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Skyrim PC patched, can now claim 4GB RAM
Skyrim has become just a little more cognizant of the money you spent on extra RAM, and the teeny bit of blood lost when you pushed the modules in with enough enthusiasm to cut your fingers. A new incremental patch, bringing the PC version of Skyrim up to 1.3.10, lets the game address up to 4 gigabytes of RAM. A similar performance fix was issued by the modding community shortly after the RPG's launch, but was rendered incompatible by an official patch. Now, modders and developers agree that Skyrim should take advantage of the extra space afforded on PC.
Fujitsu, SuVolta push SRAM to its efficiency limits, demo 0.425 volt chip
Get the power requirements down for your next generation of RAM and you can have a raise in your allowance. For the perfect example of two companies that learned to play nice together and deserve a little something extra, Fujitsu Semiconductor and SuVolta today announced the successful demonstration of their ultra-low-voltage SRAM blocks at the International Electron Devices Meeting in Washington, DC. The new SRAM, which sips a mere 0.425 volts (nearly half that of previous chips), uses SuVolta's PowerShrink CMOS platform with Fujitsu's energy-efficient process technology. The companies showed that a 576Kb block of SRAM can run at just 0.4 volts by cutting its CMOS transistor threshold voltage variation in half. It's all very technical and, speaking of which, you'll find all those science-y details and diagrams in the PR after the break. Now, whip us up a crucial component that sips half the power it used to and you'll get a boost in your allowance and an approving tussle of the hair.
AMD's getting into the DRAM game, isn't afraid to shoot the outside J
Don't you wish every component in your computer were made by the same company? That's AMD's thinking behind a range of desktop DRAM -- leaping into bed with VisionTek and Patriot Memory who will build the branded modules to Sunnyvale's specifications, tweaked for speed with OverDrive tuning tools. You'll be able to pick up DIMMs in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB flavors -- a low-end "entertainment" model running at 1333MHz and 1600MHz, "performance" edition also at 1600MHz and a Radeon-branded unit that will top the family at 1866MHz. The stuff will be available from retailers like Amazon, Fry's and Best Buy Canada, but we don't know when nor how much it'll cost to bring this level of branding harmony to the inside of your case.
Shuttle launches XPC H7 5820S mini PC for your collection of 16 monitors
Wondering what do with those 16 monitors you've got lying around your house? Well, the folks over at Shuttle have just come out with a mouthful of a solution, known as the XPC H7 5820S. Shuttle's latest mini-PC is powered by an Intel Core i7 processor with up to six cores, boasts 16GB of RAM and features a pair of 1TB hard disks. The workstation, compatible with Windows 7, also ships with a Blu-ray burner and packs Matrox's M-Series multi-display graphics cards, allowing users to work across 16 different displays at once, at resolutions of up to 2560 x 1600 per screen. All this goodness is nestled within a box that's just 7.5 inches tall, though it won't come for cheap. According to SlashGear, the XPC H7 5820S is now available for a cool €1,446, or about $1,983. Find out more at the source link below, or in the full PR, waiting for you after the break.
Engadget Primed: SSDs and you
Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day -- we dig deep into each topic's history and how it benefits our lives. You can follow the series here. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com. If you're a storage aficionado -- and who here isn't? -- you've probably heard a lot about SSDs, those friendly solid-state disks promising dramatically improved performance over their magnetically inclined brethren. No doubt you've heard about the advantages, thanks to NAND storage that makes them silent, shock resistant, energy efficient and lightning quick. Yet you've also heard the horror stories: drive slowdowns, controller failures and manufacturer recalls. And adding to all those anxiety-producing headlines, there's the price premium. While most magnetic drives average around a nickel or dime per gigabyte, even consumer-grade SSDs still run $1-2 per gigabyte, often for drastically smaller-capacity drives. Three years ago, Intel launched its X25-M and X18-M: the "M" stood for "mainstream," and the pair of drives were designed to reintroduce solid-state storage to a cost-conscious consumer market. (Perhaps more importantly, they were also meant to solidify Intel's standing in the nascent SSD realm, up to that point a chaotic, Wild West-style domain. But we'll get to that.) For most users magnetic drives still remain king, with solid states appealing primarily to a niche of enterprise IT professionals and modding enthusiasts. How did that happen -- and should it be different? After the break we'll look at how and why SSDs haven't (yet) conquered the storage world, and examine whether they're poised to do just that.
