As publisher of the popular Accelerate Your Mac! at http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ website I get hundreds of emails every week from Mac owners asking how to get more performance from their existing machine. In this article I will attempt to provide information on how to get the most from your Mac without having to spend a small fortune. This information consists of tips that are applicable to almost every Macintosh, regardless of its age.

Before rushing out to buy a new CPU card or other expensive upgrade, you should first make sure you're running your existing system in its most efficient state. Eliminating unnecessary extensions and control panels is one of the first steps in maximizing performance. Having adequate RAM is also a major benefit to performance and the most important factor in my opinion. A fast CPU with too little RAM is like a Ferrari with a one pint gas tank or a sprint runner with a plastic bag over his head. Many large applications and games run extremely slowly if you have too little RAM due to using the disk as virtual memory. Disk access time (milliseconds) is many times slower than RAM access time (nanoseconds). (Later PowerPC Macs show less impact from Virtual Memory than do older Macs.) Modern OpenGL games for instance often require 100MB or more alone and remember the OS and OpenGL also need free RAM. I've always seen immediate and noticable gains in general performance from upgrading RAM as well as improved stability in many cases. Notebooks with slower disk drives show even more benefits from increased memory. This should be your first hardware upgrade if you have less than 256MB of RAM. (If you use applications like Photoshop with large files, buy all the RAM you can afford -an old rule of thumb is to allocate RAM to Photoshop 3 to 5 times the image size you work with.) Again for some older Macs, maximum RAM may be limited to 128MB or so - but even on those older machines, maxing out RAM would be the first upgrade I would make. (Update: For modern Macs running OS X, I prefer to have 512MB or more of RAM.)

Although faster CPU upgrades are a great way to increase performance since they increase the number of instructions your Mac processes per second, don't even consider them until you have adequate RAM. Too little RAM also has a negative effect on system stability in my experience.

With that important point said, I'll start off with the tips that cost nothing first and then cover basic upgrades. (Note: this article was written before OS X was released, so the comments that follow apply to pre-OS X operating systems.)

Trim Extensions and Control Panels
As we all know, most OS installations add extensions and control panels many of us will never need, and most of these consume memory and CPU cycles, basically draining resources and performance for no benefit. Listing all extensions and control panels and what they do is beyond the scope of this article, but some trimming can be done with common sense. If you're not on a network, you don't need file sharing and network-related extensions and controls. If you don't use speech technology, don't load the related control panel, extensions, and libraries. For OS 9 on older/slower machines, I find that disabling the Multiple Users CP/Extension also seems to improve performance. The same goes for the PC compatibility extensions and the various Apple Guide files. Disable Appletalk as well and any other networking related extensions/control panels if you don't need or use them.

I personally never use any 3rd-party "appearance" related extensions and control panels, as in addition to consuming resources (ram and CPU cycles) they are often the cause of conflicts and problems. I also turn off "remember recently used items" in the Apple Menu Options control panel and I generally disable menu item blinking and window zooms as well. Apple's Extension Manager makes enabling and disabling items easy, and you can save sets of extensions and experiment with the standard "Base" set to see if you really need all of your current ones. Although this takes some time, it doesn't cost anything and you'll end up with a faster, leaner system with more free memory.

(Note: Some of the most cpu cycle consuming addons are those like Ram Doubler, Quickeys, non-PPC native Kensington mouseworks and appearance tweaking extensions. They can have a dramatic effect on how fast the main MacOS event loop (getnextEvent) is executed. Since this routine is executed thousands of times per second, slowing it by 2x or more is obviously not a good thing for responsive performance. Consider if the addon software you're using is worth the impact on performance. In some cases it may be (a Macro can save you many keystrokes and time for instance). In many cases you may be able to live without the extra baggage of 3rd party addons, saving RAM, cpu time and minimizing the risk of current or future extensions conflicts.)

Finder Settings:
The first thing I do with any Mac is to turn off settings in the finder for menu flashing, 'remember recently used items' (Apple Menu Options setting which not only slows performance but can also cause problems according to many reports) and finder zoom rectangles. At the date this article was written OS 7.6 was the current version. OS 8 and later removed the option to disable this but a 3rd party utility like Finder Features to disable them. [Update: As of July 1999 Finder Features is no longer at the URL I originally had on this page and I cannot find it anywhere. Gene Shekhtman sent a note that there is a freeware NoFinderZoom lib/extension that is OS 8.5/8.6 compatible at http://www.multimania.com/madrau] Also never enable 'calculate folder sizes' as this can dramatically slow down finder views. To speed finder displays of long directories set your disk cache (Memory Control Panel) to 1MB or more (depending on installed RAM, which is THE first thing to add to your Mac). Also I like to set keyboard and mouse settings to faster speeds to make the mac more responsive in use as well.

InformINIT is a great source of information on what all of those control panels and extensions really do. It's available at www.InformINIT.com .

