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Recent update to 16GB Ram - still slow

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  • 16-11-2015 9:28pm
    #1
    frag420
    Registered Users Posts: 6,158 ✭✭✭


    I have a macbook pro. mid 2012, 2.5 Ghz which came with 4gb ram.

    I recently upgraded to 16 gb expecting it to be super quick but its has not changed much at all and is very temperanental, sometimes it is quick, more often it is not. I just got a spinning ball typing this!!

    Any suggestions as to what may be causing this. I looked at activity and there is a kernel task using 1gb+. there seems to be a lot of stuff going on in the background that I don't know about.

    Any help greatly appreciated!!

    frAg


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    #2
    FourFourRED
    Registered Users Posts: 8,541 ✭✭✭FourFourRED


    frag420 wrote: »
    I have a macbook pro. mid 2012, 2.5 Ghz which came with 4gb ram.

    I recently upgraded to 16 gb expecting it to be super quick but its has not changed much at all and is very temperanental, sometimes it is quick, more often it is not. I just got a spinning ball typing this!!

    Any suggestions as to what may be causing this. I looked at activity and there is a kernel task using 1gb+. there seems to be a lot of stuff going on in the background that I don't know about.

    Any help greatly appreciated!!

    frAg

    Can you upgrade to an SSD? That will make a huge difference.

    https://twitter.com/fourfourred



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    #3
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,671 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    Kernal_task can use quite bit of memory. It's nothing to be alarmed about.

    If a machine suddenly becomes slow upgrading the RAM won't help. In fact, RAM will rarely have a big impact on speed unless you were experiencing major pageouts before. I still get by fine with 4GB in both my Macs.

    You could have a hard drive problem, or a rogue background process, or any number of other issues. You'll need to narrow it down. Start by looking at your background processes in Activity Monitor and ordering them by CPU usage.

    If the machine has always been like this, then upgrading to an SSD as FourFM suggested is probably the way to go. Hard drives are slow and unreliable.


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    #4
    atilladehun
    Registered Users Posts: 1,566 ✭✭✭atilladehun


    I had a MacBook that did that random slowness. Turned out my logicboard was kaput. It was still in warranty so got it changed. Served me very well for a few years after that.


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    #5
    ponzook
    Closed Accounts Posts: 114 ✭✭ponzook


    Ram doesn't really improve the speed of your MAC if its allready running slow. The processor is 90% more important. Whats the make and model of the processor?


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    #6
    Doodah7
    Registered Users Posts: 3,725 ✭✭✭Doodah7


    ponzook wrote: »
    Ram doesn't really improve the speed of your MAC if its allready running slow. The processor is 90% more important. Whats the make and model of the processor?

    You registered to spout this rubbish!! Processor is 90% more important! If we are making up random facts I'd say that your comment was 93.276% BS.

    The only quick way to speed up your computer - assuming that there are no rogue processes - is to replace the existing HDD with a SSD. The difference in speed is like night and day.

    I have the exact same model as you and upgraded to an SSD about 18 months ago. I had previously upgraded the RAM to 8GB, mainly because I could rather than for any dramatic speed boost. It was the SSD upgrade that made all the difference. It is literally a five minute job in our machines.


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    #7
    Zcott
    Registered Users Posts: 3,206 ✭✭✭Zcott


    +1 for SSD.


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    #8
    Zillah
    Registered Users Posts: 17,371 ✭✭✭✭Zillah


    When was the last time it got a wipe and reinstall? Your OS might be a bit gummed up, or you could have various apps hijacking resources. As said, it's not the RAM. You wouldn't be needing anything like 16GB unless you're doing massive multimedia projects.


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    #9
    frag420
    Registered Users Posts: 6,158 ✭✭✭frag420


    Perhaps it was my ignorance that I thought a ram upgrade would help. I will look into replacing the HD with a SSD over xmas.

    I have not wiped it since I got it. What is the best way to do this without losing any files/data etc.

    Again excuse my ignorance!

    All help appreciated!

    frAg


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    #10
    Doodah7
    Registered Users Posts: 3,725 ✭✭✭Doodah7


    I see that Amazon have Crucial BX100 500GB SSD in their Lightning deals for £93 today. Price lasts for another 90 minutes or so. Serious bargain.


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    #11
    option
    Registered Users Posts: 44 ✭option


    +100 for SSD.


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    #12
    Passenger
    Registered Users Posts: 6,144 ✭✭✭Passenger


    A 2012 2.5Ghz MBP should be running at optimum performance and handling most things you throw at it with ease. Have you updated to the latest OS, El Capitan? As mentioned above, a SSD should make huge difference.


