Any way at all to upgrade the CPU in a MacBook Pro?

[wickedking94]

why did you do that? you could have easily sold the MBP and bought a decent PC laptop and still had $$$ left over.

I already answered this. I don't want a PC laptop, I'm not selling this one, and besides the point its fine. Read all the posts before you reply.

----------

If the type of work you like is unavailable, then you have to do the type you don't like.

Learning to code websites would take too long for me to be any good. And there are some jobs I simply won't do because I know I would hate it and probably quit anyway.

 

[therealseebs]

Thanks for that. I agree. Though helpful, it seems the apple community is never willing to admit apple's faults. My local electronics shop only has kingston SSD's, but I looked up reviews and its largely positive. I do need a lot of space though so I've ordered one of those adapters to put a HDD where my optical drive is. I can get a 60 GB SSD for 70$ which is big enough for Mac OS and my apps to fit (I have 34 GB of apps, and OS X is around 8GB) then I can use the SSD for fast stuff and have my HDD for my big files like movies and stuff that dont need high speed.

Also what is Trim enabler, and what does it do?

<helpful> Trim enabler is a program which enables trim! </helpful>

SSDs have a feature called "trim" which allows the OS to Perform Magic which makes them perform better and last longer. By default, Apple will use trim support only on Apple-shipped SSDs. Trim Enabler is a third-party program which will make OS X use the feature on any SSD which supports it. I think it's free, although the author requests donations.

I have been more than a little tempted by the adapters to put an HDD in the optical drive bay, but I am a little wary of them -- never felt quite like taking the risks, if there are any.

----------

Learning to code websites would take too long for me to be any good. And there are some jobs I simply won't do because I know I would hate it and probably quit anyway.

Just so you know: This is almost certainly the right call. People tend to place way too much value on money, and forget that the purpose of money is to get things you want, because that'll make you happier. If you'll be miserable getting that money, maybe better to do something else.

I tend not to be very sympathetic to the general contempt people have for people who have trouble finding work, especially in this economy; there's real issues right now, and I've yet to meet an actual example of a person who was unemployed or underemployed because of "laziness".

 

[wickedking94]

The only risk I can foresee putting a HDD adapter into the ODD bay is damaging the connector on the logic board. But I have those little plastic connector tools that come with iPhone battery replacement kits, so it should be a breeze.

 

[wickedking94]

You know an SSD might actually help my CPU issues. I know nothing can make it faster, but say for example my CPU does 2.4 billion operations per second per core, then a lot of those cycles are wasted waiting for information from the hard drive right? So if I run all my apps an OS off a SSD which is significantly faster (the one I'm looking at has a read speed of 250 MB/s, compared to my current drive's 50 MB/s) then less of those CPU cycles are spent waiting for data from the SSD, which would free them up for use by other programs, which in effect would allow CPU intense process to run better because they get more cycles per second.

At least its an idea anyway. Regardless I'm sure an SSD will help me get as much performance as possible out of my MacBook.

 

[Hephaestus]

What exactly are you trying to run? A 2010 C2D MacBook Pro is far from an underpowered machine. Out of interest.. what is your clock speed? What is your RAM? How much free space do you have on your hard drive?

If you're having general lag and sluggishness, it's could be due to a RAM or hard drive problem. Try repair disk permissions and clean your caches. You could also try and reset the PRAM. There is no need to be impatient.

I have a 2009 C2D MBP and it runs like butter. It just needs to be looked after. I program in C++, Matlab. I use a lot of the Adobe visual design software among other applications. I never get lag or sluggishness. Just calm down maybe and think rationally, no point in acting childish.

 

[therealseebs]

If you're genuinely CPU-bound, then you don't get much advantage from an SSD -- if the CPU has work it can do, it's not gonna be waiting for the hard drive, it'll just do the work. But if you're running out of memory, you're gonna be waiting on disk activity a lot. So "max memory" is very important for some stuff.

