Late 2011 Macbook is sluggish. Considering upgrading ram.

[Totty1987]

I've had my Macbook since the December 2011 and I've noticed a slowdown, especially in Safari. I presume this may be a a ram issue as I currently have only 4gb ram in my system.
I tend to have multiple safari tabs open as well as various applications running in the background.
I'm quite tempted to purchase a 16gb of RAM to "future-proof" my machine, but I'm unsure whether 8gb or 12gb is a more sensible option. Then there's a issue of which brand to go for. I'm aware of both crucial and OWC, but which brand is the best?

I'd appreciate any help from you guys. Thank you

 

[MisterKeeks]

I've had my Macbook since the December 2011 and I've noticed a slowdown, especially in Safari. I presume this may be a a ram issue as I currently have only 4gb ram in my system.
I tend to have multiple safari tabs open as well as various applications running in the background.
I'm quite tempted to purchase a 16gb of RAM to "future-proof" my machine, but I'm unsure whether 8gb or 12gb is a more sensible option. Then there's a issue of which brand to go for. I'm aware of both crucial and OWC, but which brand is the best?

I'd appreciate any help from you guys. Thank you

Please post a screenshot of Activity Monitor, have it list the highest users of RAM at the top. Choose All Processes, not my Processes.

 

[AppleMacFinder]

How could you get additional 12 GB and put them into your MBP?
There is no way: MBP has only 2 slots for RAM.
The only way to upgrade to 16 GB is to buy two 8 GB modules.

 

[GGJstudios]

I've had my Macbook since the December 2011 and I've noticed a slowdown, especially in Safari. I presume this may be a a ram issue as I currently have only 4gb ram in my system

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.

Using Activity Monitor to read System Memory and determine how much RAM is being used

If you're having performance issues, this may help:

Performance Tips For Mac OS X​

 

[Totty1987]

Here's a screenshot of my activity monitor

https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=399281&stc=1&d=1361831523

 

[GGJstudios]

Here's a screenshot of my activity monitor

https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=399281&stc=1&d=1361831523

If that represents your normal workload, you won't benefit from adding RAM, as you're not maxing out the RAM you have. Read the performance tips I posted earlier.

 

[Totty1987]

If that represents your normal workload, you won't benefit from adding RAM, as you're not maxing out the RAM you have. Read the performance tips I posted earlier.

I restarted prior to taking the screenshot. I normally have 10-plus safari tabs open at once as well as itunes and I notice a significant slowdown, especially when playing videos from youtube/vimeo.

 

[GGJstudios]

I restarted prior to taking the screenshot. I normally have 10-plus safari tabs open at once as well as itunes and I notice a significant slowdown, especially when playing videos from youtube/vimeo.

Try checking Activity Monitor after a day or two of normal usage.

I use Flash on Safari with ClickToFlash to control which content plays, and I have zero issues with it. Generally speaking, Flash is notorious for consuming system resources, raising temps and decreasing battery life. For Flash-related issues:

• Find your Flash version and make sure it's the latest version available. Never install or update Flash from a pop-up on a website. Always go to Adobe's site to get Flash or updates.
• Install ClickToFlash (Safari), Flashblock (Firefox) or FlashBlock (Chrome) to control which Flash content plays on websites.
• Install ClickToPlugin (Safari) to prevent Safari from launching plug-ins automatically, resulting in faster browsing, reduced fan usage, and increased battery life. It can also replace many plug-in-based media players with Safari’s native HTML5 media player.
• Try using the YouTube HTML5 Video Player to watch YouTube videos, when available. (May impact fullscreen viewing. See link for details.) Some have reported better performance with HTML5, while some have reported worse. Try it and find out what works best for you.

 

[sniffs]

How could you get additional 12 GB and put them into your MBP?
There is no way: MBP has only 2 slots for RAM.
The only way to upgrade to 16 GB is to buy two 8 GB modules.

2 slots, 1 8GB chip and 1 4GB chip.

Although RAM is so cheap now, just go with the 2 8GB. I got mine for about $40 dollars each.

 

[Totty1987]

Try checking Activity Monitor after a day or two of normal usage.

I use Flash on Safari with ClickToFlash to control which content plays, and I have zero issues with it. Generally speaking, Flash is notorious for consuming system resources, raising temps and decreasing battery life. For Flash-related issues:

• Find your Flash version and make sure it's the latest version available. Never install or update Flash from a pop-up on a website. Always go to Adobe's site to get Flash or updates.
• Install ClickToFlash (Safari), Flashblock (Firefox) or FlashBlock (Chrome) to control which Flash content plays on websites.
• Install ClickToPlugin (Safari) to prevent Safari from launching plug-ins automatically, resulting in faster browsing, reduced fan usage, and increased battery life. It can also replace many plug-in-based media players with Safari’s native HTML5 media player.
• Try using the YouTube HTML5 Video Player to watch YouTube videos, when available. (May impact fullscreen viewing. See link for details.) Some have reported better performance with HTML5, while some have reported worse. Try it and find out what works best for you.

I'll try what you recommended. Thanx for the help