I need your 'HELP' Please ! Upgrade or buy new?

[Greenblooded]

Hi guys,

I'm running:

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010)

Processor 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512 MB

Intel HD Graphics 288 MB

Sierra version 10.12.2

And its slow as a turtle. I've flattened it, reinstalled everything and cleaned the memory. It was great for about 2 days afterwards, and now its reverted back to being super slow.

I'm trying to get my bootstrap off the ground and its seriously limiting my work flow.

All I really need is Photoshop/ Illustrator and quite a lot of pages on the net are quite memory heavy.

A friend has suggested that it may be old RAM and upgrade that ( if it is compatible - would it be compatible?).

But I'm seriously at the point of possibly going to town and buying a new mac as minute to minute it is unresponsive (whilst writing this post there is lag - this shouldn't be happening).

It was amazing the many years ago I bought it, and I've generally looked after it periodically but now I cant do my work fast enough, and I need help.

• I also work around the world in different countries and move day to day so IDEALLY I would like to keep a laptop
  
  
• The 17" gives me enough room to spread out a little. This is now not really an option as its discontinued

So - do I see if its RAM can be upgraded (how much would this be?) and would this be effective? does anyone know if it would be compatible?
- Buy a windows laptop as its cheap. If so what spec?
- Buy the 15" Macbook and an Ipad and link the two together so I have more screen space


I think thats all the options.

Your help is kindly appreciated, I'm sure someone must have had the same problem.

Thanks in advance,

Douglas

 

[Weaselboy]

If it worked okay with 8GB of RAM before, adding or swapping RAM will not help. RAM does not just wear out. It can be defective and not work at all, but bad RAM would not cause overall slowness like this.

Can you describe more what you mean by slowness. Are you talking about like when you click Safari to launch it takes a long time to launch and beachballs where that did not occur before. Some of what you are describing sounds like a failing hard drive.

 

[JasonHB]

Fit a SSD, you won't recognise it after that.

I did that with my mid2010 and it completely transformed the machine. Stunning upgrade

Jason

 

[Greenblooded]

If it worked okay with 8GB of RAM before, adding or swapping RAM will not help. RAM does not just wear out. It can be defective and not work at all, but bad RAM would not cause overall slowness like this.

Can you describe more what you mean by slowness. Are you talking about like when you click Safari to launch it takes a long time to launch and beachballs where that did not occur before. Some of what you are describing sounds like a failing hard drive.

[doublepost=1485402908][/doublepost]Hi Weaselboy and thanks for the response.
Issues are general loading anywhere at any time:
- lag between switching from browser to double clicking a desktop box to open it (this should be instant),
- Accessing the dropdown wifi and loading the list of wifi options
- Opening a program such (even sublime text!) VLC, Adobe suite, iTunes, Skype, Slack (desktop) etc
- Opening/ running plugins on chrome such as dropbox, lastpass, builtwith, sceencapture
- Save times in Photoshop, switching between BRUSHES and stuff, basically doing anything in photoshop has load/lag time, this is a serious problem, its suuch a time suck doing absolutely anything.

Basically anything that requires any kind of processing, switching between two separate programs is the worst, such as Phtshop - Itunes for instance.

Or swiping between desktops (4 finger swipe) It gets stuck half way (hahahah - makes me laugh).

Yeah a lot of beachballing when using desktop stuff like opening (even closing) windows and notes for e.g.

I'm basically fully at the end of options without knowing what to do about it/ buy something new.

 

[Rok73]

SSD is the answer to your question.

 

[mikecwest]

Fit a SSD, you won't recognise it after that.

I did that with my mid2010 and it completely transformed the machine. Stunning upgrade

Jason

I just installed an SSD in my early 2011 MBP, and it made a unbelievable difference.

I have maxed out at 16 (I hear 32 might be possible though)
I have upgraded the wifi card.

I don't want a new Mac... I like this one.
[doublepost=1485433590][/doublepost]

[doublepost=1485402908][/doublepost]Hi Weaselboy and thanks for the response.
Issues are general loading anywhere at any time:
- lag between switching from browser to double clicking a desktop box to open it (this should be instant),
- Accessing the dropdown wifi and loading the list of wifi options
- Opening a program such (even sublime text!) VLC, Adobe suite, iTunes, Skype, Slack (desktop) etc
- Opening/ running plugins on chrome such as dropbox, lastpass, builtwith, sceencapture
- Save times in Photoshop, switching between BRUSHES and stuff, basically doing anything in photoshop has load/lag time, this is a serious problem, its suuch a time suck doing absolutely anything.

