How do I improve overall performance

Question

Level 1

0 points

How do I improve overall performance

Hello everyone,

I am starting to do more and more projects recently everything from ilusstrations, 3d motion graphics, video work, compoisitng etc... The laptop seems to be doing okay but I know there is room for improvement. I'm definately going to max out my ram to 8gb. I'm thinking of doing this opti bay thing here http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=OBSXGB- UNB&Category_Code=STORHDOPTIBAY

and putting in a ssd as the main drive and keeping the 750 gb for storage purposes. That or possibly just upgrading the ram and the hard drive to something higher than 5400rpm.

Should I just start with ram upgrade, should I just upgrade the hard drive to something with higher rpd or go solid state. Also what brands do you recommend? I appreciate any feedback.

Thanks you in advance.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 4gb ram, 2.2 ghz intel i7

Posted on Apr 17, 2012 12:04 PM

Reply

Answer 1

ds store

Level 7

30,725 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:06 PM in response to bessera

What model Mac? What OS X version?

Reply

Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:11 PM in response to bessera

If you can afford it then do it all. No point wasting time. The optibay idea is a good one, but before you make any decisions on what to buy visit:

OWC for memory, hard drives, and SSDs. They also have a product called DiskDoubler for replacing the optical drive with an SSD or second hard drive. Similar, I think, to OptiBay.

DataMem for memory.

If you purchase an SSD then you may not need to also replace the hard drive, but if you do replace the hard drive do so with a 7200 RPM drive for its faster speed.

I've done several of these types of upgrades, so I'm pretty familar with how they are done.

Reply

Answer 3

bessera Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:16 PM in response to ds store

Oh sorry thought I tagged that. I have the 2011 17in macbook pro. If there was a late model that last year I have that one. I have 10.6.8 still since one of my main programs doesn't have a full compatablie lion version yet.

Reply

Answer 4

bessera Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:22 PM in response to Kappy

I need the storage since the video files I work with are quite large and so far i've only seen ssd going up to 250 gb. I don't want to tote around and have to plug in a portable drive while i'm on the go. That's why I was thinking of main drive ssd, take out the optical drive and put in the 750gb there. How much of an improvement do you think I would see if I did 8 or 16 gb ram and just upgrading the harddrive to something with 7200 rpm?

Reply

Answer 5

Courcoul

Level 6

18,558 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:23 PM in response to bessera

Beware if you upgrade to an SSD. For optimal long-term perfornance, TRIM needs to be in use. MacOS X automatically enables TRIM on Apple-branded SSDs, not so on others. Need to search how to force this, cause otherwise the sparkling SSD performance will go progressively down the drain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM

Reply

Answer 6

bessera Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:24 PM in response to Courcoul

thanks! I heard about that somehwere is there a place I can look at the price of the apple ssds?

Reply

Answer 7

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:31 PM in response to bessera

Be cautious about replacing your optical drive with an SSD or hard drive. Such a modification is not supported by Apple and may void your warranty.

Upgrading the RAM to at least 8 GB for what you're doing would be highly recommended. My personal preference would be a larger, faster hard drive over an SSD... there are still just too many potential issues with an SSD for me to be willing to spend the extra for less storage!

Regarding performance issues, note that there are many things you can do beyond just tweak the hardware. See the Mac OS X Speed FAQ.

Reply

Answer 8

Courcoul

Level 6

18,558 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:33 PM in response to thomas_r.

I believe the only way to get an Apple SSD is to custom-configure a Mac when ordering. Don't think they hand them off the shelf.

BTW, am also on Thomas' camp. Price per SSD GB is still too high compared to HDDs.

Reply

Answer 9

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:34 PM in response to Courcoul

TRIM is not needed with OWC's SSDs, but in any case there is a utility for activating TRIM for non-Apple SSDs.

Reply

Answer 10

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:35 PM in response to thomas_r.

Tom.

I've done this upgrade on several machines using OWC's SSDs. They work without any problems.

Reply

Answer 11

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:40 PM in response to Kappy

Judging from the fact that there's actually a market for drive mounts to fit that bay, I have no doubt it works. But if it were to cause a problem for some reason, I doubt Apple would cover it at no charge under the warranty.

Reply

Answer 12

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:45 PM in response to thomas_r.

Well, it's correct that if you cause any damage doing such a modification then that damage won't be covered under your warranty. But if the computer is out of warranty then such a concern is academic. 🙂

I've installed SSDs using the OWC DiskDoubler in two laptops. I've also installed an OWC SSD in my Mac Pro and in a non-Apple netbook. No problems with any of these.

The nice thing about OWC's SSDs is that the controller they use obviates the need to have TRIM. And, in spite of that there is a utility that will activate TRIM for non-Apple SSDs - TrimEnabler.

Reply