F500 SSD upgrade

Hi,
I have a compaq F500 laptop and wish to upgrade the HD to a samsung 830 128gig SSD.
Despite some grief with Windows 7 setup (had to format the drive in a SATA caddy on my desktop, I just about managed to get windows 7 installed on it but suffer boot issues. If I do not goto the boot menu, the drive refuses to be recognised and does not boot.
Anyone got any ideas?
Cheers,
Ste

Hello,
Maybe its a BIOS problem with the SSD.
Have you checked on the HP webpage, if there is any BIOS update for your model? What exact notebook model you have?
I can only think about the BIOS being the problem, check if there is any update there for your model.
Let me know if you still need help.
Thanks,
I work for HP! Please remember to provide and if this helped click ON

Similar Messages

Satellite R630-155 - Fan is too noisy and SSD upgrade

I am the owner of a Toshiba Satellite R630-155 (Core i5-480). My problems are:
1. The fan is too noisy and never stops. In normal operation (browsing and general office work) there is a constant high pitch noise that is audible three to four meters away in an office environment - in high load you just can't stand it!!! The fan never stops... even when you are doing nothing...
2. Heat is a big problem. The bottom of the laptop is constantly overheating and i have to place it on my desk in a way that the bottom left corner is outside of the table so it can breath fresh air from below - if not, the temperature rises and the (loud) fan is unable to keep up. When i work with the laptop while sitting on a sofa, i have to place a thick book between the laptop and my legs. The book must be thick (more than an inch) with hard covers, otherwise the heat passes through the book!!!!
3. Last (but not least, i just mention the biggest problems here) it's the problem with SSD installation. I bought a used Corsair F80 (80Gb SSD) from a friend, but i was unable to use it with the Toshiba - the BIOS was not detecting the disk. I tried installing all latest firmware updates for both laptop and SSD but i had no success. Then i gave the disk back and i bought a brand new Zalman 128Gb SSD (SSD0128N1 Sandforce) but i had exactly the same problem. I contacted my local Toshiba support and after a lot of conversation the only answer i got is that the laptop is not compatible with those SSD's and this is acceptable by Toshiba and not their problem. They told me that if i need an SSD upgrade i can only go for the Toshiba SSD that is installed on the portege series, which is sold by Toshiba for a ridiculously expensive price - about $500 for 128Gb. I contacted the European support center and i got the exact same reply. I searched on the Internet and i found someone else with the exact same problem with a Corsair 128Gb SSD - he found that the laptop detects the SSD after ten to twenty reboots. I tried that and it was true - after a lot of reboots the laptop detected the Zalman disk and i was able to install Windows 7 successfully, but the process is unacceptable. Also the disk is benchmarked by official sites at the speed of an OCZ Vertex 2 128Gb (and slightly better), but when i ran a benchmark in the Toshiba, the results I got were below half of the advertised speed. Same benchmark in another machine for the same disk, resulted in the advertised speeds.
Shame for Toshiba... nice design and portability but everything else is a big flaw. Their support in non existent and they do not value their customers. I feel they stole my money and I'll never buy a Toshiba laptop again.
Sorry for the big message, but I need I have to warn potential customers. Can someone help me with any of the above problems? Do you have the same problems too?
To be continued...

Hi buddy,
Regarding the fan and heat issue: Did you make BIOS update? Friend of me has Satellite R630 too and he told me that fan activity with new BIOS version 2.10 is reduced. Furthermore the notebook is cooler than before so I would recommend installing this update. You can download the BIOS update here:
http://eu.computers.toshiba-europe.com > Support & Downloads > Download Drivers
But before you start the BIOS update you should consider the following tips:
-Run update as Administrator only
-Unzip all files from zip archive before you start the update file
-Close all running programs and also the antivirus and firewall
-Make sure that battery is fully charged
Regarding the SSDs its always a little bit complicated installing 3rd party products and nobody can guarantee that such parts would work. You are always on safely side with original Toshiba spare parts.
Everything what you can do is installing the newest firmware for SSD and hope that it works but who knows maybe the BIOS update will also help you in this case ;)

Any update on Mac Pro 2013 ssd upgrade?

