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Improve performance

A

aberonni

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2012
5
0
Hi all,

First of all I'm a newbie in this forum so don't be too mean! :D

I've had a search around the forum to see if I could find the info I'm looking for but I 'd prefer some specific guidance for my situation.

Basically I have a mid 2009 15" macbook pro running Lion. I've attached an image that show my stats, basically I haven't touched the hardware at all since I bought it.

Now the performance is starting to get a little bit worse than when I bought it (obviously) and I'm wondering what's best for me to replace in terms of price/improvement.

The main issues I'm encountering are a pretty slow start up, and the laptop getting quite hot after not much time. I was thinking of updating the RAM from 4GB to 8GB but I'm wondering if there is something else worth doing first.

Also for the RAM, do you suggest buying Apple RAM or are there valid alternatives.

Thanks for your help, and pardon my english as I'm not native.

Thanks!
Domenico


TIZwi.png
 
Last edited:
miles01110 said:
Apple doesn't make RAM. RAM from companies like Crucial, GSkill, etc are perfectly fine... RAM is all pretty much the same.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply! Do you think that it will make a big difference in terms of performance? Also, would you suggest any other improvements?
 
aberonni said:
Hi all,

First of all I'm a newbie in this forum so don't be too mean! :D

I've had a search around the forum to see if I could find the info I'm looking for but I 'd prefer some specific guidance for my situation.

Basically I have a mid 2009 15" macbook pro running Lion. I've attached an image that show my stats, basically I haven't touched the hardware at all since I bought it.

Now the performance is starting to get a little bit worse than when I bought it (obviously) and I'm wondering what's best for me to replace in terms of price/improvement.

The main issues I'm encountering are a pretty slow start up, and the laptop getting quite hot after not much time. I was thinking of updating the RAM from 4GB to 8GB but I'm wondering if there is something else worth doing first.

Also for the RAM, do you suggest buying Apple RAM or are there valid alternatives.

Thanks for your help, and pardon my english as I'm not native.

Thanks!
Domenico
Click to expand...

There is no such thing as "Apple RAM" so forget about it.
Basically get a 204pin SODIMM 8GB RAM off amazon for about 40bucks.
(1066MHz, 1333MHz, 1666MHz)
I suggest Corsair
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-DDR3-...F8ZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317278081&sr=8-1

And add an SSD.
SSD are way faster than a HDD.
A 5400rpm drive can Read 30~40Mbps, Write 30MBps.
With a SSD, Read 510Mbps, Write 210Mbps.

Again, its really fast.
You can also do a optibay which is replacing your Optical Drive (or disc drive) with a secondary HDD/SSD but I prefer you do the first 2 updates first then come back.

Here is a 256GB SSD Crucial M4
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-I...=UTF8&qid=1342005643&sr=8-1&keywords=256GB+m4

Quite pricey, but worth it.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Updating RAM is definitely a good idea, especially since it is cheap. Don't go for Apple Ram, just use the ones you find on Amazon when you type in your model and RAM.
Something else you should consider that you will most likely feel most is switching from an HDD to an SSD. Prices are drippy rapidly and you can build in an Optibay if you will still have lots of disc space available.

If you need advice for installing these, use research function in this forum or google :) or ask here again :p


- Edit: okay, yusukeaoki was faster ;)
 
And add an SSD.
SSD are way faster than a HDD.
A 5400rpm drive can Read 30~40Mbps, Write 30MBps.
With a SSD, Read 510Mbps, Write 210Mbps.
Click to expand...

You won't get those speeds on a 2009 Macbook pro because it still has the SATA2 interface not the SATA3 but you will get 200MB plus each was which is awesome in everyday use.
 
I always recommend getting Onyx too. Its a freeware program and it cleans you caches and repairs permissions. Doesn't make a huge difference but sometimes you will notice a nice little speed bump. Other than that the ssd and ram should give you a good performance boost
 
I'd say that Onyx has a minimal affect on performance, plus when you delete cache you actually impede performance as the system needs to build out the cache again.

Ram and SSD are the OP's best bet to improving performance, OSX does a great job at managing its resources and my experience has been any application that tries to do that usually gets in the way, i.e., does not actually make things better
 
Thank you all for your replies, I'm now looking at italian amazon for the best bargain.

