2. Put the installer on a USB drive by following these instructions: Click here!. If you wanted to burn it to a DVD then Click here!.
  3. Once the installer is on the USB/DVD then remove the HD and put in the SSD.
  4. Power on Mac while holding the option key and selecting the DVD/USB.
  5. If you haven't already then format the SSD to Mac OSX Extended (Journaled)
  6. Once it's formatted then proceed to install the OS!

Hope that helps :D Good luck!
 
So, in preparation for Mountain Lion, I'm going to replace my hdd with a Crucial m4 256 gb SSD and leave the RAM at 4 gb (for now).
People who have replaced their hdds with a ssd, will I see an improvement?
 
I haven't replaced mine yet (see my earlier post - I bought the Crucial M4 256GB) but I can guarantee you that you will notice a HUGE improvement in performance and speed.

Boot/shut down times will be much faster. HD's need to spin up before they can be accessed. Data can only be read/written when the the disc is in the right position under the HD pin/needle. SSD's can be accessed MUCH faster. My stock HD's access time is 12ms. The Crucial M4 256GB is <0.1ms! That's just the speed!

They have no moving parts they are absolutely silent and much more shock resistant/durable. They use less power and generate less heat. I can't think of a reason why you shouldn't get an SSD apart from the cost! If you can afford one then BUY ONE!! Once you pay the price then it's all good from then on.
 
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