My new MacBook pro is slow like ****** P4 PC

[realchimera]

Basically, I'm running 5-7 word files, a couple JPG images, 3 Photoshop files, 1 Chrome webpage, and also running Origin in Fusion Windows 7. Total ~ 20 windows. I feel that my computer is very slow,especially every time I open an Photoshop file(takes 3-5 seconds), even slower than my old thinkpad.

Is this slow speed normal for Macs?

 

[chaosbunny]

No.

 

[Makosuke]

Do you have the stock 4GB RAM or have you upgraded to 8GB? If you're on 4GB, I'm guessing the problem is that you've got too much RAM allocated to Fusion, not leaving enough for the remaining apps, which causes paging and tremendous slowdowns. (If the Win7 virtual machine is running smoothly while nothing else is, that would point to this being the case, since it might have hardwired RAM it's clinging to.)

Windows 7 is a pretty big RAM hog by itself, and the MacOS loves RAM as well. Photoshop, moreover, is notorious--just running Win7 and PS at the same time is going to chew up a heck of a lot of RAM. Heck, according to the premiere PS performance guru, MPG, 8GB is a bare minimum for just running Photoshop.

Open up Activity Monitor and check the RAM tab at the bottom to see what the totals are, and what the page in/out counts show. If you see big page out numbers, you're almost certainly running at a RAM deficit.

 

[realchimera]

Do you have the stock 4GB RAM or have you upgraded to 8GB? If you're on 4GB, I'm guessing the problem is that you've got too much RAM allocated to Fusion, not leaving enough for the remaining apps, which causes paging and tremendous slowdowns. (If the Win7 virtual machine is running smoothly while nothing else is, that would point to this being the case, since it might have hardwired RAM it's clinging to.)

Windows 7 is a pretty big RAM hog by itself, and the MacOS loves RAM as well. Photoshop, moreover, is notorious--just running Win7 and PS at the same time is going to chew up a heck of a lot of RAM. Heck, according to the premiere PS performance guru, MPG, 8GB is a bare minimum for just running Photoshop.

Open up Activity Monitor and check the RAM tab at the bottom to see what the totals are, and what the page in/out counts show. If you see big page out numbers, you're almost certainly running at a RAM deficit.

Thanks! Maybe you are right. Can't believe 4GB is not enough for a laptop >.< Next time when my laptop runs slow I'll keep an eye on activity monitor.

How do you guys upgrade your RAM? Will I lose my Macbook warranty if I install extra RAMs by myself?

 

[Makosuke]

Thanks! Maybe you are right. Can't believe 4GB is not enough for a laptop

Well, think about what you're doing with it--running two large-scale, multitasking OSes at the same time, plus Photoshop--one of the most notoriously RAM-hungry programs there is--and a few odds and ends.

If you ask most people, the'll tell you that Windows 7 alone doesn't really perform right with less than 3-4GB (that's been my experience at work, anyway). And Lion also likes about 4GB. And Photoshop alone, OS and other apps aside, is going to be angry at you with less than 1GB for itself, and really, once you get into moderate sized images and a few layers of history, it's going to want at least 2GB, preferably 4GB or more. Word is no longer the hog it used to be, but glancing at it right now it wants at least 300MB, and Chrome is pretty aggressive about caching and prefetching as well.

Put all that together, and you should be happy it runs at all on 4GB total available. Sounds like a lot (and compared to what iOS can do with even 256MB it IS a lot), but keep in mind that 4GB of good RAM costs less than $40.

How do you guys upgrade your RAM? Will I lose my Macbook warranty if I install extra RAMs by myself?

No. RAM is one of the few things that Apple considers user-upgradable. It takes all of a minute and a half with a small screwdriver, and even someone not used to computer upgrades shouldn't find it too difficult.

You will find plenty of recommendations here, but I'd personally tell you to go with OWC--reasonably priced, lifetime warranty, guaranteed to work in your Mac, and they have thorough installation instructions.

Personally, I'm waiting impatiently for 8GB sticks to get down to the point where a regular human can afford them.

 

[realchimera]

Well, think about what you're doing with it--running two large-scale, multitasking OSes at the same time, plus Photoshop--one of the most notoriously RAM-hungry programs there is--and a few odds and ends.

If you ask most people, the'll tell you that Windows 7 alone doesn't really perform right with less than 3-4GB (that's been my experience at work, anyway). And Lion also likes about 4GB. And Photoshop alone, OS and other apps aside, is going to be angry at you with less than 1GB for itself, and really, once you get into moderate sized images and a few layers of history, it's going to want at least 2GB, preferably 4GB or more. Word is no longer the hog it used to be, but glancing at it right now it wants at least 300MB, and Chrome is pretty aggressive about caching and prefetching as well.

Put all that together, and you should be happy it runs at all on 4GB total available. Sounds like a lot (and compared to what iOS can do with even 256MB it IS a lot), but keep in mind that 4GB of good RAM costs less than $40.

No. RAM is one of the few things that Apple considers user-upgradable. It takes all of a minute and a half with a small screwdriver, and even someone not used to computer upgrades shouldn't find it too difficult.

You will find plenty of recommendations here, but I'd personally tell you to go with OWC--reasonably priced, lifetime warranty, guaranteed to work in your Mac, and they have thorough installation instructions.

Personally, I'm waiting impatiently for 8GB sticks to get down to the point where a regular human can afford them.

Isn't 4 GB Corsair Mac RAM selling for only ~30 bucks? 8GB is selling for ridiculously expensive price

BTW, widnows 7 is awesome it's the best OS microsoft ever made. 4GB is more than enough for laptop or even gaming desktop. It runs as fast as XP. No clue about Vista though. I skipped it cuz I heard it's terrible.

 

[realchimera]

Why you need 8GB memory stick? Isn't 8GB the up limit for Macbook pro? And there are only 2 RAM slots...

 

[Makosuke]

Why you need 8GB memory stick? Isn't 8GB the up limit for Macbook pro? And there are only 2 RAM slots...

No, only the rich or insane would be buying individual 8GB sticks right now--as you said, they're preposterously expensive.

I was giving the price of a single 4GB stick; since your MBP came stock with two 2GB sticks filling both slots, you're going to want to buy an 8GB kit--two 4GB sticks, costing you about $70, give or take a little depending on quality.

You can save a few bucks by going with a company other than OWC--Corsair, G.Skill, etc--but given that Apple computers tend to be picky about RAM, and the modest difference in cost ($10 for a computer you probably paid upwards of $1500 for), I tend to go with Mac-centric brands with lifetime warranty that are specifically designed to work in that particular model.

Which basically means either OWC, DMS, or TransIntl. All three use good quality chips and have been around for a long time, but while I used to buy DMS (they're a couple of bucks cheaper and have very good customer support the couple of times I've needed it), I've been sticking to OWC recently.