Mac slow

[juzernejm]

Hi guys..
I have an old Mac Mini (late 2012) 2,3 GHz Intel Core i7 with SD drive and 8 GB RAM
Has always worked fine but lately it's starting to slow down. It does this thing where it slows everything down for a couple of minutes, then it continues to work well.. It does this a few times a day (usually when I'm doin smth demanding). I'm guessing maybe it's a RAM issue (maybe it needs more or maybe they are broken); Or maybe it's the CPU.. What do you suggest guys.. I mean I know it's an old machine but, when it's working well, for my needs it's enough.

Thanks for any advice

 

[Fishrrman]

What kind of DRIVE is inside?
I'm going to guess that it's a platter-based hard drive (that's what usually came in the 2012).

If you want to make it run better, you can do what I did:
- Get an external USB3 SSD, something like this:

SAMSUNG T7 Shield 1TB SSD, Blue

Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD delivers high performance on-the-go, not matter the terrain. It has an IP65 rating for water1 and dust2 resistance, with Dynamic Thermal Guard to manage heat control. Transfer huge files instantly. USB 3.2 Gen 2 and PCIe® NVMe achieve soaring sequential read/write ...

www.amazon.com

- Set it up to be the new EXTERNAL boot drive.
(fastest way is to download SuperDuper, and "clone" the contents of the internal drive to the external SSD).
Then go to the startup disk preference pane and set the SSD to be the boot drive.

An external USB3 SSD will give you read speeds around 420-430MBps.
What kind of read speeds are you getting NOW?
(use the free BlackMagic Speed Test to check)

8gb RAM isn't too bad. (2x4gb DIMMs)
You could buy ONE 8gb DIMM, replace the "top" DIMM (when you take the bottom off), and have 12gb, should help.

 

[juzernejm]

What kind of DRIVE is inside?
I'm going to guess that it's a platter-based hard drive (that's what usually came in the 2012).

If you want to make it run better, you can do what I did:
- Get an external USB3 SSD, something like this:

SAMSUNG T7 Shield 1TB SSD, Blue

Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD delivers high performance on-the-go, not matter the terrain. It has an IP65 rating for water1 and dust2 resistance, with Dynamic Thermal Guard to manage heat control. Transfer huge files instantly. USB 3.2 Gen 2 and PCIe® NVMe achieve soaring sequential read/write ...

www.amazon.com

- Set it up to be the new EXTERNAL boot drive.
(fastest way is to download SuperDuper, and "clone" the contents of the internal drive to the external SSD).
Then go to the startup disk preference pane and set the SSD to be the boot drive.

An external USB3 SSD will give you read speeds around 420-430MBps.
What kind of read speeds are you getting NOW?
(use the free BlackMagic Speed Test to check)

8gb RAM isn't too bad. (2x4gb DIMMs)
You could buy ONE 8gb DIMM, replace the "top" DIMM (when you take the bottom off), and have 12gb, should help.

Thanks a lot. I like the idea of an external drive bcs from what I saw online it looks very hard to get insiede this thing and change any hardware.. I'll take a look at SSD that's inside.. probably not good

edit:
APPLE SSD SM256E:

Capienza: 251 GB (251.000.193.024 byte)
Modello: APPLE SSD SM256E
Revisione: DXM02A0Q
Numero di serie: S1AANYNF205019
Native Command Queuing: Sì
Lunghezza coda: 32
Disco estraibile: No
Unità amovibile: No
Nome BSD: disk0
Tipo supporto: Stato solido
Supporto TRIM: Sì
Nome slot: Lower
Tipo mappa partizione: GPT (Tabella partizione GUID)
Stato S.M.A.R.T.: Verificato

How it looks?
Now I'll see to make the speed test

But smth tells me it could be RAM or CPU bcs when it's running ok, it's fast enough.. only when it has this moments that it's unusable for a couple of mins then it continues to run ok... I'm not an expert but looks to me it' could be smth else and not the SD.. Although upgrading it, will help for sure

 

[Fishrrman]

If it's already an SSD, using an external one won't make it faster.

How much free space is left on the SSD?

 

[juzernejm]

If it's already an SSD, using an external one won't make it faster.

