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karboN.6

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 26, 2010
229
0
Ny
Goodmorning all,
I was wondering if there would be anyway i could drastically speed up my macbook pro? Perhaps 4GB more for ram to bring me up to 6gb?
 
Goodmorning all,
I was wondering if there would be anyway i could drastically speed up my macbook pro? Perhaps 4GB more for ram to bring me up to 6gb?

Speed up for doing what? Some things need more RAM, some things need more CPU power (which you can't upgrade) while some things benefit from faster IO speeds. It all depends on what you actually want to speed up.
 
Any sort of RAM upgrade would definitely help, personally have 16GB RAM in my early 2011 MBP and it runs like a dream.

You could also upgrade the HD to an SSD which is probably going to give you the biggest performance boost :) or if you can't afford an SSD then a 7200 RPM standard HD would also give you a slight performance boost with every day tasks.

Other than the above there isn't really much you can do upgrade wise..
 
Upgrade memory first.



Then upgrade to SSD.


So I heard the max you can do is 6gb without it burning up?

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Any sort of RAM upgrade would definitely help, personally have 16GB RAM in my early 2011 MBP and it runs like a dream.



You could also upgrade the HD to an SSD which is probably going to give you the biggest performance boost :) or if you can't afford an SSD then a 7200 RPM standard HD would also give you a slight performance boost with every day tasks.



Other than the above there isn't really much you can do upgrade wise..


I thought the most ram you can put in the pros is 8gb?
 
So I heard the max you can do is 6gb without it burning up?

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I thought the most ram you can put in the pros is 8gb?

2009+ machines will take 8GB no problem.

Some 2010 13" will take 16GB with the correct firmware.

All 2011's and above will take 16GB.

You still haven't said what you're actually trying to speed up. I love how everyone is going "throw money at your computer by upgrading this and that" without even knowing if the upgrade would even benefit you.
 
2009+ machines will take 8GB no problem.



Some 2010 13" will take 16GB with the correct firmware.



All 2011's and above will take 16GB.


Yeah I have 4gb and I might want to upgrade to 8 if I won't need to upgrade anything else for now.. My computer is soooo slow
 
Yeah I have 4gb and I might want to upgrade to 8 if I won't need to upgrade anything else for now.. My computer is soooo slow

When is it slow? All the time? When you have multiple things open? When you're doing specific things such as ripping video? Toss me a bone here!
 
When is it slow? All the time? When you have multiple things open? When you're doing specific things such as ripping video? Toss me a bone here!


I trade stocks on it and when I have a couple programs running it does get laggy, but overall I have noticed it is getting slow in general..
 
I trade stocks on it and when I have a couple programs running it does get laggy, but overall I have noticed it is getting slow in general..

You probably have the original hard drive in there. Not trying to sound like an alarmist, but usually hard drives tend to get slower and slower when they're about to crap out. Always keep a good backup handy, as all hard drives eventually die, it's just a matter of time.

They also get quite slow when there's less than 10% free space on them, so watch for that.

A free thing you could try if you have a good backup handy and some time to spare is to reinstall the OS. With time you may have accumulated crud in your system that's just weighing it down.

If you are a heavy multitasker (trading stock probably involves a whole lot of windows open) then yeah, RAM can probably be useful.

If you want to increase general snappiness, opening of apps, boot times, then a SSD is for you.

Do both if you have a bit of money burning a hole in your pocket and it'll feel like a brand spanking new machine.
 
You probably have the original hard drive in there. Not trying to sound like an alarmist, but usually hard drives tend to get slower and slower when they're about to crap out. Always keep a good backup handy, as all hard drives eventually die, it's just a matter of time.

They also get quite slow when there's less than 10% free space on them, so watch for that.

A free thing you could try if you have a good backup handy and some time to spare is to reinstall the OS. With time you may have accumulated crud in your system that's just weighing it down.

If you are a heavy multitasker (trading stock probably involves a whole lot of windows open) then yeah, RAM can probably be useful.

If you want to increase general snappiness, opening of apps, boot times, then a SSD is for you.

Do both if you have a bit of money burning a hole in your pocket and it'll feel like a brand spanking new machine.


I would so buy both of those and make my computer a nice little computer, but I remember SSD were very expensive a couple years ago so I am wondering how much that could cost for a 1tb SSD hard drive? I'm assuming I don't need to upgrade anything else but that and the RAM , I don't want to make this a whole build project, I just want to make it faster.. My graphics card is poo too but I don't really need that. Would I need to upgrade any fans if I upgrade to 8gb ram and the SSD.
 
2009+ machines will take 8GB no problem.

Some 2010 13" will take 16GB with the correct firmware.

All 2011's and above will take 16GB.

You still haven't said what you're actually trying to speed up. I love how everyone is going "throw money at your computer by upgrading this and that" without even knowing if the upgrade would even benefit you.

I have one of those 2010 MBP's that can take 16gb (MBP 7,1).
But I couldn't justify spending too much and upgraded to just 8gb.

The problem with older hardware is that newer features in MacOS like Continuity, and even AirPlay to my AppleTV isn't supported.

The additional RAM made a difference in the number of apps open and perhaps a tad faster, but nothing that earthshattering. I would think dropping in a SSD would be much more noticeable.
 
I have one of those 2010 MBP's that can take 16gb (MBP 7,1).
But I couldn't justify spending too much and upgraded to just 8gb.

The problem with older hardware is that newer features in MacOS like Continuity, and even AirPlay to my AppleTV isn't supported.