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge on weather an SSD upgrade for the current 2013 Mac Pro will be available soon. I bought a new Mac Pro 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 12GB RAM for my music production for my studio, however I'm now finding the small SSD a limitation to working with software that needs a lot of space available on the hard drive to install. As far as space for files, I use a external hard drive so that doesn't really matter. I've been constantly checking the web ever so often to see if there is any updated news on pcie ssd upgrades for the new mac pro but can't find anything. OWC did make a prototype SSD for this machine and rumours were that in the 4th quarter on this year they would be available for the public, however that doesn't seem to be the case...
I really wish I went for the 500gb version now even if it was a bit more expensive.
If anyone has any information on when aftermarket pcie based ssds for this machine will be available it will be much appreciated.
Phil.

New TB2 product - OWC ThunderBay 4 Mini
http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2014/20141117_0902-OWC-ThunderbayMini-announ ced.html
Key Features:
•    Four 2.5” drive bays, perfect for SSDs
•    Breathtaking Thunderbolt 2 performance with sustained speeds of up to 1,284MB/s
•    RAID-ready with up to 4TB of SSD storage (HDD up to 8TB)
•    Near-silent operation
•    SoftRAID 5 – first ever software RAID 5 for the Mac (available with ThunderBay 4 mini RAID 5 Edition)
•    Flexibility to combine multiple ThunderBays into a single massive RAID array
•    Regimented multi-hour drive “burn-in” for ultimate reliability

SSD Upgrade to Late 2008 MBP, Plus Windows 8 Install

Hi guys,
I have a 15", late 2008 MBP that was a beast in it's time, but has started to show it's age, especially due to my aging hard drive. I've read great things about performance improvement through installing an SSD, and so I want to perform this upgrade. Also, while I do have my computer backed up through Time Machine, I'd rather just be proactive on replacing my hard drive before it fails on me (which will definitely happen at some point). Here's some more detailed specs for my computer:
CPU: 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
RAM: 4 GB of 1067 MHz DDR 3
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512 MB
Note about the GPU: This comp has the dual graphics chips, but I've been always using the "high-performance" one, which is what is listed above (the other one is a GeForce 9400M).
OS: Most current version of Mavericks (OSX 10.9.2)
In looking up SSD's, I've found that people that have had laptops with similar specs to mine have had success with the Crucial M500 SSDs.
After I get my drive all figured out, I want to use Boot Camp to install Windows 8 on the SSD. Currently, I do not have any Windows installations on my computer. My computer is not supported for Windows 8 installation through Boot Camp, despite the fact that hardware-wise, it is compatable with Windows 8. However, I have found discussions that are pretty standard on how to get Windows 8 installed on my computer.
-So, my first question is: Was my research good for this given SSD for my computer? It seems like Samsung makes the best SSDs, but I haven't found any evidence that it would be really compatable with my computer.
-My second question: Given that I will have just installed an SSD, will Windows 8 installation be doable? This is probably the most important question for me, because if it's not possible, then I'd rather just buy Windows 7 right off the bat and install that in boot camp instead.
-My third question: If I can get Windows up and running, how does my computer's double graphics chip configuration work in Windows? I'd want to make sure that Windows is using the more powerful of the chips and not the less powerful one.
-My fourth question: My computer has gone from Leopard to Snow Leopard to Mavericks, and I never performed a "clean install" for any of these OS upgrades. If I clone my HD to the SSD, would it be beneficial for me to run a Mavericks clean install, and then pull all my necessary data off my backup drive?
Sorry for the long-winded post, and I know much of it is demonstrated elsewhere. I have found many discussions involving SSD upgrades, and getting Windows 8 on a late 2008 MBP, but I haven't found anything that has shown both being done. Both seem easy to do, but I just don't know if doing both in tandem is going to cause a bunch of problems. Has anyone out there done this, and can anyone offer me any advice on how to make this process any smoother? I really like doing this upgrade now, because if I run into Windows issues, or other issues on the SSD, I could still just boot from my old hard drive and use my computer. Thanks everyone!