Of course, if you're just doing heavy CPU stuff with small working sets, then you're limited by the CPU, and the core 2 isn't stupendously fast or anything, but it should be livable even now.

EDIT: Maybe some examples of specific things you're doing and how long they're taking?

 

[wickedking94]

What exactly are you trying to run? A 2010 C2D MacBook Pro is far from an underpowered machine. Out of interest.. what is your clock speed? What is your RAM? How much free space do you have on your hard drive?

If you're having general lag and sluggishness, it's could be due to a RAM or hard drive problem. Try repair disk permissions and clean your caches. You could also try and reset the PRAM. There is no need to be impatient.

I have a 2009 C2D MBP and it runs like butter. It just needs to be looked after. I program in C++, Matlab. I use a lot of the Adobe visual design software among other applications. I never get lag or sluggishness. Just calm down maybe and think rationally, no point in acting childish.

Well for starters I basically can't do anything in Autodesk Maya because it takes my MacBook about 17 hours to render a 30 second animation. Also trying to play Garry's Mod it freezes about 3 time just loading the game and completely crashes if I make anything that uses the physics engine.

My Clock speed is 2.4 Ghz, Dual core, 64 bit. I have 8GB of Crucial RAM installed. I have 225 GB free out of 500 GB on my HDD. I've cleaned the caches, I've reset the PRAM, I've reset the SMC. I've done pretty much every thing that people recommend to keep a Mac running smoothly. And your not the first person I've heard from who says they're C2D machine still runs fast, and when I first got mine it was a powerhouse, but for the last few months its been a slow pile of crap. I haven't tried doing a clean OS install yet since it takes about 3 days to re-download ML. Apples servers must be slow or something because I downloaded 8 GB of stuff in 3 hours but ML which is only a 4 GB download takes days. What gives?

 

[Vudoo]

...
I wish I could go back to SL, but I can't restore my files from my time machine backup because they're formatted for ML.
...

What files are you trying to restore that are specifically formatted for ML?

I personally would forget about the time machine backup and just grab an external hard drive and copy over the necessary data. Format the hard drive, install SL, install applications from CDs, files or downloads and then copy the data back over. And if you plan carefully, you would backup your mail, contacts, calendars, bookmarks and etc. You may lose your preferences, but those just take time to set-up back again.

I don't mess with migrations and my method of clean install has worked well for me on Windows and Macs to the point that I never had a machine become sluggish over time. As you said, your laptop was a powerhouse when you first got it. Your hardware hasn't changed since then unless something has gone bad. I suspect your migration to ML as being the culprit or some other software change.

 

[wickedking94]

What files are you trying to restore that are specifically formatted for ML?

I personally would forget about the time machine backup and just grab an external hard drive and copy over the necessary data. Format the hard drive, install SL, install applications from CDs, files or downloads and then copy the data back over. And if you plan carefully, you would backup your mail, contacts, calendars, bookmarks and etc. You may lose your preferences, but those just take time to set-up back again.

I don't mess with migrations and my method of clean install has worked well for me on Windows and Macs to the point that I never had a machine become sluggish over time. As you said, your laptop was a powerhouse when you first got it. Your hardware hasn't changed since then unless something has gone bad. I suspect your migration to ML as being the culprit or some other software change.

Well certain apps like the adobe stuff and autodesk maya you can't just copy and paste you have to re-download and go through all the serial keys and activating crap. With time machine because its a complete system backup it restores everything to the right places so I can use those programs right away. I tried going back to SL a while ago by doing the copy/paste method and I don't remember why but I could never get it to work

 

[zackkmac]

Regardless I'm sure an SSD will help me get as much performance as possible out of my MacBook.

Trust me you will immediately see an enormous improvement if you did an SSD upgrade. From reading about the issues your MBP is having, it sounds like your HD may be wearing out. My recommendation to you is the Crucial M4 as (to me) it is a perfect investment for the price. I bought my 512GB SSD for $318 total compared to $600-$750 for 512GB Samsung drives.

