Slow Mac Mini 5,1

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I bought a used Mac Mini 5,1 that has a Seagate 5400RPM 320GB disk with Core i5 2.3Ghz and 4GB RAM running Lion.

The issue is the system lags pretty badly. If I click on couple of applications one after other, the spinning top appears and stays for a few seconds.

Now, I am ready to swap the 5400RPM disk for a newer 7200RPM or even a SSD. But before I do that is there anything else I can test to make sure the HDD is the bottleneck. The reason I am not so sure about HDD being the bottleneck is because I have an older Mac Mini that shipped with Intel Core Duo and it originally had a 5400RPM disk too. But even with SL, it never lagged the way the new Mac Mini does.

Any ideas? Thanks.
 

pigoo3

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Firstly...the HD could be going bad...but first you could try:

- Repairing Permissions
- tell us how full the HD is (how much free space vs. total space)
- how many programs do you usually have open at the same time

- Nick
 
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Firstly...the HD could be going bad
Yes, I hear the HDD making noises while spinning that sound too loud and it's not regular HDD noise. Sort of a high pitched noise that typically comes from a SMPS.

- Repairing Permissions
Done. Didn't help.

- tell us how full the HD is (how much free space vs. total space)
Only have the OS installed so far so pretty much all of it is empty.

- how many programs do you usually have open at the same time
None. I see the spinning top even just opening different widgets in System Preferences.
 

pigoo3

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Yes, I hear the HDD making noises while spinning that sound too loud and it's not regular HDD noise. Sort of a high pitched noise that typically comes from a SMPS.

Gotta rely on your judgement here (since I and others cannot hear it). Different HD's can make slightly different noises (when operating properly). But if the HD sounds you hear don't seem "normal"...then the HD could be the problem.

Everything you described...does seem to point to the HD as the problem.

You gotta get another HD to put in there to verify. Good luck.:)

- Nick
 
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Get rid of slow Mac

As you are at used Mac so, need to think upon the status of drive. Also, pigoo3 has discussed all the possibilities of slow Mac.

I would suggest you to check the fragmentation level of your drive. If its highly fragmented then get it fixed. Hope it will help you.



Thanks
 
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I took out the HDD and booted the MM off a 64gb SD card. Sure enough, the lag disappeared. So the HDD is going bad. Ordered a WD Scorpio Black.

@stuartbell - OSX uses HFS+ filesystem, so unless the drive is really full, fragmentation does not make much sense.

thanks all! :)
 

pigoo3

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I took out the HDD and booted the MM off a 64gb SD card. Sure enough, the lag disappeared. So the HDD is going bad. Ordered a WD Scorpio Black.

Congrats finding the problem...definitely sounds like the HD.:)

- Nick
 

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