Hi, I'm a Graphic Designer and new to the forums. My most heavily-used applications are Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. I'm currently using a MacBook 2,1 and a friend offered to let me use their MacBook 5,2 2009 model (full specs below). My current 2,1 is having difficulty multi-tasking, so I'm looking to upgrade. I get the rainbow pinwheel too much and occasionally programs crash if too many things are going on at once (multiple adobe programs at once, as well as mail, chat, preview, safari, etc).
So, a few questions:
A) Will multi-tasking performance improve significantly on a 5,2 vs 2,1?
B) After I get it, I'm planning on upgrading the 5,2 to 6GB RAM. Is this possible on a 5,2? Will it increase performance speed enough to make the 5,2 worthwhile to use (or is the difference so small that I might as well buy a different model)?
C) What else can I do to maximize the 5,2's capabilities for a graphic designer (i.e. scratch disk, processor speed, graphics card, etc)? What should/shouldn't I upgrade in addition to the RAM?
D) Any other tips, suggestions, warnings, reviews, etc?
Thank you so much!
Current Specs:
Hardware:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook5,2
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Disc Burning:
HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS22N:
Firmware Revision: CP08
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
FireWire:
FireWire Bus:
Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Graphics/Displays:
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M:
Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
Type: Display
Bus: PCI
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Displays:
Color LCD:
Resolution: 1280 x 800
Depth: 32-Bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Built-In: Yes
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected
Memory:
Memory Slots:
ECC: Disabled
BANK 0/DIMM0:
Size: 1 GB
Type: DDR2 SDRAM
Speed: 667 MHz
BANK 1/DIMM0:
Size: 1 GB
Type: DDR2 SDRAM
Speed: 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Power:
Battery Information:
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 2256
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 3768
Health Information:
Cycle count: 903
Condition: Fair
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 2549
Voltage (mV): 11964
Serial-ATA:
NVidia MCP79 AHCI:
Vendor: NVidia
Product: MCP79 AHCI
Speed: 3 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported
FUJITSU MHZ2120BH FFS G1:
Capacity: 111.79 GB
Model: FUJITSU MHZ2120BH FFS G1
So, a few questions:
A) Will multi-tasking performance improve significantly on a 5,2 vs 2,1?
B) After I get it, I'm planning on upgrading the 5,2 to 6GB RAM. Is this possible on a 5,2? Will it increase performance speed enough to make the 5,2 worthwhile to use (or is the difference so small that I might as well buy a different model)?
C) What else can I do to maximize the 5,2's capabilities for a graphic designer (i.e. scratch disk, processor speed, graphics card, etc)? What should/shouldn't I upgrade in addition to the RAM?
D) Any other tips, suggestions, warnings, reviews, etc?
Thank you so much!
Current Specs:
Hardware:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook5,2
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Disc Burning:
HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS22N:
Firmware Revision: CP08
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
FireWire:
FireWire Bus:
Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Graphics/Displays:
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M:
Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
Type: Display
Bus: PCI
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Displays:
Color LCD:
Resolution: 1280 x 800
Depth: 32-Bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Built-In: Yes
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected
Memory:
Memory Slots:
ECC: Disabled
BANK 0/DIMM0:
Size: 1 GB
Type: DDR2 SDRAM
Speed: 667 MHz
BANK 1/DIMM0:
Size: 1 GB
Type: DDR2 SDRAM
Speed: 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Power:
Battery Information:
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 2256
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 3768
Health Information:
Cycle count: 903
Condition: Fair
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 2549
Voltage (mV): 11964
Serial-ATA:
NVidia MCP79 AHCI:
Vendor: NVidia
Product: MCP79 AHCI
Speed: 3 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported
FUJITSU MHZ2120BH FFS G1:
Capacity: 111.79 GB
Model: FUJITSU MHZ2120BH FFS G1