It's great that you're doing what you can with your current MBP. It should be a nice upgrade that will last, while in the meantime, you can save up and look out for a good deal on a 15" that will last you longer.

 

[wickedking94]

Okay I've decided to try going back to SL. I think the problem last time was there was a few things such as game saves and my safari bookmarks file that were in hidden folders on my TM backup so I made sure to copy those into easy to access areas.

Will post an update when I'm done.

 

[wickedking94]

Okay got SL working on my MBP. Got 99% of my stuff back in the right place, just have to finish re-downloading Maya, Garry's Mod, and Counter Strike and I'll be done. Would go a lot faster if Steam wasn't so crappy.

But on the plus side its definitely around 20% faster than before. Most program icons only bound 2-3 times before opening compared to 5-6 times in ML. I think once I get an SSD into this thing it will be able to meet most of my needs for now, and give me time to earn some money. I'm thinking a fully loaded quad core i7 Mac Mini would be a good Mac on a budget.

 

[takeshi74]

Though helpful, it seems the apple community is never willing to admit apple's faults.

People love to parrot this but the Apple community certainly does admit Apple's faults. There are certainly critics out there and it's not one gestalt mind like it's made out to be. You can find plenty of criticism of Apple here on MacRumors if you bother to look instead of just make sweeping generalizations.

As stated many times in this thread you're the cause of many of your computer-related problems. It's your responsibility to buy what suits you just as it's everyone's own responsibility to do so. If future proofing (there's no such with tech to begin with) and upgradability are priorities for you then you should be buying systems that allow for it. You should be buying a full desktop system if you want to be able to swap out parts instead of buying an entirely new system to upgrade. A Windows system would be better suited in this regard despite your statements that you'd rather stay with OSX. You have to determine which of your priorities are most important as they won't always fall in line with each other and may even conflict.

If your needs change over time then you need to make the necessary adjustments to accommodate those changes. If thinness doesn't matter to you then don't buy products that are designed as such and then complain that "nobody cares if it's thin" when rMBP's are selling very well. Your needs/wants/priorities are your own. Use them as shopping critieria instead of assuming that any manufacturer should just bend to your needs.

I can certainly understand being upset that your C2D system isn't performing as it should be but lashing out at Apple and other users who are using systems that meet their needs isn't going to help you in any way. If any product doesn't meet your needs then use what does. Good luck with getting your C2D running better. Unfortunately, I know nothing about them as my early 2011 MBP is my first Mac.

And really, to anyone who's good with computers would you rather spend 200$ every two years on a CPU upgrade to stay current, or would you rather buy a new computer every two years or have to spend 4000$ on a fully loaded iMac just so it's future proof?

Doesn't matter what I prefer when it doesn't jive with reality. It's not just CPU's that change over time. You seem to be assuming that a given CPU socket could be used to the end of time for any future CPU. It just doesn't work that way.

 

[wickedking94]

To the comment above this one, kindly shut up.
Were now past the "its your fault" part of this thread. And you've essentially summarized the first to pages of this thread. Believe me I got the message the first 20 times.

In continuation where I left off, I've gotten 100% of my programs and files back on SL. Drastic improvement. Maya, photoshop, after effects, and even Minecraft work better now. I can't test Garry's Mod since the latest update broke it for Mac users. Sometimes I think if you were to go to Steam HQ you would just find a monkey in an empty room hitting a computer with a hammer. But this isn't about how bad Steam is at doing things.

I wen't to the local pawn shop where I have some store credit from a while ago and got a nice Kingston 60GB SSD for a mere 28$ out of my pocket. According to the spec sheet it gets about 280 MB/s read 250 MB/s write, which I gather is about as fast as you can go with SATA II. Once I get my ODD to HDD adapter in the mail, I can slap this guy into my MBP and load SL and my apps onto it which should pretty much max this thing out. Combined with the fresh install of SL this should give me enough of a performance boost to last me a while longer while I seek out a means of earning enough to buy myself a loaded Mac Mini.