The additional RAM made a difference in the number of apps open and perhaps a tad faster, but nothing that earthshattering. I would think dropping in a SSD would be much more noticeable.


I was reading some posts, what is the best SSD 512 gb for under $400 that i can get that will really be a great buy. I saw the samsung 840 pro and the samsung 850 pro do you recommend those? Also say i do decide to do that will time machine really back every single thing up to my external hard drive? I am always afraid that it isnt saving everything.
 
I was reading some posts, what is the best SSD 512 gb for under $400 that i can get that will really be a great buy. I saw the samsung 840 pro and the samsung 850 pro do you recommend those? Also say i do decide to do that will time machine really back every single thing up to my external hard drive? I am always afraid that it isnt saving everything.

Either the 840 (Pro or Evo) or 850 Pro would be a great choice.
 
Goodmorning all,
I was wondering if there would be anyway i could drastically speed up my macbook pro? Perhaps 4GB more for ram to bring me up to 6gb?

4GB more would bring you to 4GB (you have to remove your existing RAM to fit the new).

Your best bet is a RAM upgrade to as far as you can go (8GB minimum) and changing the Hard Drive to an SSD.

It will be like having a brand new Mac..
 
4GB more would bring you to 4GB (you have to remove your existing RAM to fit the new).



Your best bet is a RAM upgrade to as far as you can go (8GB minimum) and changing the Hard Drive to an SSD.



It will be like having a brand new Mac..


I was actually thinkin of if that would be a smarter idea than to buying a brand new Mac book pro. The computer knock on wood is in amazing condition it's just slow.. It's a mid 2010 model and would it be a bigger difference than a new MBP with an i5? (I'm not tech savy)
 
I was actually thinkin of if that would be a smarter idea than to buying a brand new Mac book pro. The computer knock on wood is in amazing condition it's just slow.. It's a mid 2010 model and would it be a bigger difference than a new MBP with an i5? (I'm not tech savy)

Obviously a brand new MBP would be faster, however the speed difference that new RAM and an SSD would make would bring back performance to such an extent that it would feel like a new Mac.
 
Obviously a brand new MBP would be faster, however the speed difference that new RAM and an SSD would make would bring back performance to such an extent that it would feel like a new Mac.


And I just checked I can get a SSD and 8gb of ram for 80$ (does that sound right) it saw it on amazon ... Does anyone have any recommendations? And I also can get a SSD 512gb hard drive Samsung 850 pro for about 370$ so for about 450$ I can speed my computer up or go buy a brand new one with the same things installed (not retina) for 1900$ lol...
 
what's the storage capacity and usage on your current HDD? crucial's MX100 512GB SSD is $224.99 right now. I'd also recommend their memory.

https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/ssd/series/MX100

I wouldnt mind spending the extra 100$ if samsung is that much better (850 pr0) also i saw crucial ram, i am not tech savy, is that company good? It is rated #1 on amazon.. and my storage capacity is 250gb and i have 33gb free.

I dont know if this can help with anything but
Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 4 FB 1067 MHz DDR3
Startup Disk Macintosh HD
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB

But also would i need to install an upgraded fan if i upgrade to 8gb of ram?

EDIT: I have checked the Crucial SSD and it looks great as well, honestly I dont know the difference between the Samsung 850 Pro and the Crucial MX100 512 gb SSD .. I really appreciate your help
 
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I was actually thinkin of if that would be a smarter idea than to buying a brand new Mac book pro. The computer knock on wood is in amazing condition it's just slow.. It's a mid 2010 model and would it be a bigger difference than a new MBP with an i5? (I'm not tech savy)

Five years is not a very old machine for a Mac. In fact my white 2006 iMac is still humming along nicely.

That said, if you were to get a new machine, try to hang on until sometime next year when Broadwell chips make their way into the MBP lineup.

I think you'll see a major improvement over current models especially in GPU and battery life.
 
Five years is not a very old machine for a Mac. In fact my white 2006 iMac is still humming along nicely.

That said, if you were to get a new machine, try to hang on until sometime next year when Broadwell chips make their way into the MBP lineup.

I think you'll see a major improvement over current models especially in GPU and battery life.

I think i am going to hold on to this one and just upgrade it, if i got the crucial ssd 512gb for 220$ and i can get a RAM kit for about 80-90$ It would save me a ton because a new macbook pro is about 1900 with the options I want from apple.. Ofcourse theyre ripping me off though ;)
 
i updated my wife's mid 2011 MBP a couple of weeks ago with 8GB of (crucial) RAM and a 250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD. she does a lot of school work (teacher and going to school for her masters) so is on it everyday with multiple programs running.

with Yosemite, a new SSD and double the RAM. her MBP is like a brand new computer all over again. very fast, responsive and overall performs well.

Just friday i installed the same SSD for my mid 2009 MBP. I also have 8GB of crucial RAM coming in the mail. with the new SSD alone, it's really revamped my 2009 MBP. just those 2 installs can really wake up your computer.

Of course if you have the money, it's always nice to buy a new MBP but doing this simple upgrades can really make you feel like you have a new computer at times.
 
I think i am going to hold on to this one and just upgrade it, if i got the crucial ssd 512gb for 220$ and i can get a RAM kit for about 80-90$ It would save me a ton because a new macbook pro is about 1900 with the options I want from apple.. Ofcourse theyre ripping me off though ;)

Also remember that your 2010 MBP is SATA II and may not reap the benefits of a more expensive and faster SATA III SSD.
Of course you can always repurpose the SSD to any future MBP. :)
 
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