Aftershocker said:
You won't get those speeds on a 2009 Macbook pro because it still has the SATA2 interface not the SATA3 but you will get 200MB plus each was which is awesome in everyday use.
Click to expand...

Does that mean that a sata3 won't fit on my computer or that I just won't be able to use all of it's capabilities? Do you have a Sata2 sdd to suggest?
 
yusukeaoki said:
There is no such thing as "Apple RAM" so forget about it.
Basically get a 204pin SODIMM 8GB RAM off amazon for about 40bucks.
(1066MHz, 1333MHz, 1666MHz)
I suggest Corsair
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-DDR3-...F8ZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317278081&sr=8-1

And add an SSD.
SSD are way faster than a HDD.
A 5400rpm drive can Read 30~40Mbps, Write 30MBps.
With a SSD, Read 510Mbps, Write 210Mbps.

Again, its really fast.
You can also do a optibay which is replacing your Optical Drive (or disc drive) with a secondary HDD/SSD but I prefer you do the first 2 updates first then come back.

Here is a 256GB SSD Crucial M4
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-I...=UTF8&qid=1342005643&sr=8-1&keywords=256GB+m4

Quite pricey, but worth it.
Click to expand...

This model doesn't support 1666Mhz RAM.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
aberonni said:
Thank you all for your replies, I'm now looking at italian amazon for the best bargain.



Does that mean that a sata3 won't fit on my computer or that I just won't be able to use all of it's capabilities? Do you have a Sata2 sdd to suggest?
Click to expand...

You can use a SATA III SSD, it will just downgrade to SATAII speeds on your device. So just go for the Most recommended crucial M4 or Samsung 830
 
aberonni said:
Thank you all for your replies, I'm now looking at italian amazon for the best bargain.



Does that mean that a sata3 won't fit on my computer or that I just won't be able to use all of it's capabilities? Do you have a Sata2 sdd to suggest?
Click to expand...


No it will fit just fine mate, its just doesn't have the same bandwidth so the drive will run a bit slower. Realistically you wont even feel the difference in everyday use. Much of the SSD performance increase comes from faster random reads and you will still get all that benefit.

I like teh crucial M4, I connected one of those to a sata 2 connector last year and its great. Don't over-think the SATA 2 vs SATA 3 connection issue, you will be very happy with the performance of a SATA 3 drive connected to a SATA 2 interface.
 
I'll explain everything you should probably do, comparing your current performance to what what I'll say here. Let's begin.

To start, you're going to want to replace the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) which I'm guessing is currently in your system. There are multiple different options you can go for with SSD's. I'll cut to the chase and recommend one- the Samsung 830 256GB. This is faster the the Crucial M4 which everyone talks about, more reliable and made by a very well known company. Here- http://www.amazon.it/Samsung-256GB-...6VLS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1342010794&sr=8-3

Now, it seems you currently have 1066Mhz 2 X 2GB RAM, something very easy and affordable which you can do is upgrade to 1333Mhz 2 X 4GB RAM. This will mean that everything will run without 'lag' and will enable you to do more at once. Here- http://www.amazon.it/Komputerbay-DD...5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1342011622&sr=1-5

Something else I'd recommend is to replace the cooling gel on the CPU and GPU. By doing this, the CPU and GPU will not get as hot and prevent the fan from running so much, thus saving power and reducing the noise. This is known to be the best around- http://www.amazon.it/Arctic-Cooling...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1342011753&sr=1-1

Something simple you can do is clean the the inside of the computer, this will make the ventilation system operate better, making is cooler so that fan can operate at it's full potential. This is very cheap too, just purchase some compressed air from a hardware store.

Here are some tutorials for what I have mentioned:
-Replacing HDD with SSD; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ3dOA5YQBM
-Changing RAM; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct2hr7SWg-o
-Applying AS5; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlMxoHK0Os4
-Cleaning MBP; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts33ujKlG2k

Speed comparison-
HDD:
Read (loading things): 50mb/s
Write (saving things): 45mb/s

SSD:
Read (loading things): 385mb/s (maximum of any ssd on 2009 mbp)
Write (saving things): 385mb/s (maximum of any ssd on 2009 mbp)

Comparison video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp3QjDPMTs4

If you replace the HDD with an SSD, you should enable TRIM, this keeps the SSD like-new for year on end without a performance decrease. Here is a tutorial- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4p_J5djEdA

-----------------------------

An extra thing you can do for EXTREME performance, is to replace the Optical bay (CD/DVD drive) with another SSD. This should almost double read/write speeds. In order to do this, you would need a 2nd hard drive caddy- http://www.amazon.it/LEICKE-Adattat...2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1342013803&sr=1-2

Here is a tutorial for it- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU9CHGQd7Ww

-----------------------------

I hope I've been of great help!
 