 

[zackkmac]

Just as a tip, from past readings about the ODD to HDD thing, you'll want to put the SSD in your current hard drive bay and your HDD in the ODD kit/optical drive bay.

 

[wickedking94]

Just as a tip, from past readings about the ODD to HDD thing, you'll want to put the SSD in your current hard drive bay and your HDD in the ODD kit/optical drive bay.

Yeah I figured that would work best. Make it easier to set as the boot drive and that connection is probably faster too.

 

[old-wiz]

what laptops have upgradeable cpus?


even if they were.......the cpu sockets change too frequently for it to be worth it

And even if you can upgrade the CPU, there's no guarantee the logic board/firmware would work properly. Ditto for changing the GPU.

 

[RedRaven571]

Why don't I buy a cheap 500$ laptop? Because I like Mac OS way more than windows, not to mention all my software is for Mac.
And yes I get it they change the stupid CPU socket. Then my complaint no longer lies with apple it lies with the entire computer industry not making things a little more future proof.

And btw my MacBook is fine it fell 3 feet into a pile of laundry.

Buy some cheap Dell and make a hackintosh, problem solved.

 

[runebinder]

And yes you can totally replace the CPU in plenty of laptops out there. My brothers old acer had an upgradable CPU, my other brothers old dell had an upgradable CPU, my brothers current Asus has an upgradable CPU, and amazingly enough my other brothers 13 inch Lenovo has an upgradable CPU. So 4/4 clearly it's not uncommon and these aren't expensive high end laptops there everyday 500$ ones.

I want to know model numbers. I work doing IT customer support for a large electronics Retail company and have never come across basic consumer laptops where you can change the CPU/GPU. So what are the model numbers of these miracle laptops?

 

[wickedking94]

Seriously how far back did you go to find this thread? And no im not trolling. Having taken apart both my brothers deceased laptops i removed the CPUs from both and actually sold them to a pawn shop.

 

[runebinder]

Seriously how far back did you go to find this thread? And no im not trolling. Having taken apart both my brothers deceased laptops i removed the CPUs from both and actually sold them to a pawn shop.

Well as it was near the top of the threads due to other people posting today not far...

Still haven't answered the question yet though, somehow doubt you will.

 

[dukebound85]

Seriously how far back did you go to find this thread? And no im not trolling. Having taken apart both my brothers deceased laptops i removed the CPUs from both and actually sold them to a pawn shop.

which laptops? i doubt your claims

 

[hvfsl]

I have changed out cpus in PC laptops before, but changeable GPUs is just a marketing gimmick. Even if you were able to track down one, it would most likely ether cost too much to be worth it, not make much difference or crash a lot as the laptop wasn't designed the support the heat generated by it.

But having a quick look at Craigslist shows some older Mac Pros going for a few hundred, which fitted with a decent graphics card would make something much faster than you have now.

 

[wickedking94]

I have changed out cpus in PC laptops before, but changeable GPUs is just a marketing gimmick. Even if you were able to track down one, it would most likely ether cost too much to be worth it, not make much difference or crash a lot as the laptop wasn't designed the support the heat generated by it.

But having a quick look at Craigslist shows some older Mac Pros going for a few hundred, which fitted with a decent graphics card would make something much faster than you have now.

See? Not the only person who's removed a CPU from a laptop.

And of course I can't tell you the model numbers. It was over a year ago. I can tell you that one was a Dell and the other was an Acer. Both were under 500$. I know the Dell had a 2.1 Ghz Pentium Dual Core and the Acer had a 2.3 Ghz dual core AMD. Both were in a socket that had unlock mechanisms meaning they were designed to be removed.

 

[RedRaven571]

Not to feed the troll, but, I had a HP DV9700, a 17" laptop, that used a desktop processor, the old Pentium 4' that was actually not soldered onto the mb. It sat in a socket just like a desktop with a heatsink (not much more than a piece of metal with some tubes).

GPU was a whole different story, it was soldered to the mb. Only company I remember offering replaceable GPUs in notebooks was Alienware, and that was just a gimmick.