Basically anything that requires any kind of processing, switching between two separate programs is the worst, such as Phtshop - Itunes for instance.

Or swiping between desktops (4 finger swipe) It gets stuck half way (hahahah - makes me laugh).

Yeah a lot of beachballing when using desktop stuff like opening (even closing) windows and notes for e.g.

I'm basically fully at the end of options without knowing what to do about it/ buy something new.

Are you on your original hard drive? If so, it could just be end of life for that HDD, I'd start to prepare for it's funeral by buying an SSD.

 

[Weaselboy]

Yeah a lot of beachballing when using desktop stuff like opening (even closing) windows and notes for e.g.

What you are describing does sound like a failing hard drive. Like others mentioned, I would put an SSD in there. I think you would be very happy with the end result.

Also, the internal hard drive cable can fail on those causing similar problems, although that is less common. The cable is not too expensive. I would just replace the cable at the same time as the SSD.

 

[Fishrrman]

Put an SSD into it.
Problems, solved!

 

[Greenblooded]

OK overwhelming response and extremely helpful. I'll go and buy an SSD/ change the cable. Tbh I don't want a new machine, I do like this one so I hope it proves successful.

(I'm gonna sound like such a novice here but...) I was under the impression SSD's were external, above comments are to 'fit' it. I'm assuming there's both types - drag out the old HD and fit a new SSD in its place - Or keep old HD (with new cable) and have external SSD..? Hardware isn't my expertise here

Thanks again for your help, its highly appreciated, no f* joke!

 

[Weaselboy]

(I'm gonna sound like such a novice here but...) I was under the impression SSD's were external, above comments are to 'fit' it. I'm assuming there's both types - drag out the old HD and fit a new SSD in its place - Or keep old HD (with new cable) and have external SSD..? Hardware isn't my expertise here

Your MacBook uses a standard SATA 2.5 inch laptop drive and an SSD would be a direct swap in replacement for that internal drive. Same mounting screws and everything. About the best bang for the buck right now is the Samsung EVO 850 or the Crucial MX300. Just grab whichever is cheapest in the size you want. iFixit sells the cable.

 

[Greenblooded]

Your MacBook uses a standard SATA 2.5 inch laptop drive and an SSD would be a direct swap in replacement for that internal drive. Same mounting screws and everything. About the best bang for the buck right now is the Samsung EVO 850 or the Crucial MX300. Just grab whichever is cheapest in the size you want. iFixit sells the cable.

Wow that's a succinct response and product info - I'm guessing you (correctly) realised I wouldn't have a clue which SSD to buy. Thanks again for the information, I'll definitely be using this site in future. I'll be hunting down both suggestions in the city tomoro and let you know the progress.

Kind regards,

Computer-illerate-Doug

 

[Fishrrman]

Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved in swapping the drive.

BE SURE TO USE THE RIGHT TOOLS (shouting intentional).
You need a Phillips #00 driver and a TORX T-6 driver.

Any 2.5" SATA SSD should do.
I recommend either a Crucial or a Sandisk Plus.

I would also recommend that you buy a 2.5" USB3 external enclosure.
Put the SSD into it first, and initialize it using Disk Utility.
Then download CarbonCopyCloner (FREE to download and use for 30 days).
Use CCC to clone from the internal drive to the SSD.
Now, "test boot" the SSD. Power down, then power-on and immediately hold down the Option key until the startup manager appears. Select the external SSD with the pointer and hit return.
Do you "get a good boot"? If so, NOW is the time to power down and do the drive swap.
Put the old HDD into the external enclosure and keep it for a backup!

 

[mikecwest]

Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved in swapping the drive.

BE SURE TO USE THE RIGHT TOOLS (shouting intentional).
You need a Phillips #00 driver and a TORX T-6 driver.

Any 2.5" SATA SSD should do.
I recommend either a Crucial or a Sandisk Plus.

I would also recommend that you buy a 2.5" USB3 external enclosure.
Put the SSD into it first, and initialize it using Disk Utility.
Then download CarbonCopyCloner (FREE to download and use for 30 days).
Use CCC to clone from the internal drive to the SSD.
Now, "test boot" the SSD. Power down, then power-on and immediately hold down the Option key until the startup manager appears. Select the external SSD with the pointer and hit return.
Do you "get a good boot"? If so, NOW is the time to power down and do the drive swap.
Put the old HDD into the external enclosure and keep it for a backup!

I recently bought the PNY because it was a lot cheaper. It sees to be great, my MBP 2011 i7 seems just as fast as my wife's new MacBook Air