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    #13
    ZENER
    Registered Users Posts: 6,163 ✭✭✭ZENER


    frag420 wrote: »
    Perhaps it was my ignorance that I thought a ram upgrade would help. I will look into replacing the HD with a SSD over xmas.

    I have not wiped it since I got it. What is the best way to do this without losing any files/data etc.

    Again excuse my ignorance!

    All help appreciated!

    frAg

    Do a Time Machine Backup of the computer first before attempting any reinstall. As other above have said, an SSD is the one true performance enhancement that will make your Mac sing.

    I've upgraded many MBPs and iMacs to SSD and the difference is night and day. Bootup went from a couple of minutes to about 25 seconds, apps load like a snap too. Buy a decent make though, they are not all equal. I used Samsung EVOs myself and have had nothing but good reports from customers.

    Download the El Capitan installer app from the AppStore - don't allow it to upgrade your current system. This results in the Install El Capitan application appearing in your Applications folder.

    Download DiskMaker X and install it to the Applications Folder.

    Follow the instructions here to create a USB boot drive. You will need at least an 8GB USB stick for this and it will be erased and reformatted so ensure you have nothing important on it.

    During the install you will be asked if you would like to transfer your files from the Time Machine Backup to your new OS. Choose what you want to transfer and sit back while OS X does it's thing.

    Be aware, you cannot copy across your current applications this way, you will need the install media for the applications you wish to use or a location where to download them from.

    Also be sure you know all your passwords and settings for any accounts/email/shopping/banking sites you use. The transfer should copy all your KeyChains across but it's always a good idea to have your own copy elsewhere.

    Post back if you need any further help.

    Ken


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    #14
    frag420
    Registered Users Posts: 6,158 ✭✭✭frag420


    Passenger wrote: »
    A 2012 2.5Ghz MBP should be running at optimum performance and handling most things you throw at it with ease. Have you updated to the latest OS, El Capitan? As mentioned above, a SSD should make huge difference.

    Yeah I have updated to el capitan as of last night. will check how it goes tonight.

    Appreciate all the help so far.


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    #15
    jakdublin
    Registered Users Posts: 1,065 ✭✭✭jakdublin


    I'm far from an expert but prior to the availability of SSDs, I'd have said more RAM was the best way to speed up an aging Mac. My strategy for about a decade when I bought a Mac was to buy from Apple online without any upgrades and after 2-3 years when it began to get sluggish, max out the RAM as it would have dropped in price. Always seemed to get a significant boost. Next time it started to slow, I'd do a clean install and get another boost from that. It was a tactic that served me well but these days SSDs are more affordable and the difference in speed compared to extra RAM on a normal drive is phenomenal.


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    #16
    miralize
    Registered Users Posts: 6,207 ✭✭✭miralize


    Just FYI there was a lightning deal on Amazon UK for a 512GB ssd for about £100 earlier.


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    #17
    ponzook
    Closed Accounts Posts: 114 ✭✭ponzook


    Can you check what percentage of your processor is been used and the temperature of it on a mac? Could be processor overheating and this would slow it down completely.


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    #18
    frag420
    Registered Users Posts: 6,158 ✭✭✭frag420


    So I am picking up a SSD next weekend.

    What is the process I need to do to back up my current data and transfer it to the SSD?

    Is there a YouTube video that explains it all, looked at a few but could only really find tutorial for replacing drive but not backing it up and transferring data to the new drive!

    Any and all help greatly appreciated!!


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    #19
    Riesen_Meal
    Registered Users Posts: 10,575 ✭✭✭✭Riesen_Meal


    frag420 wrote: »
    So I am picking up a SSD next weekend.

    What is the process I need to do to back up my current data and transfer it to the SSD?

    Is there a YouTube video that explains it all, looked at a few but could only really find tutorial for replacing drive but not backing it up and transferring data to the new drive!

    Any and all help greatly appreciated!!

    I would do a fresh install, possiblly back up the exact files you need to a key or a different USB harddrive and then swap out the harddrives and have a key with your OS of choice on it and install from that....


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    #20
    huggs2
    Registered Users Posts: 471 ✭✭huggs2


    I agree with most of above. El capitan runs fine on 4 megs.Changing the hd for an SSD is a no brainer with the low prices today.Its like having a new computer.A fresh install every year also helps a lot.Also my son had a problem recently with his 5 year old macbook pro running slow and apple support said it looked like there was malware on the computer and sure enough there were 16 pieces found by "Malwarebytes" a program he got me to download as apple recommend this for finding malware.
    There is a free version.
    https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/


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    #21
    dubmick
    Registered Users Posts: 3,913 ✭✭✭dubmick


    moving from 4gb of ram to 16gb on my 2011 iMac made a noticeable difference for me but I generally like to have a lot of apps running at the same time.


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