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While I certainly agree that more RAM and a SSD will really help performance might I suggest a non-hardware fix.

1. In disk utility verify permissions and check your hard drive

2. How much free space is left in your hard drive?

3. While it is commonly thought that Macs don't have to be "rebuilt" this isn't always true. Backing up your system and rebuilding it from the backup or a fresh install may fix many of the issues you are currently having. I had similar issues with my 2009 iMac - over years of heavy use plenty of bloat enters in the system in terms of old applications you don't use, preferences, extensions etc. Rebuilding it with careful attention to what I actually need and use made it much better performance wise independent of changing any of the hardware.
 
AlexBass said:
I'll explain everything you should probably do, comparing your current performance to what what I'll say here. Let's begin.

To start, you're going to want to replace the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) which I'm guessing is currently in your system. There are multiple different options you can go for with SSD's. I'll cut to the chase and recommend one- the Samsung 830 256GB. This is faster the the Crucial M4 which everyone talks about, more reliable and made by a very well known company. Here- http://www.amazon.it/Samsung-256GB-...6VLS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1342010794&sr=8-3

Now, it seems you currently have 1066Mhz 2 X 2GB RAM, something very easy and affordable which you can do is upgrade to 1333Mhz 2 X 4GB RAM. This will mean that everything will run without 'lag' and will enable you to do more at once. Here- http://www.amazon.it/Komputerbay-DD...5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1342011622&sr=1-5

Something else I'd recommend is to replace the cooling gel on the CPU and GPU. By doing this, the CPU and GPU will not get as hot and prevent the fan from running so much, thus saving power and reducing the noise. This is known to be the best around- http://www.amazon.it/Arctic-Cooling...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1342011753&sr=1-1

Something simple you can do is clean the the inside of the computer, this will make the ventilation system operate better, making is cooler so that fan can operate at it's full potential. This is very cheap too, just purchase some compressed air from a hardware store.

Here are some tutorials for what I have mentioned:
-Replacing HDD with SSD; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ3dOA5YQBM
-Changing RAM; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct2hr7SWg-o
-Applying AS5; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlMxoHK0Os4
-Cleaning MBP; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts33ujKlG2k

Speed comparison-
HDD:
Read (loading things): 50mb/s
Write (saving things): 45mb/s

SSD:
Read (loading things): 385mb/s (maximum of any ssd on 2009 mbp)
Write (saving things): 385mb/s (maximum of any ssd on 2009 mbp)

Comparison video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp3QjDPMTs4

If you replace the HDD with an SSD, you should enable TRIM, this keeps the SSD like-new for year on end without a performance decrease. Here is a tutorial- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4p_J5djEdA

-----------------------------

An extra thing you can do for EXTREME performance, is to replace the Optical bay (CD/DVD drive) with another SSD. This should almost double read/write speeds. In order to do this, you would need a 2nd hard drive caddy- http://www.amazon.it/LEICKE-Adattat...2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1342013803&sr=1-2

Here is a tutorial for it- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU9CHGQd7Ww

-----------------------------

I hope I've been of great help!
Click to expand...

Now that is what a call an answer! You definitely removed most of my doubts. I think I'll go for the sdd and the ram, not so sure about the cooler seeing as it seems a little more risky in terms of wrecking the laptop :D

@clumeng

1. Will do that
2. At the moment I have 200gb free out of 500. The great thing is that I finished cleaning the hard drive a couple of days ago, it's just that I can't remove more stuff until I get an external hd because I've got enormous svns on here that I need for work.
3. That seems like a good idea, but I'm afraid I might have issues with commercial software (ie. product licensing etc..) I have plenty of software I've bought online but I've never took track of serial keys and stuff like that (stupid me)
 
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aberonni said:
Now that is what a call an answer! You definitely removed most of my doubts. I think I'll go for the sdd and the ram, not so sure about the cooler seeing as it seems a little more risky in terms of wrecking the laptop :D
Click to expand...

