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Author Topic: Mystical_goat’s computer problem  (Read 5178 times)
mystical_goat

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« on: Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 04:06:12 »

My MacBook Pro is getting a bit clunky and I was wondering about hooking up a second hand Mac Mini to a Panasonic 3D TV. Would out work well?

The laptop I've got is 13-inch, Late 2011, 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3, Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB. I'm hoping the mac mini would perform a bit better? Need a Mac to run the music software.

Do these seem fair, anyone in the know?

https://www.gumtree.com/p/macs/mac-mini-latest-addition-/1310027437
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Mac-mini-late-2012-2-3GHz-i7-16GB-RAM-250GB-SSD-boxed-VGC/173481445949
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Barry Scott

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« Reply #1 on: Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 07:38:37 »

My MacBook Pro is getting a bit clunky and I was wondering about hooking up a second hand Mac Mini to a Panasonic 3D TV. Would out work well?

The laptop I've got is 13-inch, Late 2011, 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3, Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB. I'm hoping the mac mini would perform a bit better? Need a Mac to run the music software.

Do these seem fair, anyone in the know?

https://www.gumtree.com/p/macs/mac-mini-latest-addition-/1310027437
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Mac-mini-late-2012-2-3GHz-i7-16GB-RAM-250GB-SSD-boxed-VGC/173481445949

Have you got an SSD in the laptop? There’s no reason why that shouldn’t be nice and quick. Biggest bottle neck is the dual core processor (aside from a conventional Hdd). 

I’d buy an ssd for the MBP and migrate to a new os on the new drive. What software is it you’re running? Just wondering whether the OS is the problem or the apps. What version of OSX is on it?
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mystical_goat

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« Reply #2 on: Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 11:28:16 »

Cheers for the reply, Barry.

Yeah I popped an SSD in there a few months ago.

I’m running High Sierra 10.13.2.

So the Mac mini won’t give me much more juice? Just thought the i7 might be a flyer but I don’t know a great deal about these things.
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Barry Scott

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« Reply #3 on: Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 11:42:39 »

The Mac mini will, yes. It’s a quad core for a start. I only glanced, but not sure they’ve got an SSD, although possibly the newer i7 will have. Might even have pci-e flash which will wipe the floor with a normal sata ssd.

Did you install high Sierra onto a virgin drive and migrate your old apps/data over the top, or did you just upgrade to high Sierra while running the old OS through the App Store? Where are the problems/lag most obvious?

If it’s latency and what not in your music apps, then a quad core will help quite a bit. My old 2010 Mac was a hit shitty like that.
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mystical_goat

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« Reply #4 on: Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 12:02:01 »


Did you install high Sierra onto a virgin drive and migrate your old apps/data over the top, or did you just upgrade to high Sierra while running the old OS through the App Store? Where are the problems/lag most obvious?


The latter. It gets most obviously laggy when overheating actually, so I've got a little stand which lets the fans get to more air.

Then when running modern games like FM16> it's pretty jolty.

In Logic, the music production software, sometime you get the spinny rainbow wheel or when playing a track with lots of elements it sometimes has to stop and think for a bit.
« Last Edit: Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 12:05:17 by mystical_goat » Logged
Barry Scott

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« Reply #5 on: Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 12:26:40 »

Well it would appear a processor issue then. Marble of doom can be caused by any amount of shite, so can’t imagine the way the os was installed helps much.

Do you run time machine? If not do you have an external drive you can backup to? I ask because if I was in your position, I’d just start with a fresh high Sierra install and then migrate all data into the fresh os. That might freshen it up enough.

If you’re running loads of plugins and virtual instruments in Logic though, a new os mightn’t help much.

Has it previously been quicker and less annoying running logic and fm?
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mystical_goat

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« Reply #6 on: Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 22:56:37 »


Do you run time machine? If not do you have an external drive you can backup to? I ask because if I was in your position, I’d just start with a fresh high Sierra install and then migrate all data into the fresh os. That might freshen it up enough.

If you’re running loads of plugins and virtual instruments in Logic though, a new os mightn’t help much.

Has it previously been quicker and less annoying running logic and fm?

I don't use time machine. Have a big 1TB USB backup drive though. Not running much but the standard plugins etc on Logic, I don't have to ask it to work too hard for it to pause. Gave up on games like Tropico and Skylines because it got too jittery; play them on the PS4 now.

It's a newer version of logic so hard to compare if its slower lately as I've not used it nearly as much as the one before.

FM16 is a no-go altogether, been trying it today and once it comes to a match it's like pulling teeth. Think '14 is its maximum capability.

Thanks for your advice so far Barry.
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Barry Scott

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« Reply #7 on: Wednesday, August 22, 2018, 07:09:42 »

No worries, I’m happy to help. I’m supposed to be working, but I think this could be classed as semi-constructive procrastination.

I split the topic as it was gaming thread and we’ll end up detailing that thread somewhat.

I’d be surprised if just refreshing the OS doesn’t give your Mac a new lease of life, as I’m not a huge fan of installing a new OS straight on to the old OS. The computer isn’t under spec, although for fm it might be, I’ve no idea. I’d have thought it’d run logic fine though.

How big is your drive in the Mac and is the external drive in use?

Do you have a usb stick?

If you do I’ll write the instructions of what to do, unless you know, that is. Just want you to run time machine until it’s taken a backup or 2, then install high Sierra from the usb while selecting the time machine backup so it migrates all settings and files onto the new OS.

It can take a few hours as there’s a lot of info being transferred by usb, but you’ll essentially be left with exactly the system and preferences, just on a fresh OS.
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Simon Pieman
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« Reply #8 on: Wednesday, August 22, 2018, 11:52:29 »

Gave up on games like Tropico and Skylines because it got too jittery; play them on the PS4 now.

I really doubt graphics chip isn't going to be up to the job for a lot of modern games. Try the 'will it run tool' on this website for any game and check mind for example:

https://www.macgamestore.com/product/4198/Cities-Skylines/

FM2016 should be running ok though, it's well within spec. Have you cleaned out the fans from dust etc as CPU performance will be throttled by high temperature.
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Flashheart

« Reply #9 on: Wednesday, August 22, 2018, 12:25:11 »

Skylines is VERY resource hungry.

I've not played it for a while as my machine struggles too much so I'm waiting until I can get more RAM. I currently have 8GB and a GTX 750Ti so I'm not exactly potato powered. All my other games run just fine.
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mystical_goat

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« Reply #10 on: Thursday, August 23, 2018, 11:13:40 »


How big is your drive in the Mac and is the external drive in use?

Do you have a usb stick?

If you do I’ll write the instructions of what to do, unless you know, that is. Just want you to run time machine until it’s taken a backup or 2, then install high Sierra from the usb while selecting the time machine backup so it migrates all settings and files onto the new OS.

It can take a few hours as there’s a lot of info being transferred by usb, but you’ll essentially be left with exactly the system and preferences, just on a fresh OS.

It's a 500GB SSD as I couldn't afford the 1TB one. Yeah got a few USB sticks and a 1TB external HDD that I keep a backup of my music and a few important docs on.

Time machine occasionally pops up and tells me it hasn't updated for so many hundred days, so perhaps I'll do that first.
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mystical_goat

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« Reply #11 on: Thursday, August 23, 2018, 11:15:01 »

Have you cleaned out the fans from dust etc as CPU performance will be throttled by high temperature.

Yeah when I swapped the SSD in a few months ago I gave it all a good clean, particularly the fans.
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