How much free space is left on the SSD?

Right now has 60Gb free (out of 250) I know I should store my files elsewhere (and I also have a Windows partition).

 

[headlessmike]

I had the same model of Mac mini until recently and it was never particularly slow. What version of macOS are you running? If you've used it for years, it can accumulate a lot of junk that can be cleansed by reinstalling a fresh OS and only installing the software you need.

 

[Basic75]

What I'd do in your situation is open the computer and check whether the fans are clogged with dust, use Activity Monitor to check whether there are any weird applications hogging the processor, and probably wipe the drive and install the system from scratch. The latter includes making at least two backups, creating an external macOS install drive, and using that to format the internal drive.

 

[juzernejm]

I had the same model of Mac mini until recently and it was never particularly slow. What version of macOS are you running? If you've used it for years, it can accumulate a lot of junk that can be cleansed by reinstalling a fresh OS and only installing the software you need.

I have Mojave (can't go more than this bcs I have software only runs in Mojave or older) and I have reinstalled the OS recently.. So it must be a hardware issue maybe.

 

[juzernejm]

What I'd do in your situation is open the computer and check whether the fans are clogged with dust, use Activity Monitor to check whether there are any weird applications hogging the processor, and probably wipe the drive and install the system from scratch. The latter includes making at least two backups, creating an external macOS install drive, and using that to format the internal drive.

I've never opened and clean the fan.. that could be a good thing to do.. thanks!
I'll see on Activity Monitor.. and hopefully I solve without having to format.
I work with video a lot and often when I record with OBS starts to be slow (as I said just for a couple of minutes and than continues to work ok).. So OBS must take a lot of resources ..but as I said it does this sometimes also in other situations.

 

[Basic75]

Also check on RAM usage and swap activity in Activity Monitor.

 

[headlessmike]

I have Mojave (can't go more than this bcs I have software only runs in Mojave or older) and I have reinstalled the OS recently.. So it must be a hardware issue maybe.

Mojave should certainly by snappy on an i7 with an SSD. I would double check that you aren't running out of RAM. Another thing that could explain what you are describing is if you have an external drive connected. I use some large USB drives for photo storage and when they spin up the computer can seem unresponsive and sluggish in short bursts. I can hear them waking up and once they are chattering away then the computer acts like normal again. This is even the case with my latest M1 Macs.

 

[juzernejm]

Also check on RAM usage and swap activity in Activity Monitor.

This is what I get when I just started the machine with just Firefox running. Do you see any weird thing running?
I just opened the case to clean the fan (and it really needed it.. bcs I've never cleaned it since I bought it long time ago) hopefully it did smth.

 

[juzernejm]

Mojave should certainly by snappy on an i7 with an SSD. I would double check that you aren't running out of RAM. Another thing that could explain what you are describing is if you have an external drive connected. I use some large USB drives for photo storage and when they spin up the computer can seem unresponsive and sluggish in short bursts. I can hear them waking up and once they are chattering away then the computer acts like normal again. This is even the case with my latest M1 Macs.

no drives attached.. as for the RAM.. I think I'm goin to upgrade it (hopefully I wont throw my money away.. I mean if the fault isn't the RAM

 

[juzernejm]

I ws thinking.. maybe I should replace the thermal paste.. What do you guys think?

 

[headlessmike]

This is what I get when I just started the machine with just Firefox running. Do you see any weird thing running?
I just opened the case to clean the fan (and it really needed it.. bcs I've never cleaned it since I bought it long time ago) hopefully it did smth.

Firefox is using a bit of resources, but that looks perfectly normal. You can get a better sense of what is going on from the pane at the bottom that looks like this depending on which tab you are using:

Keep an eye on them when you experience slowdowns vs under normal use when things are running smoothly. That may give you an idea of where the bottleneck is.

I ws thinking.. maybe I should replace the thermal paste.. What do you guys think?

It might help, but it probably won't make a difference for the computer's performance. At best it will bring the CPU temperature down a bit.

 

[juzernejm]

Wow guys after cleaning the dust inside looks like it's fixed..
Thanks Basic75 for the idea and others for helping..
Now I can buy some new RAMS and if money permits, a new SSD.