Sony PS Vita First Edition Bundle up for pre-order, lets North American buyers snag it one week early
The United States may not be getting the PS Vita at first, but that doesn't mean you can't be the first kid on your block to own one. Sony took to its US PlayStation Blog today, unveiling its First Edition bundle of the portable gaming powerhouse, which is up for pre-order now at "select retailers." US buyers will receive a 3G + WiFi Vita with a limited edition case, a 4GB memory card and a copy of Little Deviants for $350, while Canadian buyers will get the WiFi-only variant for $299 -- better yet, it'll arrive at your doorstep one week prior to the 02/22/2012 release date for North America. Sure, it may not have wishful goodies like pro bono AT&T 3G, but if you've just gotta have it, well, them's the breaks, y'all. You'll find more info at the source link below, or at Amazon where we've already spotted it.
Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus ready for your pre-orders, sticky with Honeycomb
Having passed the FCC's critical eye, and hot on the heels of Samsung's now official love-in with Google, the Korean manufacturer's pint-sized tablet refresh is now up for pre-ordering. Priced at $399 for the 16GB model (or $499 for 32GB), Amazon remains tight-lipped on release date info, but is more than happy to tell us what we'll get for that wad of notes. That includes Android Honeycomb 3.2, and a dual-core 1.2GHz processor -- a substantial jump up from the single 1GHz processor we had with the original Galaxy Tab. If Samsung can promise a swift Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade, we could well be sold.
PlayStation Vita is coming February 22nd, start saving now
Well folks, the wait is over. Sony has announced that the PlayStation Vita will be hitting shelves February 22nd at retailers in the US, Canada, Latin America and Europe. In addition to all your favorite gaming titles and a pocket filled with 512MB of RAM, you'll be able to chat it up with your fellow assassins cross-game or via Facebook, Foursquare, Skype and Twitter. If that's not enough, the 5-inch OLED display, dual analog sticks, dual cameras, and front and rear touch panel should be enough get you amped for a Call of Duty campaign on the handheld device. Keep in mind: this bad boy will sport 3G from AT&T for $299 or you can snag the WiFi-only model for $249. If you're looking for more details, hit that source link below.
iPhone 4S has 512 MB RAM, iFixit and Anandtech verify
It's official. We kept hearing that the iPhone 4S has "only" 512 MB of RAM, not the 1 GB that everyone was hoping for. But we wouldn't believe it until iFixit finished their teardown today. Their results are official -- the iPhone 4S contains 512 MB of RAM. How could they tell? The code on the A5 processor highlighted in red by iFixit in the photo at the top of this post has a string denoting "E4E4". According to Anandtech, each E4 indicates a separate 2 Gb LPDDR2 die. That's 4 Gb altogether, or 512 MB of LPDDR2 RAM. Before you get too upset, note that Anandtech posits that faster and/or more RAM would have affected the iPhone 4S battery life, and that it may take a year for processor technology to progress to the point that iPhone users can have speed, RAM, and the battery life they desire.
iPhone 4S rumored to offer 512MB RAM instead of 1GB
Despite early rumors to the contrary, TUAW is reading reports from around the Internet that the new iPhone 4S will use 512MB of RAM memory, not the full 1GB many had hoped for. In terms of specs, this falls right in line with the iPad 2's 512MB of LPDDR2 RAM, per that device's iFixit tear-down. Reports of the 512MB RAM first surfaced from the developers of Infinity Blade on a Eurogamer.net interview with Chair Entertainment creative director Donald Mustard. Now, AppVV states the same (translated) in a thread linked to by MacRumors. So what does this mean to you? As a rule, the more memory you have onboard, the greater room any application has to work with for memory-intensive assets like graphics, audio, and video. Apps can run more smoothly, and you run into fewer memory-related crashes. The iPad 2 has been no slouch in performance, however. Its 512MB has provided superb interaction, and while more memory is often better, it's unlikely the 4S will suffer from not delivering a full GB of RAM. We will all know for sure soon after iFixit gets its geeky little hands on a unit for a full tear-down, presumably within a few days of this Friday's ship date.