I think that's best. I haven't even replaced the cooling stuff myself in fear it might break a small wire, wise decision :)
 
AlexBass said:
I think that's best. I haven't even replaced the cooling stuff myself in fear it might break a small wire, wise decision :)
Click to expand...

Another doubt just sprang to mind. I obviously want to use the sdd as my boot disk and remove the old one completely.

I'm guessing that I have to copy the contents of my actual hd onto the sdd before installing it. How would I go about doing that?

Also, would there be any chance of being able to use my hd as an external hd in the future?
 
Open it up and check for any dust buildup, if there is, i think u can buy a spray can product that will allow you to safely clean it out. I heard the dust buildup affects heat issues.
 
aberonni said:
Another doubt just sprang to mind. I obviously want to use the sdd as my boot disk and remove the old one completely.

I'm guessing that I have to copy the contents of my actual hd onto the sdd before installing it. How would I go about doing that?

Also, would there be any chance of being able to use my hd as an external hd in the future?
Click to expand...

You can use the HDD as an external drive by using this- http://www.amazon.it/DeLOCK-2-5-Ext...ULUY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342018126&sr=8-1
You just need to slide it in and use it via a Universal Serial Bus.

----------

You should be able to load the os onto the ssd, copy the contents of the hdd to the ssd and then erase the contents of the hdd to put what you want on it.
 
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aberonni said:
2. At the moment I have 200gb free out of 500. The great thing is that I finished cleaning the hard drive a couple of days ago, it's just that I can't remove more stuff until I get an external hd because I've got enormous svns on here that I need for work.
3. That seems like a good idea, but I'm afraid I might have issues with commercial software (ie. product licensing etc..) I have plenty of software I've bought online but I've never took track of serial keys and stuff like that (stupid me)
Click to expand...

This implies that you do not have a backup strategy - bad plan. What would you do WHEN (not if) your hard drive crashes?

Invest $100 in a 1TB hard drive and make a backup right away. I would not recommend messing around with RAM or swapping out SSD unless you have a backup(s).
 
Last edited:
aberonni said:
Now the performance is starting to get a little bit worse than when I bought it
Click to expand...
If you're having performance issues, this may help:
aberonni said:
and the laptop getting quite hot after not much time.
Click to expand...
It's normal for your Mac to get hot under heavy workloads. iStat Pro will give you accurate temp readings.
aberonni said:
I was thinking of updating the RAM from 4GB to 8GB
Click to expand...
To determine if you can benefit from more RAM, launch Activity Monitor and click the System Memory tab at the bottom to check your page outs. Page outs are cumulative since your last restart, so the best way to check is to restart your computer and track page outs under your normal workload (the apps, browser pages and documents you normally would have open). If your page outs are significant (say 1GB or more) under normal use, you may benefit from more RAM. If your page outs are zero or very low during normal use, you probably won't see any performance improvement from adding RAM.

Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor
aberonni said:
Also for the RAM, do you suggest buying Apple RAM or are there valid alternatives.
Click to expand...
You can find specs on all Apple products, including maximum RAM:
 
AlexBass said:
I'll cut to the chase and recommend one- the Samsung 830 256GB. This is faster the the Crucial M4 which everyone talks about, more reliable and made by a very well known company.
SSD:
Read (loading things): 385mb/s (maximum of any ssd on 2009 mbp)
Write (saving things): 385mb/s (maximum of any ssd on 2009 mbp)
Click to expand...

The OP won't see much of the faster speed from the Samsung since he/she will be getting SATA II speeds. I doubt the faster speed would be noticeable at all in day to day usage. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the Samsung...just that the M4 is less expensive and still very fast, made by a reputable company and very reliable. They're both great drives.
 
sweetbrat said:
The OP won't see much of the faster speed from the Samsung since he/she will be getting SATA II speeds. I doubt the faster speed would be noticeable at all in day to day usage. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the Samsung...just that the M4 is less expensive and still very fast, made by a reputable company and very reliable. They're both great drives.
Click to expand...

Note how I wrote "(maximum of any ssd on 2009 mbp)" - I've already dimmed down the read/write speeds. The read/write speeds for the Samsung are considerably faster than this- r:520mb/s w:400mb/s

The Crucial M4 is the cheaper, slower and not as reliable of the two, though it is still a respectable drive (or it wouldn't be as popular as it is)
 
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