Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Upgrading Mar 09 Mini's RAM = not hard

jesterscourt

jesterscourt

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 4, 2009
157
0
Yes folks, finally NewEgg shipped me the two 2 gig DDR3 RAM sticks, and after some cajoling (I can't think of a better word to describe opening that case) with putty knives I bought specially for the task at the dollar store the day after my Mini shipped, it's done!

Really. I just watched OWC's video, and went at it. A couple notes for those that haven't yet done this: Make sure you have a well lit area, I originally intended on doing this in my bedroom where my other PC was, so I could watch it on Youtube while performing surgery. Unfortunately it wasn't near bright enough, so I had to take the matter into the kitchen. Also, the last screw (the longer one in the front right corner) was a sucker to get out. Patience folks.

Who else made the plunge?
 
I chickened out

Had the old iMac with the OWC youtube vid next to the mac mini, in glorious sunshine. Got nervous after sliding what was probably a wider putty knife then desirable into the gap.

Took it to the local computer shop who did it (RAM and hard drive) for £25. Bargain really, the nearest apple reseller wouldn't do for less than £50
 
This was an easy find, no searching involved! I want to pickup just the baseline Mini for $599 but no way is 1GB of RAM gonna work, but paying another $150 for the switch-up was too much. I'll have to check out that video and go buy a putty knife.

How was the access to the Hard Drive in there? Would a 7200rpm SATA 1.5 fit in there? I don't know why it wouldn't.... hmmm, or even better an SSD?
 
I did it earlier this week. It was a good reminder to always clean my putty knives after doing drywall. Has anyone been able to do it with only 1 knife? I tried, but everytime I would pull up one side and move on to the next, it would drop back in place. I eventually used the second knife I have.
 
I did it too! I upgraded my 2.26GHz Mini with the 4GB kit from Crucial. Having never opened a Mini before, I was a little apprehensive. The OWC video was helpful as was the iFixit Mini teardown. It probably took me under 10 minutes. One thing I would caution everyone on is be very careful of the ribbon connector when placing the drive unit back into the Mini. It appears it could get damaged pretty quickly. Other than that, it was a piece of cake. The creaking noises are a little unsettling though...
 
If you wedge in there hard enough the parts that come out stay out. It took me a while, but I was able to get in there with one.
 
I did it with one putty knife. First when I got the Mini I upgraded the RAM to 4GB then a week later the 320GB 7200RPM WD HDD arrived so I did the surgery again. I just followed the iFixit guide and everything went quickly and smoothly...
 
I think I'll be jumping over quick now, going to sell my '07 Macbook to pay for it. I'm glad I can buy the $599 base and just swap out the RAM myself for the 4GB, and I'll put in the fastest hard drive I can, GB doesn't matter so much as all I'll be doing is web design on it. Can an SSD go in there? I'll go google that...
 
i was thinking of buying the standard Mini then upgrading the memory but as I have never done it before I'm a bit nervous to do it!
 
3121 said:
i was thinking of buying the standard Mini then upgrading the memory but as I have never done it before I'm a bit nervous to do it!
Click to expand...

Wow, a Prince fan and a Mac User. :) Cool. Upgrading the memory was not hard, just literally take it slowly. I'd really recommend 2 putty knives, though, I don't think I could have personally done it with just one.
 
When you say that you've used or recommend using 2 putty knives do you mean using 2 knives on the same side of the unit at the same time or 1 each on opposite sides of the unit at the same time?
 
michael.lauden said:
any body drop in a 3.0gb/s instead of the 1.5?
Click to expand...

It is backwards compatible. Plus, the 3Gb/s drives are newer and better. You might as well buy one. Either way, the 2009 Mini has a 3Gb/s SATA II interface.

wheezy said:
I think I'll be jumping over quick now, going to sell my '07 Macbook to pay for it. I'm glad I can buy the $599 base and just swap out the RAM myself for the 4GB, and I'll put in the fastest hard drive I can, GB doesn't matter so much as all I'll be doing is web design on it. Can an SSD go in there? I'll go google that...
Click to expand...

Yes you can put in a SSD. Though the prices are pretty prohibitive IMO.
 
jesterscourt said:
Yes folks, finally NewEgg shipped me the two 2 gig DDR3 RAM sticks, and after some cajoling (I can't think of a better word to describe opening that case) with putty knives I bought specially for the task at the dollar store the day after my Mini shipped, it's done!

Really. I just watched OWC's video, and went at it. A couple notes for those that haven't yet done this: Make sure you have a well lit area, I originally intended on doing this in my bedroom where my other PC was, so I could watch it on Youtube while performing surgery. Unfortunately it wasn't near bright enough, so I had to take the matter into the kitchen. Also, the last screw (the longer one in the front right corner) was a sucker to get out. Patience folks.

Who else made the plunge?
Click to expand...

If you benefited from OWC's video, then you should have bought your ram from them.. :p
 
I got 4gb Mushkin kit from newegg, and did it with 1 knife and 10 minutes time.

Easy peasy. Thought about doing the HDD, but ehh...I just put a 320 7200 in my Macbook Pro, so I have it's drive laying around, but i really don't need to go through that trouble considering I have a 1tb FW800 drive.
 
completely agree with the comments above. changed out the ram couple days ago and it went splendidly. as an aside my only previous experience was increasing the ram on my girlfriend's macbook. nobody should really be scared of doing this....just take your time.
 
already did the ram, but have a hdd coming in tomorrow. Exciting stuff. No reason not to give it a shot yourself IMO. Just be careful.
 
I bought the 4GB Mushkin kit from newegg and a WD 320 Black. Surgery went smooth as silk. I used a pizza cutter to open the gap and butter knife to pry the case off. No scratches no problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back