Samsung unveils Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, packing 1.2GHz dual-core CPU and coated in Honeycomb
Samsung has just unveiled a rather unexpected addition to its fleet of tablets, with the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. Available in both 16GB and 32GB varieties, this new slate is fueled by a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb and features a seven-inch LCD with 1024 x 600 resolution. It also packs a two megapixel front-facing camera, along with a three megapixel shooter that supports 720p video, boasts 1GB of RAM and ships with Sammy's TouchWiz UI baked-in. In terms of connectivity, you'll find support for quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 3G with 21Mbps HSPA and the usual smattering of Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS capabilities. In addition, this little guy offers WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n at both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, along with support for channel bonding and apt-X Codec for Bluetooth. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the 7.0 Plus is slated to hit Indonesia and Austria by the end of October, before rolling out internationally. Slide past the break for more details, in the full PR, or check out the gallery below for more images. %Gallery-135281%
Sharp's Aquos Phone 102SH brings 3D 720p display, 12 megapixel CMOS sensor to Japan
Just a few days after unveiling the waterproof IS13SH, Sharp has come out with yet another beastly submersible, known as the Aquos Phone 102SH. Juiced by a 1GHz TI OMAP 4430 CPU, this Gingerbread-coated handset boasts a 4.5-inch glasses-free 3D display with 720 x 1280 resolution, along with 1GB of RAM and a 32GB microSDHC card. The device also packs a 12 megapixel CMOS sensor and supports DLNA, infrared connections, e-wallet functionality and your standard 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 capabilities. No word yet on price, but Japanese carrier SoftBank will begin selling the 102SH in early December. Scurry past the break for more information in the full and translated PR. Update: Oops, it looks we got the resolution terminologies mixed up. It's definitely 720p HD, not qHD. Apologies for the confusion.
Ferroelectric transistor memory could run on 99 percent less power than flash
We've been keeping an optimistic eye on the progress of Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FeRAM) for a few years now, not least because it offers the tantalizing promise of 1.6GB/s read and write speeds and crazy data densities. But researchers at Purdue University reckon we've been looking in the wrong place this whole time: the real action is with their development of FeTRAM, which adds an all-important 'T' for 'Transistor'. Made by combining silicon nanowires with a ferroelectric polymer, Purdue's material holds onto its 0 or 1 polarity even after being read, whereas readouts from capacitor-based FeRAM are destructive. Although still at the experimental stage, this new type of memory could boost speeds while also reducing power consumption by 99 percent. Quick, somebody file a patent. Oh, they already did.
HTC Raider 4G arrives bearing South Korean LTE, looks a lot like the Holiday
HTC has bestowed a sparkly new handset upon its South Korean customers today, with the release of the Raider 4G. Sporting a 4.5-inch qHD display, this Gingerbread-coated device is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and boasts 1GB of RAM, along with 16GB of internal storage. Graced with what appears to be HTC's Sense 3.0, the Raider also features an eight megapixel camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing shooter and supports 1080p Full HD video recording, as well as the usual smattering of WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS capabilities. When connected to a South Korean LTE network, this handset can reportedly achieve downstream / upstream speeds of 100Mbps and 50Mbps uploads, respectively, with HSPA downloads clocking in at 21Mbps and uploads at 5.76Mbps. The manufacturer hasn't revealed any plans for an international release, though rumor has it that this Holiday-like device may be heading to AT&T at some point. Trot past the break for the machine-translated press release, along with an extra image.
LG LU6200 spotted in the wild, with 720p HD display taking center stage
If LG's tease routine didn't whet your appetite for the LU6200, these freshly leaked pics might do the trick. Obtained by Korean site Money Today, these in-the-wild images appear to corroborate many of the specs we've already heard about, including that 4.5-inch AH-IPS display at 720p resolution, eight megapixel camera and 1.3 megapixel front-facing shooter. This device is also rumored to feature a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage and will reportedly ship with Android 2.3.5, though it'll be ready to update to the forthcoming Ice Cream Sandwich, as well. The LU6200 is expected to hit the Korean market sometime next month, where it'll run on LG Telecom's U+ LTE network, but you can check out an extra image of its commodious display after the break.
