Normal Speeds?

[Macaroooon]

I've got a 2.5Ghz Mid 2012 MPB 13" which to me is slow, but wanted to check speeds.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

It seems slow even for a 5,400 RPM HDD.

Also try these to benchmark the speed of your HDD:

• AJA System Test
• Xbench

If you want to enhance the performance of your Mac, be sure to check these two articles, do not just use applications, that promise to do it for you.

• Performance Tips For Mac OS X
• Mac Performance Guide

 

[Macaroooon]

It seems slow even for a 5,400 RPM HDD.

Also try these to benchmark the speed of your HDD:

• AJA System Test
• Xbench

If you want to enhance the performance of your Mac, be sure to check these two articles, do not just use applications, that promise to do it for you.

• Performance Tips For Mac OS X
• Mac Performance Guide

Thank you - I've downloaded the test but what do I actually do once I've opened it (there are various options)

I've read those two articles and done everything I can

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Thank you - I've downloaded the test but what do I actually do once I've opened it (there are various options)

In XBench deselect all tests except the "Disk Test", in AJA System Test select the Macintosh HD as Volume, leave the Test as Disk Read/Write and press START, but it may not work, as it has a bug using the startup disk to benchmark.

I've read those two articles and done everything I can

Open Activity Monitor and go to the System Memory* tab and look for Page Outs and Swap used and report back.

Using Activity Monitor to show you CPU and RAM usage​

* Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor​

 

[Macaroooon]

In XBench deselect all tests except the "Disk Test", in AJA System Test select the Macintosh HD as Volume, leave the Test as Disk Read/Write and press START, but it may not work, as it has a bug using the startup disk to benchmark.


Open Activity Monitor and go to the System Memory* tab and look for Page Outs and Swap used and report back.

Using Activity Monitor to show you CPU and RAM usage​

* Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor​

Thank you:

RE the AJA one, forgive my ignorance, in the first list do I select: Dik Read Existing File - and then Macintosh HD?

Page ins:723.5MB (0 bytes/sec)
Page outs: 519.4MB (0 bytes/sec)

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Thank you:

Image

Those sound about right for a 5,400 RPM HDD. If you want a faster storage device, look into SSDs.

SSD Buying Guide by Hellhammer​

RE the AJA one, forgive my ignorance, in the first list do I select: Dik Read Existing File - and then Macintosh HD?

As mentioned before, you select Disk Read/Write as Test, but that is not necessary anymore, since XBench worked quite fine.

Page ins:723.5MB (0 bytes/sec)
Page outs: 519.4MB (0 bytes/sec)

Not knowing the "Swap used:" I guess you could use 1 more GB of RAM.

Upgrading RAM in MacBooks and MacBook Pros​

 

[Macaroooon]

Those sound about right for a 5,400 RPM HDD. If you want a faster storage device, look into SSDs.

SSD Buying Guide by Hellhammer​

As mentioned before, you select Disk Read/Write as Test, but that is not necessary anymore, since XBench worked quite fine.


Not knowing the "Swap used:" I guess you could use 1 more GB of RAM.

Upgrading RAM in MacBooks and MacBook Pros​

Ah right, well at least I know it's not running too low then.

Swap used is 1.65GB

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Ah right, well at least I know it's not running too low then.

Swap used is 1.65GB

Then 2 to 4 more GB of RAM will not hurt, and an SSD will improve your speeds drastically, as the storage device is still the slowest component of a modern computer, even SSDs can be considered slow compared to RAM and CPU.

 

[Macaroooon]

Then 2 to 4 more GB of RAM will not hurt, and an SSD will improve your speeds drastically, as the storage device is still the slowest component of a modern computer, even SSDs can be considered slow compared to RAM and CPU.

I'll definitely looking into getting more ram, and upgrading it to 8GB, however I'm not sure I can really afford an SSD right now, as much as I'd love one, I'm a student on a budget.

Right not the main thing bugging me is iMovie not working!!