beestmode,
I have a Mid 2010 MacBook Pro, and I put a Samsung 840 PRO SSD into mine. Where did you find evidence that this model SSD would not work in your MacBook Pro? (The SSD which you’ve installed has a good reputation, so you should have no reason to regret your choice.)
Windows 8 via Boot Camp will not be possible with your model MacBook Pro. In Boot Camp, you could install up to Windows 7, either 32-bit or 64-bit. A virtualizer such as Parallels Desktop or VirtualBox could allow you to install Windows 8, but virtualizers have their own sets of positives and negatives.
Since I have a 13-inch model with only one GPU, I don’t know how your dual GPUs would be handled on the Windows side.
When I’d installed my SSD, I did a clean installation of Mavericks onto it, keeping Snow Leopard on my old internal disk, and putting it into an external enclosure.

Can't Install windows on Macbook Pro Early 2011 with SSD upgrade

Dear all,
A few months ago I had an SSD upgrade and I purchased a Caddy and installed my old HDD on it, and I also changed my Battery because the old one only lasted for 15 inutes after 40 cycles :O
Anyways when I insert a windows 7 or 8 x64 DVD in my USB Samsung DVD Drive, My mac book detects Windows (with the windows 7 DVD) and Detects Windows and EFI Boot (with Windows 8), I have tried every option of those doesn't work.
With EFI it just boots Mac
With Windows it boots to a screen with one blinking cursor top left and then it ejects the DVD ROM and that it :s
I do not know what is wrong :/
P.S. when i installed the SSD I had windows on the old drive it didn't work after the upgrade (this is what made me link both incidents).

I am willing to try this, but I was kinda trying to find a solution that doesn't need me to unscrew stuff ..etc

Lenovo Flex 10 SSD upgrade

Hi,
This is my first post. I have just brought a Lenovo Flex 10 with a celeron n 2807 chip. I asked in the shop if they could do an ssd upgrade and they said they wouldn't recommend it because the celeron n2807 chip is not good enough to run an SSD internal flash drive. Would anyone recomened upgrading the interneral storage from the 5400rpm hard drive to an SSD?

Pardon my lack of confidence in your shop, but that's a joke. SSDs will improve PC's right back to the beginning of the SATA offering. I have a NUC with the following Celeron:
http://ark.intel.com/products/79052/Intel-Celeron-Processor-N2820-1M-Cache-up-to-2_39-GHz
There is a huge performance gain from running an SSD on these. The only factor in whether or not to get an SSD should be if the size within your budget will hold all your data.
←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗
Tap that kudos button if I helped ^^
←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗←↑→↓↘↙↖↗