Single-chip DIMM stacks integrated circuits like shingles for greater DRAM efficiency
Cellphone screens may be getting bigger, but the push to shrink all other computing components continues unabated. Invensas is well aware of this, and has come up with new, multi-die memory that promises to be both smaller in size and more capacious than existing DRAM. Called xFD, it mounts integrated circuits in a "shingle-like configuration" on top of one another to accomplish the trick. Such stacking increases speed while reducing power consumption due to much shorter connections between RAM dies than what's found in multi-chip DIMM. Of course, the memory won't be popping up in PCs anytime soon, but the company will be showing off its new tech at IDF next week. While you wait, there's more RAM reading in the PR after the break.
Researchers wed quantum processor with quantum memory, quaziness ensues
Quantum computing has a long way to go before becoming truly mainstream, but that certainly hasn't stopped us from indulging in dreams of a qubit-based existence. The latest bit of fantasy fodder comes from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where researchers have become the first to combine a quantum processor with memory mechanisms on a single chip. To do this, Matteo Mariantoni and his team of scientists connected two qubits with a quantum bus and linked each of them to a memory element, capable of storing their current values in the same way that RAM stores data on conventional computers. These qubit-memory links also contained arrays of resonators -- jagged, yet easily controlled circuits that can store values for shorter periods of time. The qubits, meanwhile, were constructed using superconducting circuits, allowing the UCSB team to nestle their qubits even closer together, in accordance with the von Neumann architecture that governs most commercial computers. Once everything was in place, the researchers used their system to run complex algorithms and operations that could be eventually used to decode data encryption. The next step, of course, is to scale up the design, though Mariantoni says that shouldn't be too much of a problem, thanks to his system's resonators -- which, according to him, "represent the future of quantum computing with integrated circuits."
Mac 101: Upgrade your Mac's RAM
Upgrading your Mac's RAM is one of the simplest and cheapest ways to improve its performance, and it might be more necessary than ever if you're running OS X Lion. While Apple states that the minimum required RAM for Lion is 2 GB, in my experience this is nowhere near enough memory to get Apple's latest OS running smoothly, especially since the latest version of Safari has a nasty habit of chewing through RAM. If you're running OS X Lion on your Mac I'd say the actual minimum RAM is more like 4 GB, and if your Mac will accept 8 GB or more, there's no reason not to max it out if you can afford to. For some reason many Mac users have got the idea that replacing RAM will void your warranty or your AppleCare agreement. That's not the case at all for the current Macs in Apple's lineup. Apple even provides instructions for swapping out RAM in the instruction booklet that comes with modern Macs, and in OS X Lion the System Information application's RAM tab provides a link to online memory upgrade instructions. If you're intimidated at the thought of cracking open your Mac, don't be. Swapping out the RAM is easy enough for anyone to do it -- if you know how to use a screwdriver, you know how to swap out your Mac's RAM. In fact, the actual physical process of upgrading the RAM is so easy that the hardest part may be finding the correct RAM in the first place. It's important to match up the specs of the replacement RAM with what your machine will accept, because otherwise it may not work properly -- or at all. I generally source my RAM from OWC, because their site takes nearly all of the guesswork out of finding the correct RAM for any given model of Mac. OWC even performs testing to discover the actual maximum amount of RAM a Mac will accept as opposed to Apple's often more conservative figures. For example, Apple's official stats for my Early 2008 MacBook Pro state a max RAM of 4 GB, but testing from OWC and other sources shows my model will actually accept a total of 6 GB. Newegg is another good site to find RAM, and you can often find some good discounts there. However, since it's not a Mac-specific site, you may have slightly more difficulty finding the correct RAM for your Mac. As general guidelines for optimum performance, it's usually best to make sure your Mac has the same amount of RAM in each slot. In other words, if your Mac has two RAM slots and will accept a maximum of 8 GB of RAM, you're usually going to get far better performance with 4 GB of RAM in each slot than you would with 4 GB in one slot and 2 GB in another, and not just because of the additional 2 GB of RAM. It's also generally a good idea to have all of your Mac's RAM from the same manufacturer. There are exceptions to these recommendations, but you'll want to follow them unless your