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SL speed on a Core Duo Macbook Pro


Shade00
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Hey guys, been doing a little research on Snow Leopard. My wife is a graphic designer and has been using a 1st-gen Macbook Pro Core Duo (2.0ghz) since early 2006. It still runs well, though the Tiger install is a bit bloated and it could probably benefit from a fresh install. The LCD backlight went out recently, so I replaced the LCD with a new glossy screen which she loves. We can't afford to buy her a new 15" model right now and she doesn't want to downgrade to anything smaller. She has a desktop for most of her use, but she does still use the Macbook a lot.

 

Anyway, my question is this (for Embio in particular): on a Core Duo, does Snow Leopard make it seem like a new machine?

 

I know it's not done yet, and I've read what seems like all of the available information on SL. And yes, I know the 64-bit extensions will make a difference on 64-bit CPUs.

 

What I'm thinking about doing is upgrading her to SL when it comes out, along with a new (faster and bigger) 500gb hard drive and an Airport Extreme N card. We're already maxed at 2gb RAM, which I feel is the biggest limitation.

 

I just want to get some opinions on whether SL will let us get by on the old workhorse for another year or two until I'm out of school and we can afford to buy her some new goodies.

 

Her primary apps are the Adobe CS4 suite and the generic Internet stuff.

 

Thanks in advance guys.

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Thanks for the reply! I am looking forward to getting Snow Leopard for her. The more I read, the better I think it will be.

 

I already have the Airport Extreme N card - got it for about $15, so I figured what the hey. I would also love to go with an SSD, but they're cost-prohibitive at this point. I am upgrading her to a 500gb Western Digital drive.

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woah, {censored} I kind of glossed over this one until I realised I was namechecked! Am I the resident 32bit guru now? ;)

 

If you are getting a new hard drive - make sure it's a 7200rpm. This has been the biggest speed improvement on my Macbook (besides RAM) I recommend either a Seagate or a WD. I can't think of any technical reasons for running Snow on my Macbook - but it does connect to wifi faster and shut down faster. Obviously the GMA950 isn't going to help with OpenCL, and I have no need for Exchange - this leaves Grand Central. From what I've seen so far, there is a benefit with this on dual core machines (as advertised) so that might sway you. And of course it's nice to stay current :D

 

To properly answer your question... It doesn't feel like a new machine. But it may do on release ;-)

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I don't know if you're the resident 32-bit guru, but I saw in the other thread that you were running SL on a Core Duo, so I figured it would be appropriate to call you out. :)

 

The wife has been doing fine on the MBP, but I got on to mess around the other day and noticed that it was crawling, even when opening just Safari. I'm sure she'll benefit from a fresh install more than anything else, but I'm hoping the dual core enhancements in SL will help some too.

 

The HD I'm getting is a WD 500gb, and only 5400rpm - but in all tests the extra platter helps put it over the smaller 7200 rpm drives. She's currently got a 200gb Hitachi 7200. I certainly don't think she'll notice any negative impact on speed, and the drive is good enough that she may even notice an improvement.

 

Anyway, thanks for the input Embio. I think SL will be the way to go. Hopefully it'll breathe some new life into the machine.

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I have the latest snow leopard developer build on my 2.16 core duo 17inch macbook pro and can confirm that it doesn't seem any faster than leopard on the same machine. If anything its a bit of a disappointment as the differences to leopard are very small on this machine. Stacks is better but really not reason in itself to upgrade. I sincerely hope that the final release has something new to offer. On my machine at least, Boot up times, if anything are slower than before and shutdown isnt any faster. I have already upgraded to SSD and 802.11N and consider both of these very worthwhile upgrades to an ageing macbook pro, but i think it might be time to upgrade to 64 bit for me to see what snow leopard can really offer. There simply isnt anything to WOW me in snow leopard at this time on this machine. The ATI X1600 is not compatible with Open CL either so even that wont work. All i can say is it runs, yes but dont expect any real change. And for $29 i still couldnt justify the upgrade on this machine. Sorry if this sounds negative but its my first hand experience.

 

Id like to add however that i have had 9GB of storage space returned to my drive after snow leopard installation and removal of languages using monolingual. Very impressive

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Interesting. I have been thinking about upgrading to an SSD even though I already got the 500gb drive. I was thinking about the 128gb Kingston SSD V. What kind of SSD are you using? Any setup issues or tweaks that one should use when setting up and SSD for OS X?

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The short: You can put together your own SSD drive using SDHC cards and an adapter on eBay that will run you aproximately 100 USD. Google returned a bunch of search results. I'm thinking there might be a way to lower costs by using higher capacity SD cards or manufacturing the device yourself.

 

Since your "wife" is into graphics, I imagine a 20-50 gig drive should do it, depending on the file sizes and formats she's using. Just kidding about the "wife" thing.

 

Link: http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/comment/hot-...-storage-drive/

 

The long: Being unemployed now, I read random threads now, like this one. You sparked an interested in the SSD drives. I own a Compaq C504US (C500 product line) and have it fully working (installed iATKOS v7 10.5.7). Yes, everything works: USB 2.0 speeds, wifi, you name it. Being that I primarily use my machine for music (using Logic) and video editing, I'm always trying to find ways to improve the efficiency of this machine. I'm on my second internal harddrive. Anyways, time to work out!

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That's a pretty cool adapter, but IMHO not very cost effective. The 64gb Kingston SSD is only $140, and the 128gb $240. And they're as fast as those SDHC cards.

 

One of the first devices I saw like that was an IDE > CF adapter. In fact, I'm thinking about getting a 1.8" IDE to compactflash adapter to use in an older Sony laptop I have since I can't find a 1.8" SSD that'll work.

 

I ordered two 32gb SSDs - one IDE for my Asus laptop and one SATA for another Macbook. I'll test it out in the Macbook and then probably order one for the Macbook Pro.

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Just for my two cents: I've got a Toshiba Hackintosh that I've been running the Snow Leopard beta's on since about May or early June, and in my opinion it seems much snappier than Leopard. It also only has a Core Duo processor, so unfortunately no 64-bit support. I reinstall quite often, so I know it wasn't just an old Leopard install that had gotten slow over time. It certainly isn't blazing fast like my new MacBook Pro is, but it is definitely an improvement.

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