MBP late 2009 running slow

[Tanax]

Hey!

In the past months, I've noticed a huge decrease in speed on my MBP. Booting takes forever, loading apps takes forever. I realize that these two issues can be solved by upgrading to an SSD.

However, it's also really slow when using Chrome, opening new tabs, scrolling through Facebook/YouTube (even with HTML5 enabled) is really laggy, playing Flash-games. Is this because of insufficient RAM, not good enough GPU or because of slow HDD?

I've upgraded the RAM to 8GB so that should be enough for just browsing the web. The GPU is old (nVidia 9400M) but should be enough for just browsing Facebook. I can understand if it's slow while playing Flash-games (or any games for that matter) but that doesn't explain the laggy scrolling on Facebook.

So my question is basically, will most of my issues go away with an HDD upgrade to SSD?

 

[johnnnw]

If your laptop feels irregulary slow, the first thing you should do is a SMC Reset. This can really help with slowness.

As for an SSD, yes you will for sure notice a different in application opening times, boot time etc.

Follow this:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

From the Apple SMC Reset Page:

System Performance
The computer is running unusually slowly although it is not experiencing abnormally high CPU utilization.
Application icons may "bounce" in the Dock for an extended amount of time when launched.
Applications may not function correctly or may stop responding after being opened.

Also check the Activity Monitor for applications using a lot of CPU or Memory. Post screenshots if you want someone to look over it.

 

[Tanax]

If your laptop feels irregulary slow, the first thing you should do is a SMC Reset. This can really help with slowness.

As for an SSD, yes you will for sure notice a different in application opening times, boot time etc.

Follow this:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

From the Apple SMC Reset Page:


Also check the Activity Monitor for applications using a lot of CPU or Memory. Post screenshots if you want someone to look over it.

I did an SMC Reset.. I think, how do I know if it succeeded? There are no indications or anything that says that the SMC Reset actually did a reset.

In any case, it does feel a bit faster. I monitored Activity Monitor when loading Facebook. Google Chrome Renderer (or Google Chrome Worker) used about 70% of my CPU - is that normal?

Memory seems fine though. I got 5 GB free - although this is right after a restart (after the SMC Reset) so this will most likely decrease after some hours of usage. But I still don't think RAM is the issue, 8GB is enough for Facebook without making scrolling feel sluggish.

 

[andy9l]

I'm using a 2009 MBP too, 2.8GHz C2D model, with only 4GB RAM.

Google Renderer peaked at about 81% CPU when loading my Facebook homepage, so your ~70% does sound normal.

I've just put in a Samsung 840 SSD. Boot time went from ~70 seconds to about 12 seconds now (honestly). The most notably useful difference, though, was 'right after boot'. Previously, apps were extremely slow to load right after boot...much like on Windows. The SSD completely eradicated that problem.

With increased boot times, resume times, app loading times, and overall faster 'loading' performance (PSD files, etc.), my ol' laptop is now a machine I can 'quickly check' again. I rarely use this old beast, but I've found myself using it more and more with the SSD.

I've put a SSD in my iMac previously, so I was expecting the performance boost, but I am honestly still shocked at how well this, near 4 year, old laptop performs with just an SSD upgrade.

 

[Tanax]

I'm using a 2009 MBP too, 2.8GHz C2D model, with only 4GB RAM.

Google Renderer peaked at about 81% CPU when loading my Facebook homepage, so your ~70% does sound normal.

I've just put in a Samsung 840 SSD. Boot time went from ~70 seconds to about 12 seconds now (honestly). The most notably useful difference, though, was 'right after boot'. Previously, apps were extremely slow to load right after boot...much like on Windows. The SSD completely eradicated that problem.

With increased boot times, resume times, app loading times, and overall faster 'loading' performance (PSD files, etc.), my ol' laptop is now a machine I can 'quickly check' again. I rarely use this old beast, but I've found myself using it more and more with the SSD.

I've put a SSD in my iMac previously, so I was expecting the performance boost, but I am honestly still shocked at how well this, near 4 year, old laptop performs with just an SSD upgrade.

I see, cheers for this information!
Seems like an SSD might be a worthy upgrade then - especially if I want to sell it later.

What about scrolling through your Facebook, does it lagg a lot when loading new content?

 

[andy9l]

I see, cheers for this information!
Seems like an SSD might be a worthy upgrade then - especially if I want to sell it later.

What about scrolling through your Facebook, does it lagg a lot when loading new content?

If you can spare the cash and don't want to upgrade your Mac, I'd definitely say it's worth it. I just bought a 120GB Samsung 840 for £80 - but as I said, this is very much a secondary machine, so I don't need much space.

That said, I've put the original HDD in a cheap enclosure (really cheap!), and use it as a 500GB external HDD. Another option for you would be to get rid of your optical drive, put the HDD in that bay (using a data doubler), and putting the SSD in the original HDD bay. It's important you do it that way round, by the way.

Hmm, can't say it does lag no. I mean, it lags to the extent most browsers lag when a chunk of images is injected to the page...but nothing really noticeable at all.

 

[Tanax]

I upgraded today!
Man, is this like a new computer. Booting is fast as expected but the main difference is when opening apps and surprisingly - browsing the web. Something as simple as opening a new tab now doesn't freeze the browser for 5 seconds and bring up the rainbow-wheel.

This SSD paired with 8GB of RAM is excellent. Now all I need is a NAS for some more storage..