Results and a Procedure for SSD Upgrade on T410s

After finding that my T410s 1.8" hard drive was 35% - 60% slower than the variety of 2.5" SATA Hard Drives in my older Thinkpads, I selected a Kingston SSDNow V+180 128GB for $219 for the SSD upgrade from Amazon because this Kingston model had the best price for published performance.
If anyone else is thinking of this upgrade, here are the results using CrystalDiskMark to measure Read and Write speeds. (The Kingston has much better Write speeds than the Intel SSD used in some T410s models.)
System: T410s with 1.8" Toshiba 250G drive > upgraded to Kingston SSDNow V+180 128GB
                                                    HDD             SSD               Improvement
Sequential Read 1000MB           47 MB/s        190 MB/s       304%
Sequential Write 1000MB           46                 150                 226%
Random Read       512KB           21                 174                 728%
Random Write       512KB           22                 149                 577%
Random Read           4KB          0.30               14.0              4566%
Random Write           4KB          0.68               16.0              2253%
Upgrade Procedure
To complete the upgrade, I restored a Windows 7 Disk Image from the HDD to the SSD. Partition Alignment and TRIM were both correct after the transfer to the SSD. The Windows 7 image was on a USB drive where I maintain a Fresh Install image that has my full setup.
Notes: To restore a Windows 7 image from a larger drive to a smaller drive, you must create the disk image after shrinking drive C:\ to a size that permits it to fit on the new smaller drive . . so your larger source drive MUST HAVE unallocated space before creating the Windows 7 Disk Image. When shrinking drive C:\ on your source drive, shrink it enough so it will easily fit with room to spare on new smaller drive, otherwise Windows 7 image restore will not work.   You can expand drive C:\ to fill the entire new SSD drive after restoring the image to the SSD. (more notes about the source drive below)
- The Disk Imaging mentioned in this post is built into Windows 7 - Acronis is great but not needed for this SSD upgrade.
- Shrinking and Expanding drive C:\ is done in Windows 7 Disk Management
- Your larger source drive must be configured to have Unallocated Space before creating the disk image.  Its the total size of all partitions on your source drive that matters, even if you don't select extra partions to be in the image. Creating Unallocated Space on the source drive is the only thing that works for using Disk Imaging to move from a larger drive to a smaller drive.
Important:   Check out post installation Tweaks when using an SSD at this link.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1133897/windows-7-ssd-tweaking-guide
especially disable Hybernation and scheduled Defragmentation. Scheduled Defragementation may be set by default on all Windows 7 installations.
Other Results
Windows 7 boots to the login screen in 16 seconds now compared to 28 seconds before.
The T410s with the Toshiba HDD was a real drag compared to my older T500 and T61 with stock 5400rmp Hard Drives.
The T410s with the Kingston SSD is now my quickest system.
The measured results I get from the Kingston are a little slower than the results published in an independent review of this drive using the same free CrystalDiskMark utility. I know my Partition Alignment is good, so maybe the different results are caused by some difference in the computers.  To make sure the disk image transfer wasn't causing a performance hit, I also performed a from-scratch install of Windows 7 directly on the SSD. The performance tests results were the same with either method getting Win7 on the SSD.
The 1.8" Toshiba Hard Drive that came with the T410s was painfully slow, I am a little surprised Lenovo would put this drive in one of their business class systems.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Thank you for posting this. It was very helpful in my decision to move from the Toshiba 250G drive to the 256G Kingston. The performance of the drive is awesome. I thought I would share a few items on how I went through the upgrade.
I used the Lenovo Rescue and Recovery and performed a full BASE backup. It took about 12-14 hours to backup around 220 GB.
I then replaced the old drive with the new drive.
After replacing, I used the two recovery DVDs to restore to factory settings.
After back to factory, I went through all the basic setup so I could use the OS.
I then downloaded the critical update for Recuse and Recovery.
After that I ran rescue and recovery with the option to replace everything.
The restore of the data took 3-6 hours (didn't sit around to watch the whole thing).
Everything was restored perfectly. No issues at all.
I had read that you could boot off of the external backup on USB, but I couldn't validate that myself. Lenovo tech support also said it couldn't be done. I had reviewed my plan with Lenovo support a few times to be sure I was doing things right. The knowledge level on R&R is pretty inconsistent.
Also, a note that my original drive was encrypted with PGP Whole Disk Encryption. When R&R backs up the data it's no longer encrypted and I didn't have a password on the backup. I turned off disk defrag after the restore. I confirmed Windows 7 was set to use TRIM.
I highly recommend the drive. The 256GB wasn't cheap, but I needed that amount of space. The performance like I said, is excellent.
Good post, swbca. Thanks!

MacBook Pro (summer 2012) non-retina display and SSD upgrade?

Looking to upgrade to a SSD in my MacBook Pro (summer 2012) non-retina display. Are there ones that work better in a MacBook Pro?

