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A bit dissapointed by SR Macbook speed...suggestions?

A

asdfTT123

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 1, 2007
159
1
Hey everyone, I purchased my new SR Macbook back in November and I've been happy with it for the most part. I got the midrange model (2.2 Ghz, 1GB, 120GB HD) and it's served me well thus far. Some things I've noticed however, is with this model I rarely ever have free RAM. According to iStat Pro, a lot of the memory goes into swap and applications such as Safari will momentarily freeze and the rainbow beach ball comes up for a few seconds. I notice there are also hiccups on some flash-based videos online and the system develops lots of hiccups and frequently becomes unresponsive. Is this all due to a shortage of RAM? I purchased the following on Newegg just a few minutes ago:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231135

I'm hoping this will help resolve the slowdowns and hiccups and allow me to do Windows XP virtualization through Parallels. Another issue I've noticed is that my system overheats when I do anything CPU intensive such as gaming - Fallout 2, GBA emulator, or even older games such as Jazz the Jackrabbit 2. According to iStat, the CPU temperature goes above 80 C in this instances and the fan kicks in and it's very loud...is this normal of Macbooks? Normal Safari surfing with Wifi and music typically yield temperatures of 47-62 C. Thanks for your help! =)
 
Hello,
As a note for future computer purchasing, never cheap out on RAM or processor speed.

Allowing for the fact that not everyone can afford top end of the line computers, especially apple, then at least do not chug out for anything less than 2GB of RAM.
Your computer will natively use about 512mb of your RAM and applications will suck the rest dry leaving nothing but push room for RAM fights.
That extra gig will go a long way in long-term happiness and anti-slowness :)
 
Thanks for your reply but I absolutely refused to purchase any RAM upgrades from Apple as their prices are ridiculous. I've heard RAM was easy to install on your own and I went with G.Skill, which I know is a trusted brand and will perform just as well as any RAM Apple will provide.
 
asdfTT123 said:
Another issue I've noticed is that my system overheats when I do anything CPU intensive such as gaming - Fallout 2, GBA emulator, or even older games such as Jazz the Jackrabbit 2.
Click to expand...

The problem with older games such as the ones you mentioned is that they're programmed for PPC Macs, which are incompatible with Intel processors, so it has to run a CPU emulator (called Rosetta) in order for the games to work. This is very CPU-intensive, and also pretty memory intensive.

--Eric
 
I would never use a MacBook with 1GB. Remember your graphics card is taking up to 144MB out of your 1GB already and when you start doing other things in addition to the fact that Leopard is more of a memory hog than Tiger, the RAM gets used up quickly. I initially bumped my blackbook to 2GB as soon as i got it...before even the first boot. Even then it was still struggling sometimes but not all the time. So i bit the bullet and went to 4GB and have been happy ever since. No pageouts and an overall increase in snappiness.

Also the CPU is pretty high end and is in a tight polycarbonate enclosure so the fans will work hard to cool the case down unlike the MacBook Pros which have aluminium enclosure (a heatsink) as well as an extra fan (macbooks only have 1 fan)
 
You will love the bump to 4gb. I burn alot of DVD's using MacTheRipper then Toast. One or the other is running most of the time. I will always have iTunes open playing songs. I will be playing online Poker at Full Tilt Poker. There will be a minimum of 3 Safari sites open, plus yahoo Messenger, which I wlll be Camming with someone. Could I get by with less ram? maybe. But so far it is speeding along with no signs of any slow up.

Ram is SO cheap right now. I can't imagine anyone not maxing it out.
 
Thanks for the help everyone. I will definitely let you guys know about the speedbump after I install the new RAM in the next few days. I've looked at 4GB notebook memory prices before but this has been the best I have seen yet. Here are more listings on Newegg for 4GB RAM kits that should work on SR configurations:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2030260381+1309121118&name=4GB+(2+x+2GB)

The Kingstons are the same price as the G.Skills and OCZ is priced at one dollar more. I did lots of research on RAM before I built my PC desktop rig (in sig) and the two brands that have had the highest and most consistent reviews have been Crucial and G.Skill. I run 4GB DDR2-800 Crucial Ballistix in my rig and it runs perfectly. I suspect the G.Skills should work great too. If you're looking for cheap, reliable, and high-end RAM, I would go with the G.Skills I linked to.
 
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