What do i need to buy to make my iMac run faster?

[OneFatality]

I've been using my iMac for about a year and a half now, it is the Aluminum plated iMac7,1 and after about a year, most computers tend to slow down.

Especially if your a gamer like me.

I have some extra cash and i would really like to buy some upgrades for this computer so I wont lag out while playing a game or while having many screens open at one time.

What will i need to upgrade to make my computer run smoother and faster?

iMac Specs:
2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB memory
4MB L2 Cache
(I'm not sure what else i should be adding to be honest)


So any help will be greatly appreciated

 

[Azrel]

About the only thing you can do is upgrade your RAM. But I don't think going above 2GB really adds much more performance to games (I could be wrong).

Your iMac can be upgraded to 4GB RAM.

If you want to, upgrade your HDD to an SSD. But this does nothing for games, but it will make it load faster.

It's just the nature of iMacs, it's basically a laptop on a stand. If you want upgradability, go for a Mac Pro.

 

[MacDawg]

after about a year, most computers tend to slow down.

Especially if your a gamer like me.

Why would your computer "slow down" after about year?

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[OneFatality]

MacDawg - Why would your computer "slow down" after about year?

Many users tend to have many unused files, your whole screen flooded with folders of crap you don't use etc.

 

[MacDawg]

MacDawg - Why would your computer "slow down" after about year?

Many users tend to have many unused files, your whole screen flooded with folders of crap you don't use etc.

If that is the case, buying something new won't solve that
You can use something like Onyx (free) to run maintenance scripts
And you can delete the things you don't use
Perhaps repairing permissions, resetting the PRAM and a clean install

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[slu]

If that is the case, buying something new won't solve that
You can use something like Onyx (free) to run maintenance scripts
And you can delete the things you don't use
Perhaps repairing permissions, resetting the PRAM and a clean install

Woof, Woof - Dawg

While this is true, the OP's computer shouldn't slow down. And being a gamer doesn't really have anything to do with anything.

Unless something is wrong hardware or software wise, there should be no noticeable degradation in performance, especially after only a year. My guess is that the OP is thinking with a Windows mindset, and believes his computer is getting slower because he wants to believe it is getting slower.

OP, go ahead and do a clean install if that will make you feel better. You could add more RAM, but that won't really makes things faster. It should reduce spinning beach balls if you run many apps at once.

 

[rick3000]

A fresh install of OSX, some more RAM, and running maintenance scripts always helps. Besides that their isn't much you can do, Mac's aren't exactly upgradeable, unless you get a MacPro.

 

[MattZani]

On windows, after a year its getting noticably slow.

Havent seen it happen on OS X.

 

[Hellhammer]

Bump RAM to 4GB and run Onyx to get rid of hashfiles.

 

[MacDawg]

On windows, after a year its getting noticably slow.

Havent seen it happen on OS X.

That's because their OS utilizes different architecture
Mac OS X does not use a registry

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[Hellhammer]

That's because their OS utilizes different architecture
Mac OS X does not use a registry

Woof, Woof - Dawg

BTW, how do you get that "Woof, Woof - Dawg

" for your all posts? I think you're not writing/copying it every time...

 

[mgridgaway]

I have the same iMac as you do, and about all you can do is upgrade the Ram. It does help.. but not a ton. You can upgrade the hdd, but it's a bit technical (requires removing the glass pane, etc), so it's not for the faint of heart.


The only real advice I can offer is don't buy a mac if you want to game unless you're willing to spend a lot of money. You can build a much better equivilent PC for much less and then have a mac mini for casual usage for around $1800 total, ie about $700 less than the base Mac Pro.

As much as I wish it were so, Macs just aren't really built to play games without spending a few months salary. Almost all games are built using Direct X 9, so you're already at a disadvantage when they port it to Open GL, and though you can use bootcamp to take advantage of faster speeds, the prices you're charged on systems with good graphics cards are almost 2x what you'd pay for a equivalent PC.