In theory at least, any SSD will work fine. There are some additional considerations to make, however. It mostly revolves around updating the drive's firmware. Many SSD companies do not offer Mac-friendly ways to perform this procedure. From the list Clinton provided, you can drop Corsair and Samsung immediately for this reason.
I would not consider OWC, Intel, or any SSD that uses a Sandforce chipset because of spotty reliability. Yes, improvements have been made, but I still do not trust them. Of the dozens of SSDs I've owned and deployed over the last 2-3 years, the only ones to need replacement were ones with Sandforce.
That leaves Crucial, Plextor, and OCZ. The former two basically use the same Marvell chipset. While I can't speak for Plextor, Crucial's firmware updates are OS agnostic. You simply down an .iso file, burn it to CD, boot from that disc, and perform the update. It works perfectly on a Mac. Doing a quick check of Plextor's support site, it seems the proedure is the same.
For OCZ, I'm only focusing on the Vector and Vertex 4. The former is brand new, having just hit the market within the last couple weeks. If you're looking to buy right now, I would stick with the Vertex 4 as it's a more proven commodity. OCZ has created a suite of tools that you copy to a USB flash drive. You can boot from it, and it takes you to what I think is a very heavily modified Linux distribution. From there, you can do a firmware update, check drive health, and perform a SATA secure erase to return the drive to its "out of the box" state. To get the most from the tools, you should have a USB mouse plugged in. Also, firmware updates require the use of a hard-wired Ethernet cable; you can't use wireless.
Bottom line - for an SSD upgrade, stick with Crucial, Plextor, or OCZ as they are the most Mac-friendly (aside from original Apple parts, of course).

HDD to SSD upgrade for HP Pavilion 15 notebook PC

Hey there!
I own a HP pavilion 15 notebook PC, [Model number: F6C42PA#ACJ]. Currently it is equipped with a 1 TB SATA HDD. I was planning to upgrade it to SSD. Kindly guide me through steps and compatible products. Also is there a simple way to just walk into an authorised service centre and request thm to do the upgrade?
Thank you,
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Here is the Service Manual:
Manual
See page 59.
Not your exact model but very close and the videos will perhaps be more helpful.
http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=c04324972&DocLang=en&docLocale=en_US&jumpid=...
Any 2.5 inch SATA form factor SSD will work and I recommend a Samsung Evo 850.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147372&cm_re=Samsung_850_Evo-_-20-147-372-_...
There is a link to all the available sizes on the page. I would recommend at least a 256 and 500s are pretty affordable these days.
Where do you live? Country only, please. I have heard that HP Service Centers will perform memory and SSD upgrades on these "closed" systems but I am not sure where all of them are located or what they would charge. You should be able to find a competent local computer shop to do it. It does put the warranty in jeopardy but the warranty will not be revoked if the job is done properly, without damage to the laptop.
If this is "the Answer" please click "Accept as Solution" to help others find it.

Third Party SSD upgrade announced!!!

Check this out:
http://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/27/256gb-ssd-upgrades-for-new-macbook-air-annou nced/

drsailer wrote:
Probably never.
http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/apple-stops-sale-of-photofast-256gb-ssd-for-m acbook-air-20101130/
That's really too bad. We can shop Macsales.com and upgrade our desktops and portables. Now Photofast has had their hand slapped and we can not have an even faster MBAir. What a bummer.

256 Crucial SSD upgrade

Hi,
I'm considering upgrading my MacBook (MacBook5,1: 2.4GHz, Aluminum, 13-inch, Late 2008) and switching the original 256Gb SATA drive with a 256Gb SSD 2.5-inch drive from Crucial. However, when I contacted my local vendor to ask about the upgrade, they stated that an SSD upgrade is not possible for this model, that Apple never ever had an SSD option available for this MacBook and that the SSD "might not work or may cause damage".
So, I used Mactracker to check on my machine's specs and it shows a 256Gb SSD upgrade option, just as I remember when I originally purchased the MacBook. However, as Mactracker is not an official source of information for Apple products, I'm not entirely sure whether to trust it.
I would appreciate if anybody could point me in the right direction for this. Especially if there is an official webpage somewhere that states what upgrades can be performed on a Mac model.
Thanks,
Nick

http://support.apple.com/kb/SP500
While the above MacBook specfications show that yes there was an SSD option for your MacBook, it was the 128GB SSD, as the 256GB SSD was not yet available. Since they generate little or no heat, a greater capacity model could just as well be installed in the future.
I've also been considering a 256GB SSD, but for my late 2007 MacBook, and it's only a question of price.

