School Req MBP i7

[HDK_Ent]

***im putting this here as well as in the Mac forums, because i think the people here are a bit more computer savvy then the guys over at mac *No Offense* so yea...***


Ok, first and foremost, im a 100% dedicated PC user, absolutely DISPISE MACS! *now before you think im going to be mac bashing in this thread, hear me out!*

I have an i7 rig built accordingly from the i7 thread on the LE windows forum.

300 Dverb test, and has worked beautifully for me, BUT, as fate will have it, i'm enrolling in a school that requires a mac book pro to be issued/purchased for school work and home work.

now here is my dilemma, ive had my i7 for 4 months, and I've JUST kicked out all the bugs and [bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep] in it, and it is stable.

now i start school june 1st and will be getting my school issued or personally purchased *using tuition money,* MBP i7 shortly there after.

what i'd like to know, is

A.) whether or not i can upgrade them to my liking, i do ALOT of music production, and i intend on pushing this mac to the breaking point.

B.) what kind of parts will i need to get/use.

I know generally, that, ill be upgrading the HD and RAM, since ive heard that those are really the only thing keeping it from running at OPTIMUM performance.

i intended on using a firewire *external HD*and using a HD enclosure with adapters to plug in a 003. id need 2 mini adapter to vga/dvi adapters, which is fine.

The ram, i'd prefer to be 8 gbs, but would prefer not to spend $400 on 4 gbs of mid quality ram.

SO FAR, these are my ideas as far as upgrades go.

lacie d2 quadra, MAYBE if i can figure out another solution, ill use that as ive heard lacie drives are not the best drives.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...GB%20SATA%20II

as my main os drive for my mbp, any other recommendations?


if i can get my MBP to run as good as my i7 rig, ill end up selling the i7 rig and keeping the mbp with xp on it, with 32 grand in debt i can use the extra 1000 dollars from my i7 rig to pay off some of my debt early.

[sunburst79]

MattP just mentioned to me that Best Buy had 500Gb 2.5 HDD's on sale for 69.99. Thats a great price.
'
Install a 7200 RPM drive as your OS drive. Max out the RAM at 4+GB's (or whatever it can hold). Dont buy overpriced Apple RAM. Get a compatible FW external drive and your done.

[HDK_Ent]

but wont mixed ram be a bad thing in the computer?

or should i swap out the apple ram, and put in the other?

i think that the performance boost from the SSD drive, would be a better investment, i heard wonderful reviews on that drive, and for merely 30 bucks more, it seems fair.

also, any recommendations as to what kind of external drive to get?

btw mbp's hold 8gbs of ram.

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by HDK_Ent

but wont mixed ram be a bad thing in the computer?

or should i swap out the apple ram, and put in the other?

i think that the performance boost from the SSD drive, would be a better investment, i heard wonderful reviews on that drive, and for merely 30 bucks more, it seems fair.

also, any recommendations as to what kind of external drive to get?

btw mbp's hold 8gbs of ram.

As long as the timing is the same mixing 2 different sticks shouldn't cause any issues. Apple specs the RAM with relatively loose timings. I ran a factory Apple stick and a aftermarket stick in my 2006 MBP17 for years without any issues-in fact its still in there. You may find that Apple delivers the machine with all the slots full of RAM. My 2006 MBP shipped with1GB and one slot empty so I was able to add a stick. If the new ones come with 4GB (Ithink they do) I wouldn't replace the RAM until I was getting low memory errors in PT.

SSD's....I wouldn't use anything that Apple themselves wasn't offering as an option.

Macsales and OWC or Other WorldComputing are all good sites to hit to see whats working replacement parts wise. Once you know what will work compare the prices with Newegg and buy whomever is cheaper.

There's a site that offers good Mac disassembly instructions on the web. I think its iFixit.com