Question What to do with 2011 iMac?

[Turko]

iMac 21.5-inch Mid 2011
2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Mac HD
AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512 MB

Very slow and laggy. I ran the test where I hold restart and hold down D. Did some rendering, I think a ram test and then tells everything is fine.

Options are to upgrade the harddrive and RAM, or use as additional monitor with the PC I'm building. But before I decide, is there any other way to see what exactly is slowing it down?

 

[spinningstill]

Yes. Would run Time Machine or CCC. Next, remove any anti-virus or and other third party software off of it. Once you have dragged or uninstalled third party software you may need to go into the library and delete the support folders.

When you are certain you have a full back up or two. Would recommend creating a new user and then deleting any other users that are on the machine. Do that in the user preferences.

Further would call OWC or Mac Sales and order the highest RAM possible for your machine. It is best to call them and have your computer running to give them exact model information.

Keep in mind it is a i5. The performance between the i5 and i7 is quite noticeable. However, caping out the RAM and doing a clean will help quite a bit.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[punkncat]

I found it quite satisfying to use an old Mac for target and then batting practice. It was it's best case use scenario.

 

[BadAsAl]

Boot with Command S.
At the command prompt, type fsck - fy and hit enter.
Wait until it says either it appears to be ok or it says it made changes.
If it says made changes, enter fsck - fy again and hit enter. Repeat until you get the appears to be ok message.
Type reboot and hit enter.
Once back in, open Disk Utility and select your internal hard drive, then run first aid.

Adding RAM will help a little but you don't need special stuff, PC3-10600 204PIN DDR3 SODIMM spec RAM will work, Newegg has the 8GB kit for under $50:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...VL_bjBx3aOAibEAQYASABEgIz0PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Turko]

Yes. Would run Time Machine or CCC. Next, remove any anti-virus or and other third party software off of it. Once you have dragged or uninstalled third party software you may need to go into the library and delete the support folders.

When you are certain you have a full back up or two. Would recommend creating a new user and then deleting any other users that are on the machine. Do that in the user preferences.

Further would call OWC or Mac Sales and order the highest RAM possible for your machine. It is best to call them and have your computer running to give them exact model information.

Keep in mind it is a i5. The performance between the i5 and i7 is quite noticeable. However, caping out the RAM and doing a clean will help quite a bit.

Let us know how it goes.

Thank you for replying.

Couple weeks ago, I deleted a bootcamp partition and performed a factory reset. It's now a functional for web browsing, but not too much else.

 

[Turko]

Boot with Command S.
At the command prompt, type fsck - fy and hit enter.
Wait until it says either it appears to be ok or it says it made changes.
If it says made changes, enter fsck - fy again and hit enter. Repeat until you get the appears to be ok message.
Type reboot and hit enter.
Once back in, open Disk Utility and select your internal hard drive, then run first aid.

Adding RAM will help a little but you don't need special stuff, PC3-10600 204PIN DDR3 SODIMM spec RAM will work, Newegg has the 8GB kit for under $50:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAAFJ4315128&ignorebbr=1&source=region&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-Computer+Memory+Solutions-_-Memory+(Notebook+Memory)-_-9SIAAFJ4315128&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrvWi1-aT4QIVL_bjBx3aOAibEAQYASABEgIz0PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Done, I had to delete the space "fy" fsck -fy no noticeable difference. Kept telling me HD Volume appears to be okay. typed exit, it asked to display Y/N type y, it gave me some info. took a pic. Any way to attach here?

 

[Gam3r01]

Is there a reason you need this mac given its age?
You mention another PC being built, im assuming that leaves no use for this old system.

I would not recommend putting money into an 8 year old setup.
RAM is only an issue if you are actively running out of it, its not a performance upgrade if you arent maxed out currently.

 

[Turko]

Thank you for replying.

Not, no need for it, other than it's display of color may differ from the cheap TN monitor I have for my build. I was thinking I could try to improve the performance, before I either sell it or use it as a target display monitor.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

Get some ram. Depending what cpu it is, I know I picked up an i5 2400 for 25 bucks off eBay recently for an old Dell desktop.

Also, you can find 500gb SSD drives for about 50-60 bucks. But a ram upgrade and SSD would make it fly I bet.

 

[Turko]

Activity monitor under memory tab, bottom says

Physical memory 4.00 GB
Memory used 3.31 GB
Cached files 792.2 MB
Swap used 1.3 MB

Used means it's using 3.31 of a total 4.00 which is too much?

Swap means it's using the harddrive because it's close to maxed out?

All this is new to me, I'm learning from Google.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

That is how Windows operates also. Windows has what they call a page file. IE when you start using close to the max amount of ram, it uses part of the hard drive as ram, which really slows things down. Bump the ram to at least 8gb, 16gb would be better if it supports it.

Also, as I said, grab an SSD if you know how to install it. That would also really make it feel like new.

I recently put an i5 in an old Dell optiplex and upgraded ram from 4 to 8gb. Then put a 240gb SSD in for a bit drive. Going to be used for church. But for an old 2011 PC that I got for free actually, less than 100 in parts, and it goes almost as fast as a new one.

 

[Turko]

I installed the new 4GB ram sticks in the bottom slots and moved the old 2GB sticks into the top slots for a total of 12. Running much smoother. I'm planning on doing the SSD in a couple of weeks.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

Then format and install Windows😛

In all seriousness, between ram and an ssd, it may feel like a new system.

 

[DylanXXX]

I did the same with my macbook. Added RAM and changed the disk to SSD. He became a little quicker, but not all the same 🙁. For work, it is rather weak. I still have a problem with overheating. Fans often work.