system is unusual in some way. Once you've found the right RAM for your Mac, here's a list of what you'll need: RAM (it's rather important to remember this) Phillips #00 screwdriver (for most Macs) A step-by-step guide -- Apple's own guides are decent, but iFixit's are more in-depth Some Macs are easier to upgrade than others. The MacBook Air's RAM is impossible to upgrade, as it's soldered directly onto the logic board. The pre-unibody models of the Mac mini were notoriously difficult to work on, requiring substantial disassembly to access the RAM, but the unibody Mac mini makes upgrading RAM almost absurdly easy -- you don't need any tools other than your fingers. Mac Pros require a fair bit of disassembly to access the RAM, but that model's modular design makes this relatively easy. The iMac's RAM is also easy to get at, a stark contrast to the risky-looking procedure required to replace its hard drive. I've focused on portable Macs for our own mini-guide simply because that's what I have access to. Though in most cases they require more disassembly than their desktop counterparts, it's still nothing to balk at if you know how to use a screwdriver. Pre-unibody MacBook Pro Swapping the RAM on this model is simple and requires very little disassembly. Remove the battery, remove four screws on the RAM shield and the shield itself, and you're in. I've done many RAM swaps on the older MacBook Pros, and it generally takes me less than ten minutes total. Pre-unibody MacBook Servicing this Mac's RAM is also extremely easy. Remove the battery, loosen some captive screws on a retaining bracket and remove that, and you have easy access to not only the RAM but also the hard drive. The pic below is from a recent repair job I did for a friend's MacBook; swapping out both her RAM and hard drive took less than 20 minutes. Getting at the RAM on this model is very easy thanks to the release levers Apple thoughtfully included. Pushing on the lever causes the RAM to pop out. Polycarbonate (plastic) unibody MacBook Getting at the RAM on the unibody Macs isn't quite as "user friendly," as novice users may be put off at the idea of having to expose the entirety of the "guts" of their Macs for a simple RAM upgrade. The good news is that even though you have to remove the entire bottom panel on the unibody MacBooks, Apple's made this very easy. Once again, all you need is a screwdriver and the courage to proceed. Remove eight Phillips screws (kudos to Apple for not using crazy Y-slotted or security Torx screws) and you'll be ready to remove the Mac's bottom panel. This part can be tricky; in theory the panel shouldn't be exceptionally difficult to lift off at this point, but I had to fight with the panel on my wife's MacBook for a couple minutes before it finally budged. Once removed, your Mac will look like the picture below. The RAM is exposed and sandwiched between the logic board and hard drive. Removing it is supposed to be easy, but the clearance between the RAM and hard drive was so tight that I found it a bit difficult to remove the RAM from the lower slot. Incidentally, removing the hard drive is also very easy if you happen to be doing that upgrade, too; removing a single retaining bracket with a Torx screwdriver allows you to lift the drive out and swap it with a new one. The procedure for the unibody MacBook Pro is essentially the same for both RAM and hard drive upgrades. Even though it may seem intimidating to have to remove the entire bottom of your computer for these upgrades, the unibody Macs should be quite easy to service even for novice users. Even though I had to fight with the lower panel and the lower-slotted RAM when I upgraded my wife's MacBook, it still only took about 15 minutes from start to finish. Once you've put everything back together and started your Mac back up, you can verify that the Mac recognizes the new RAM by accessing "About This Mac" from the Apple menu. If all has gone well, your new RAM will show up and your Mac should feel much snappier overall.
PS Vita to pack 512MB of RAM, support cross-game voice chat
What's the difference between Sony's PlayStation Vita and the PS3? About 256MB of RAM, apparently. In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida confirmed that the forthcoming handheld will boast a full 512MB of RAM (compared to the PS3's 256MB), allowing the Vita to support cross-game voice chat via its Party feature. Yoshida's confirmation effectively debunks earlier rumors that Sony would be halving the Vita's RAM, in order to compete with the 3DS' lower price, though the console does feature comparatively less V-RAM (just 128MB, versus the PS3's 256MB). According to the executive, however, that disparity won't make too much of a difference on the gaming experience, due to changes in the Vita's display resolution. "The resolution on the PS Vita screen is much lower," Yoshida said. "Even though it's four times the resolution of PSP, compared to the console, the amount of data you have to push is much smaller." The proof, of course, is in the pudding, but unfortunately, we probably won't be tasting it for a while.