SSD upgrade G71

Hello Im trying to upgrade a G71 449wm. i purchased an OCZ agility 3 120gb SSD drive. laptop does not recognize it shows as no hard drive detected. i updated the bios to the F.23. i cleared the cmos. i can reinstall original drive and it boots right up. SSD no luck getting it to show up. i put the SSD in another pc and it was recognized and was able to install windows 7. question 1 any ideas is there a compatibility issue? if i cant get this to work i dont want to buy a 2nd drive that is not recognized. SSD brands that work and standard drives that work as well ? thank you

Rlaffoon wrote:
Hello Im trying to upgrade a G71 449wm. i purchased an OCZ agility 3 120gb SSD drive. laptop does not recognize it shows as no hard drive detected. i updated the bios to the F.23. i cleared the cmos. i can reinstall original drive and it boots right up. SSD no luck getting it to show up. i put the SSD in another pc and it was recognized and was able to install windows 7. question 1 any ideas is there a compatibility issue? if i cant get this to work i dont want to buy a 2nd drive that is not recognized. SSD brands that work and standard drives that work as well ? thank you
Hi,
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?112268-SSD-upgrade-HPG71
I believe that it is possible to have a solid state drive in this laptop:
http://www.crucial.com/uk/upgrade/HP+-+Compaq-memory/HP+G7xx+Series/HP+G71-449WM-upgrades.html
But I would recommend a SATA II drive instead. Samsung, Corsair, Intel, Kingston and Sandisk have also good drives.
Dv6-7000 /Full HD/Core i5-3360M/GF 650M/Corsair 8GB/Intel 7260AC/Samsung Pro 256GB
Testing - HP 15-p000
HP Touchpad provided by HP
Currently on Debian Wheeze
*Please, help other users with the same issue by marking your solved topics as "Accept as Solution"*

HP 15 -r012st msata ssd upgrade

i have a HP 15 -r012st msata ssd upgrade ..i want to add msata ssd..is it possible..
how can i open noteboard..
sorry enlish to bad

Hi,
Please check the following list first (updated Nov 18, 2014):
http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/msata-ssd-compatability-list.html
Regards.
BH
**Click the KUDOS thumb up on the left to say 'Thanks'**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.

MacBook SSD Upgrade

Hello everyone
I am thinking to upgrade my old MacBook (A1181) HDD to SSD because is is very slow.
Can anyone tell me is it worth to upgrade and what capacity SSD will accept the system? the current HDD is 500GB. And I am thinking to remove optical drive and put current HDD there.
"SanDisk Ultra Plus Solid State Drive 256GB SSD 530MB/s SATA 6Gbit/s SDSSDHP-256G"
Will this SSD compatible with mac?
My Mac is Intel Core Duo 2GHz 2GB RAM Late 2006 (Black)
Thanks

http://www.macsales.com/ specialized in SSD upgrades for Macs. I would buy from them.
SSDs have historically been difficult to zero, thus making more of a security threat if sold or given to another party as a gift.
Look at this tip for reasons why your Mac may be slow:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6921

