FU on my video card question. Really asking why my MacPro has slowed down?

[GeneL]

OK, I'm awake! I haven't been getting much sleep lately.

Looking over the replies to m y previous question http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1...msg-919069, I see that a new video card is most likely not a recommended upgrade for me.

As far as the hard drive suggestions, I am using a couple of Seagate 750gb 7200 rpm drives. One internal as my main drive and the other in an OWC FW 800 enclosure as my back up.

Here's my configuration:

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro1,1
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 5 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP11.005C.B08

I was having issues with spinning color wheels, apps opening slowly, my Logitech MX Revolution mouse was having intermittent problems with sluggishness and webpages were slower than usual to open, so
I recently went through a troubleshooting process on the phone with an Apple product specialist.

She had me get rid of all my log in items and caches plus several other items, which I can't remember.

After that, my computer did seem to be faster and my mouse was back to normal.

I see now, after several weeks, that some of the log in items have reappeared and, in general, things are slowing up again.

Applications and windows have gradually begun to open slower as do webpages and I see spinning color wheels more often. My Logitech MX Revolution mouse, which was having intermittent problems with sluggishness, is still operating normally.

I don't know what to do about the log in item situation, since it appears that the apps, such as Microsoft Office (Entourage), require that they have a log in at startup.

I've added several maintenance applications to my line up, including TechTool Pro, Drive Genius, Onyx, MacPilot and HDCleanup.

I know that there are overlaps and duplication of function among these "utilitiy" applications, but frankly, I'm just not sure how best to use them.

I figure running any of them that "clean the caches" should take care of some of the issues that slow down my computer, but these apps offer a lot more in their operation and I don't really know what affect running them will have on my computer.

My Applecare is running out, so I'm concerned about the recurring issues with my computer slowing down and not having a way to get technical support from Apple.

Am I expecting too much from my MacPro model? I have seen that other Macs (two neighbors have iMacs and I just helped a friend set up her new 13" Macbook) using the same internet service through Cox Cable, load webpages lightning fast, on the other hand, with Cox's highest speed available (download speed 27.3 Mbps/upload 2.38 Mbps), I see webpages open very slowly, by comparison. Shouldn't I expect. at least, equal speed from my 2.26 GHz MacPro?

As you can see, I have increased my RAM from stock and I'm using the highest internet service that I can get , so what can I do to make sure that my computer is operating at its peak performance? Do I really need to add more RAM for the kind of basic use that I do, from day to day?

I have to say that, with the problems I've been having with not being able to sleep much, troubleshooting my computer is one chore that I'd like to simplify and have done with.

Based on the kinds of issues that I've described, can anyone give me a plan on how to properly use the "utilities" I've listed? What about the "log in items" issue?

As always, your advice and expertise are greatly appreciated.

GeneL

[kj4btkljv]

Gene, have you created a new user account and tried running with that for a little bit of time (an hour or two at the least) to see if that also suffers the "slow down"?

If it does, then you do have a hardware problem. If it doesn't, your primary user account is probably mucked up good enough that it's causing the machine to become sluggish.

Jeff

[GeneL]

Jeff, I haven't done that recently, but I will give that a shot. Certainly makes sense.

My only question about doing that is how I'm going to access my important websites, now that I started using 1Password. I don't know my logins for my password protected websites anymore.

[jdc]

I would try the new user as well.

27 mbps is 22 mbps faster than my DSL, and for the most part my pages load lighting fast as well.

Sadly, it might be time for a nuke and pave.

Do you take that backup drive offsite? You are aware you have 3 internal bays... anyone could be used for backup.

[dmann]

For just a couple hours, you shouldn't need your logins.

When I have done this in the past, I hit sites like Wikipedia, Amazon, MRF (you can browse without logging in), hulu and the like.

If you absolutely MUST hit some sites during the "test", simply open 1Password and copy down your login info for the ones you need before you switch to the new account.

DM

[C(-)ris]

Create a new user account, see if that helps. If it is still slow I would make a complete backup to an external drive, then do an erase and install. Slowly add programs back in and see if you can determine the problem. Don't do a migration or an Archive and install, that could just lead to the same problems over and over again. 99% of the time if those utilities don't help, it probably isn't an Apple problem. Some other program is causing your computer to bog down. Check activity monitor and see what is using the most CPU and resources.

[modelamac]

Gene, you are going to use the other account ONY for testing, not for regular use. It is just to compare the performance between a pristine account and a heavily used account.

You can drag some of your favorite URLs into your main hard drive icon on the Finder sidebar. That will give you access to some of those websites.

You should also try to differentiate the performance between internal and external.

You could be running fine internally, but the minute you try the internet, you get a slowdown. That could be possibly solved by rebooting your modem and router.

[DRR]

To answer your question - your video card shouldn't need an upgrade. For most tasks, a quad core xenon with modern drives and 5GB of RAM should be plenty.

You might want to install Menu Meters or something of the like, to be able to keep an eye on your computer. If the CPUs are running higher than you expect, it may be a crashed program or a runaway process. If you see the HD lights blinking a lot, it may be that Spotlight is indexing or it's trying to back up, or perhaps your disks are too full?

Could be a number of things. Assuming all your hardware works correctly it should have plenty of muscle.

[Article Accelerator]

GeneL wrote:
what can I do to make sure that my computer is operating at its peak performance?

Nuke'n'pave. Do not install any third-party software at all, not even drivers. Use your computer and establish baseline performance.

Once you've done that, add drivers, peripherals, and utilities back, checking performance and stability impacts after each addition.

You will become an expert and you will be able to distinguish bad software from good, system friendly software from performance killers. You will become a Master of The Universe!

Edit: Dammit! C(-)ris beat me to the punch.

[GeneL]

jdc wrote:
I would try the new user as well.

27 mbps is 22 mbps faster than my DSL, and for the most part my pages load lighting fast as well.

Sadly, it might be time for a nuke and pave.

Do you take that backup drive offsite? You are aware you have 3 internal bays... anyone could be used for backup.

This is weird! I know that I just wrote a reply using jdc's quote saying that I was under the impression that my high internet speed should have a positive impact on how fast the webpages open and that I was surprised that his pages opened "lightning fast" when, in fact, he is using much a much slower DSL connection. I don't know what is wrong here, but something has to be, since my webpages often open very slowly???

In my "lost" reply, I responsed to jdc's mention of the MacPro's internal drive bays, saying that I still have my original Apple hard drive and also a Maxtor hard drive installed in my MacPro, but I no longer use either of them because they are both pretty small. It would be easy to replace one of them with the drive from my external backup enclosure. Would doing this make my back ups faster?

Until now, I had been under the impression that you had to have an external hard drive for your back ups. If this isn't necessary, I will certainly move the external Seagate drive into my MacPro.

In the past, I've looked at my computer's functioning using the Activity Monitor, but I've never been able to discern if anything was indicative of my "slow down" issue.

As you can imagine, I dread the thought of having to reinstall all of my apps, but I will see how everything is working when I log in to another user account (after I get some sleep).:zzz:

BTW, I still would appreciate some suggestions for using the utility apps that I mentioned above:… including TechTool Pro, Drive Genius, Onyx, MacPilot and HDCleanup.

Your suggestions mean a lot to me, Thank you, all!

GeneL