Intensive surgery on an old MacBook Pro yields huge performance gains (Updated)
Installing OS X Lion on a 3 1/2-year old MacBook Pro made it clearer than ever just how slow my old machine had become. Beachballs left and right, UI lag, incredibly long reboot times, dismal application load times... as someone accustomed to the "instant on" feel of an iPad or iPhone, I was starting to hate my Mac, even though I liked Lion. Playing around with a new MacBook Air in the shops brought back that feeling of "click it and it happens" to OS X, but I found myself unable to afford one unless I could sell my old machine first. After several weeks of trying, with no one offering what I felt was a fair price for my equipment, I instead decided to upgrade my old hardware with a solid-state drive and some more RAM. Open the gallery below in a new tab/window and follow along as I take you through my Mac's surgery. %Gallery-131102% Hypothesis: Installing an additional 2 GB of RAM and swapping out my slothlike 5400 RPM HDD for an SSD will make my Early 2008 MacBook Pro run well enough that I don't need to go for a quick walk around the block any time I need to reboot. Also, it'd be nice if I didn't have to relaunch Safari every half hour because it's brought the entire system to a crawl. Materials: One 240 GB Mercury Extreme Pro SSD from Other World Computing One 4 GB stick of RAM (for 6 GB total) One external hard drive enclosure Carbon Copy Cloner Phillips #00 screwdriver Torx T6 screwdriver iPad with iFixit's repair guides loaded Bicycle chain oil (you heard me) Method: After waiting the requisite week for my hardware to ship from the States, clear through New Zealand Customs and ship to my house, I was off and running. In one extended surgical procedure, I wanted to: Swap out an existing 2 GB RAM module and replace it with a 4 GB module (for a total of 6 GB, the maximum my Mac's hardware will support) Remove, clean, and lubricate a fan that's been making a subtle noise and driving me nuts for months Swap out the factory-installed hard drive for my new SSD. Swapping out the RAM is easy; so easy, in fact, that even on my older Mac Apple provides instructions inside the case for how to do it. I'd heard horror stories in the past about the difficulty involved in swapping out the hard drives in pre-unibody MacBook Pros, so I steeled myself for a frustrating battle. As for the fan, iFixit classified it as a moderately-difficult repair, but after reviewing the instructions it honestly didn't look that tough to accomplish. Step One: Get my data onto the new drive There are many ways to accomplish this. OS X Lion complicates things since it doesn't come on media of any kind, so my original plan was to install the new drive, boot it off a USB recovery disk made using Apple's official utility, then restore from a Time Machine backup. Then I realized that was needlessly complicated and just used Carbon Copy Cloner instead. I mounted the new SSD in the external enclosure that came with the OWC kit, then used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone a bit-for-bit copy of my Mac's hard drive onto the SSD. This took quite some time -- well over four hours -- but it was a lot less of a hassle than booting from the Recovery Disk and then restoring from a Time Machine backup would have been. To fully replicate my experience, stare at this picture for 300 minutes Step Two: Upgrade the RAM This took about two minutes. Replacing RAM on portable Macs is ridiculously easy (except the MacBook Air, of course), and if you have the financial means, I recommend maxing out your RAM as much as you can. In my case, this meant swapping out a 2 GB module for 4 GB, pushing my Mac's RAM to the maximum 6 GB its older architecture will support. Step Three: Disassemble the case This was way easier than I thought it would be. I had to remove a hell of a lot of screws, but once they were all out, prying the upper case away from the bottom was much less difficult than I anticipated. Once finished, my Mac's innards were open for inspection -- and dissection. This won't hurt a bit Step Four: Disassemble the right fan This wasn't strictly necessary, but since I was in there anyway and the fan's subtle yet perceptible noise has been grating on my nerves for months, I decided to dive in anyway. Removing the fan was easy, but removing its tiny connector and the display cable from the logic board were definite "heart in throat" moments. Once I had the fan assembly out of the Mac, taking it apart was no more difficult than disassembling an electric razor. The fan assembly was slightly gummed up with dust, so I wiped it off with a microfiber cloth. I then used a couple tiny drops of silicone-based bicycle chain oil on the fan's central arm -- when I pulled the thing apart, this had no perceptible lubricant on it at all, which may have been