2014 Mac mini 2.5" SSD upgrade

Hi all.
A long time Mac Mini fan here - after spent almost 3K for Mac Pro (outdated in few years) that I have to "accept" Apple's product refreshing strategies - that upgrade my hardware periodically is the trend.
Since then, I have turned to Mac Mini - for the small fraction of cost, I can "update" my Mini more frequently.
2009 Mac Mini x 2 (mine and my spouse's) are currently at grand children's possession, still going strong.
Now, we have 2010 (TV at bedroom), 2011 (mine) and 2012 Mac Minis. They were all the top Spec models - at the time. 2012 i7 Quad core, 2011 i7 with 6630M AMD video etc.
Cut into the story - I also put SSDs in all of them ( 1T SSD in 2012, 256Gb x 2 dual drives in 2011 and 256Gb in 2010) plus used Terminal to enable "TRIM" - until 10.10. .. sigh
Along with iOS 8.1.1 - I start to notice the inadequacy of my 2011 Mac Mini - airdrop/hand off will not work natively without some modification.
After tossing around getting an 2012 i7 Quad-core Mini ( 800-1000 USD) or - jumping into the fixed memory, 2014 Mini?
I decided to order a base model of 2.6GHz i5, with stock 1T hard drive, 8G ram (639-699 USD). Because I have few 512Gb SSD sitting around - I was torn to order the higher end model with PCI-e Apple OEM SSD 512G. After all the price adding, I realize I can buy TWO base 2.6GHz i5 Mini than 1 customized high end Mini.
Through the web, I found the Fusion drive model (2014, oh, with USD 200 extra) has PCI-e 128Gb SSD and 1T HDD. I am hoping one day, iFixit will have the part for the PCI-e cable/setting to be placed in 2014 Mini - for some people want to play around. For now, I am settling with slower speed of SATA-3, third party SSD without TRIM.
According to UPS, the my new toy will be delivered Monday and I will post more details about this SATA SSD upgrade process.

After few days of testing.
I finally solved the problem of screen flickering ( when an app is opened, or few apps are opened), the screen will flicker on the app(s). This happened on Firefox, MS Word, Soundtrack (yes, I am still using it). iTunes, iPhoto, even "system preferences" etc etc.
First, my system was built via Time Machine restore - after SSD (Crucial 512Gb) on the SATA-3 port. ( theoretically would be slower compared to PCI-e SSD) on my 2014 Mac Mini 2.6Ghz, 8Gb memory. ( I chose the basic 2.6Ghz base model to save few $$, since I have two 512 Gb SSD laying around, instead of custom-build for 512 GB SSD PIC-e, with USD 1,299.00 price tag).
I tried numerous methods to avoid the flickering ie - PRAM reset, HDMI -> monitor, HDMI -> DVI cable, Thunderbolt -> DVI, Thunderbolt -> VGA on two different models of screen : no success.
The only time I could get a normal decent "flicker free" was when I booted into safe mode - after reboot - same issue.
I also used hardware check as Mini indicated "no issues" on the hardware.
I went to Apple Store and play with their set up - no issues (of course, Mac Mini was hooked on the Apple Display, wow!)
I started to wonder - either it would be OS X issues or "third party" software??
So, I took the 512 Gb SSD out (it is some sort of "pain" to open 2014 Mini), then used another SSD (120 Gb) for a clean install.
A fresh 10.10.1 on 2014 Mac Mini without other 3rd party software - worked great, no flickering at all.
I started to add the apps I normally have, one by one to test - UNTIL -- Microsoft Office 2011 (home and business version)
I have Outlook to synch with my Calendar, and typical Word, Excel, Powerpoint on my system.
As soon as I put Office 2011 on it - Voila! I found the culprit. It was running 14.4.6 version.
So, I put my 512Gb Crucial SSD back (another pain again) and booted up normally - same issues.
I have been check Apple to see if OS X 10.10.2 becomes general public release (hoping the problem would be accidentally fixed) - in the mean time, I was using my 2011 Mac Mini as the main system. 2014 Mac mini was on the disable list.
Until today, Office 2011 released 14.4.7 - I gave it a try and finally, Mac Mini 2014 with Iris GPU would not demonstrate "flickering" issues after the update!
Whew!!
Sam

F500 SSD upgrade

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