iMac running slow

[daansy]

Hi all,

I've had my mac for just over a year now & despite using it no more than 3 times a week I'm finding it running slower all the time. I currently have Football Manager, Word, Safari and Mail open but when I type on Word or click on my game there always appears to be a delay.
I have a 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 Memory: 4GB 1333MHz DDR3

Running 10.7.4 of Mac OS X

Any advice/clues?

[simsaladimbamba]

Maybe you have not enough RAM.

Open Activity Monitor and go to the System Memory* tab and look for Page Outs and Swap used and report back.

Using Activity Monitor to show you CPU and RAM usage

* Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor

If you want to enhance the performance of your Mac, be sure to check these two articles, do not just use applications, that promise to do it for you.

• Performance Tips For Mac OS X
• Mac Performance Guide

[daansy]

Page outs: 4.9MB
Swap used: 38.3MB

[oililymad]

Originally Posted by daansy

Page outs: 4.9MB
Swap used: 38.3MB

You need more RAM

[simsaladimbamba]

Originally Posted by oililymad

You need more RAM

Not necessarily, as those are quite low numbers, unless the numbers were taken after a restart and not after a day of typical usage.

But more RAM can almost always help, especially with a hog like Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.

[oililymad]

Originally Posted by simsaladimbamba

Not necessarily, as those are quite low numbers, unless the numbers were taken after a restart and not after a day of typical usage.

But more RAM can almost always help, especially with a hog like Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.

I stick the RAM pie chart from activity monitor in the dock when I suspect more RAM is needed. Can see ( assuming its accurate) whats being used real time

[daansy]

Is installing RAM relatively easy for iMacs?

[simsaladimbamba]

Originally Posted by daansy

Is installing RAM relatively easy for iMacs?

Yes, if you have a pre 2012 21.5" iMac or any 27" iMac, all you need is a screwdriver to unscrew the bottom plate for access to the RAM slots for those pre 2012 iMacs.
iFixIt has guides for you: http://www.ifixit.com/Device/iMac_Intel

[daansy]

Cheers for your help guys. I've purchased 8GB RAM.