the whole problem. Putting the fan back together was a snap -- literally. When the fan snapped back into the motor assembly, I said aloud, "Huh, must be magnetic or something." Then I wanted to punch myself in the side of my head, because duh, an electric motor is basically all magnets. Genius. Step Five: Remove the old hard drive This turned out to be way less difficult than the horror stories I've heard made it out to be. In fact, it wasn't really much harder than upgrading the hard drive on my old PowerBook G3. The tight clearances in this section of my Mac did make the job more difficult than I felt it had to be, and the Bluetooth antenna's cable kept getting in my way, but eventually I got the drive out, removed the mounting bolts on its sides, and slapped it into the external enclosure. Ahh, 250 GB of mobile backup goodness. Step Six: Put in the new drive and close 'er up Putting the new drive in was just about as annoying as pulling the old one out -- the clearances here really are far too tight on the pre-unibody MacBook Pros -- but with a bit of effort I was able to slide the new SSD into position. After going through this process, I can see why Apple decided to call the hard drive a non-user-serviceable part on the older MacBook Pros; unlike the simple "pull tab A and done" procedure for the old MacBooks, there really is quite a lot of opportunity to screw something up on the MacBook Pro if you don't know what you're doing. After that, closing up was a simple matter of putting the top case back on and screwing way too many screws back in. Screws fall out all the time. The world's an imperfect place Step Seven: Push the Power button and pray The moment of truth after every major hardware repair: Will the thing even turn on? Will it explode in sparks and smoke? Will I be greeted by that evil flashing question mark folder? Did I screw five things up in the process of trying to fix three other things? I'm happy to say that my MacBook Pro booted up without issues -- and immediately. The speed with the new SSD is astonishing, especially compared to the dog-slow 5400 RPM hard drive I've been suffering with for so long. Applications launch nearly instantaneously, even notorious I/O hogs like iTunes and Aperture. It's almost bewildering how much faster my Mac seems now with this SSD; it truly feels like a brand new machine. Something was missing, and it didn't take long for me to figure out what it was. Noise. The fan noise was all but gone, and the constant whirring and clanking of the old hard drive was replaced with blissful silence. I can still sort of hear the fan, even after cleaning and lubing it, so I'll probably have to replace the entire assembly at some future point. For now, though, all is well. Result: Do I finally have enough RAM to run Safari for more than 5 minutes before it eats all the frigging memory? Does removing that bottlenecking 5400 RPM HDD and substituting a nice, fast SSD mean I stop seeing the Spinning Beach Ball of Death 15 times a day? Was spending north of US$600, in short, worth it? Absolutely yes. I feel like I have a brand-new machine now, and the performance with the SSD has been so extraordinary that I will never use an old-school spinning platter hard drive as my Mac's main drive again. The 240 GB SSD I have in my Mac now may be more cramped than the 750 GB monsters Apple is shoving into MacBook Pros these days, but the performance of the SSD kicks my old drive's butt up and down the block. Want proof? Check out the video below, where I compared the reboot time on the same machine, running OS X Lion set up to automatically restore applications after rebooting. After viewing the video, it should be obvious why I'm thrilled with this upgrade. If you've been on the fence over an SSD upgrade because of the extremely high dollar-to-gigabyte ratio, I'd say it's definitely worth considering the upgrade if you can afford it. I knew my old hard drive was holding my Mac's performance back, but I didn't realize just how bad it was until I put my Mac through surgery. Update: A couple commenters below noted that the reboot times I was experiencing still seemed a little slow even after installing the SSD. Turns out their tips were correct -- manually selecting the startup disk in System Preferences meant my Mac spent much less time hunting around for the proper startup disk in subsequent restarts. After following their advice, the time it takes from initiating a restart to having all apps fully reloaded is now down to 46 seconds, down from 1 minute 19 seconds. It's too late for me to check how much this might have improved boot times on my old hard drive -- I've already erased and re-purposed it -- but even though it might have improved on the egregious 4 minute, 50 second time I show in the video below, I doubt it could have competed with the SSD's 46-second time.
