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FooArk

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 16, 2011
433
78
It has 2.53ghz processor and 4GB of RAM. Is there anything I can do to make it run faster?
 
A Crucial m4 256GB currently costs about $239.99 on Newegg. It's definitely a heavy price to pay for storage vs a regular hard drive. But, it is totally worth it. I have a 2009 MBP like you, and after putting a 64GB Samsung 830 in it, it is lightning fast. :) I highly recommend SSDs if you can afford them!
 
These are really generic answers to a poorly worded question. The reason is that computer performance isn't one dimensional. Can you mention where it's slowing down? No one can tell you for sure without a lot of information. Given that you're running on 4GB of ram, you're probably hitting the disk more often, so a faster disk would help there. It launches applications faster. It opens locally stored files faster, assuming you can retain them locally with the smaller SSD capacity.

It will not make your games run faster. It will not make cpu bound calculations run faster. There are other things. An SSD can be installed on a new computer or an older one. In either case it provides the same advantages. You still have to make backups. They're no more reliable than HDDs. The thing about lack of mechanical wear is a myth. They die to different factors.
 
If space is concerning you, go Optibay or Data doubler.
By sacrificing a ODD (Optical Disk Drive) that people never use now, you can put 2 HDD/SSD in to your MBP.

So put an SSD in the main bay and put a 750GB~1TB HDD in the second.
This will help problems with low storage on SSDs.
 
It has 2.53ghz processor and 4GB of RAM. Is there anything I can do to make it run faster?

Put a Momentus XT on it. I heard it's nearly as fast as the SSD. A bit more RAM too.

It is still best to get the latest MBP.
 
Put a Momentus XT on it. I heard it's nearly as fast as the SSD..
You heard wrong ;)

Sure hybrid drives are faster then traditional drives but not has fast as SSDs. SSDs are all electronic and have no latency. Regardless of the buffer usage, the hybrid drive is still a mechanical device and as such it takes time for the read/write head to traverse the platter
 
will increasing to 8GB of RAM but not adding a SSD give me much improvement?
 
I agree on the Momentus drives. I just put one in my Mac Mini. 750GB plus a small SSD. Boot times a very quick plus I tripled my HD space. And frequently used apps launch much faster.
 
Maybe just reinstall the system? (clean install)
I have done it recently, because HD partitions corrupted, and my Mac feels snappier! :rolleyes:
 
I have a very similar MBP to yours. I upgraded it with both 8 GB of RAM and an SSD. The result is nothing less than dramatic! You won't be disappointed.
 
You heard wrong ;)

Sure hybrid drives are faster then traditional drives but not has fast as SSDs. SSDs are all electronic and have no latency. Regardless of the buffer usage, the hybrid drive is still a mechanical device and as such it takes time for the read/write head to traverse the platter

Hybrids are enough for what most people are looking for.

SSDs are the way to go when you run virtualization.
 
Hybrids are enough for what most people are looking for.

SSDs are the way to go when you run virtualization.

Yeah i've been thinking about this. Starting VM's is kinda annoying, it'd be nice if they loaded super fast! :)
 
Let me put it this way, there's no Mac I have that does not get the SSD treatment. I still have an old 2006 MacBook, but with it's Vertex 3 SSD, it's blazingly fast:rolleyes:
 
Let me put it this way, there's no Mac I have that does not get the SSD treatment. I still have an old 2006 MacBook, but with it's Vertex 3 SSD, it's blazingly fast:rolleyes:

Isn't that SATA I?

It would be nice if it was SATAIII so you get the full benefit of SSDs. It's amazing how a storage device now exceeds the speed of it's protocol. Mechanical drives were just starting to hit the SATA I specification.
 
Isn't that SATA I?

It would be nice if it was SATAIII so you get the full benefit of SSDs. It's amazing how a storage device now exceeds the speed of it's protocol. Mechanical drives were just starting to hit the SATA I specification.

Yeah, a 2Ghz CD black MacBook, sata I. But as the Vertex 3 is the easiest to get (around the corner) fast drive, I choose this one any time. I don't care about the speeds it can get, as long as it makes the MacBook crazy fast, which it does.
 
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