Video considerations

Are you running a video mode that is higher in resolution or color depth than you really need? Often times, the "thousands" color mode looks just as good as the "millions" setting (applications such as Photoshop and other high-end graphics applications may suffer, however). For most other work, thousands or even 256 colors may be satisfactory. Remember that at millions of colors you are forcing the video hardware to move twice the amount of data per pixel as thousands colors, and four times as much as with 256 colors. The same goes for resolution, don't run a higher resolution than you need, as it also places a higher load on the video hardware and reduces responsiveness on machines without high-performance video hardware.

If you're using a video card, make sure that you have the latest drivers, as often the latest version may offer significant performance increases and/or bug fixes as well. For example, the latest Number Nine Hawkeye control panel claimed to boost performance up to 78%! These types of upgrades are free.

(Note: Also remember that a common mistake to get faster video/3D game performance is to upgrade the CPU alone. But remember that most graphics chips in older Macs do not support any type of 3D hardware acceleration. Therefore a modern, well supported PCI (or AGP if your Mac has an AGP slot) graphics card that has 3D hardware acceleration will provide not only faster performance, but better visuals as well. (Many 3D games now *require* a video card that supports 3D hardware acceleration.)

Identify what specific weaknesses are in your system and address those if you're shopping for hardware upgrades. Of course a modern 3D video card will run faster with a higher performance CPU, but you may be satisfied with a $100 video card upgrade and your existing CPU than a faster CPU running your obsolete video chip if you're a gamer. If you're on a budget and need both a graphics card and CPU upgrade, consider getting a slighty slower CPU plus a new video card instead of the fastest/most expensive CPU upgrade alone - since that will address two bottlenecks at once. As I noted in the beginning of this article, first make sure you have adequate RAM before considering any other hardware upgrade. (Note: With games like Quake3, I'd want 256MB of RAM or more. If running OS 9 with only 256MB (or less) of RAM, you may need to enable Virtual Memory to run the game reliably since with VM off, the game and OS use more RAM.)

OS Versions

(Note: This was originally written in 1997 when OS 8.0 was the latest OS available. Shortly after this was written, OS 8.1 was released and was faster than previous OS versions in my opinion. Later OS versions like OS 9 and OS X are often required now with some apps or games, but they tend to use more RAM, run more slowly on older Macs and have more extensions and bloat than OS 8.1 did for instance. Always consider Applications and Utility compatibility before upgrading your OS. Check for updates to any Apps/Utils you have before updating the OS.)

I've found that OS 7.6.1 is faster and more stable than any previous version Although it does not offer some of the features of OS 8, I believe OS 7.6.1 to be faster on most older Macs. OS 7.6.1 also does not suffer from the finder memory leaking/allocation issues some users have reported with OS 8.0 (OS 8.1 will fix this bug). I have postponed installing OS 8 until the 8.1 update is released, as 7.6 has served me well and has been very stable on my three Macs. My point is that sometimes the "latest and greatest" isn't always the fastest or best choice. (The old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" often applies to system software updates. Wait for reports from early adopters before jumping on updates unless they are specifically noted to address/fix an issue you are personally experiencing.)

Affordable upgrades that make a difference

Often in 1997 I'd get emails from owners who have spent $1000 or more on an expensive CPU card, yet had only 32 megs of RAM. That's like running a Ferrari with a 1-gallon gas tank.

Step 1 : Level 2 Cache
(Note: This article was written before G3 and G4 CPU upgrades were available. G3/G4 upgrade cards have their own much faster backside cache and do not need any motherboard L2 cache dimm installed. (In fact for reliability it's usually best to remove any L2 cache dimms you have installed before installing a G3 CPU upgrade.) This section only applies to 60x CPU upgrades for legacy (pre-G3) Macs. See my CPU Upgrades page for reviews and related articles, including reviews of the latest G4 CPU upgrades. )

The first hardware upgrade for legacy Macs you should consider is Level 2 cache dimm if you do not already have one installed. Some Macs did include at least a 256K L2 cache, but some don't (or were an option). Some models of Apple Macs and clones do not allow the addition of cache or do not have removable L2 cache so upgrading may not be an option - consult your owners manual.

Newer Technology has a series of freeware gauges that include "Cache-22" (Update: obsolete now - use their GaugePro utility which is mirrored at OWC's tech center, Newer Tech software section), which will report the presence and size of your L2 cache. L2 cache is specialized, extremely fast memory that acts as a buffer to keep the CPU "fed" with data without having to wait on the much slower main system memory (RAM). As with RAM, the more L2 cache the better, but the important thing is to have some L2 cache. Without it, most 60x CPU PowerMacs will lose 25% or more in performance compared to the same model with a 256K L2 cache.

As reported on my Cache Crop page at http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/cache.html the best 1MB cache I tested in 1997 was the PowerLogix Rapidcache, which originally cost appx. $155. (Update: this item is out of production now. Current pricing on G3 CPU upgrades which have a faster backside cache included, make buying a G3 CPU Upgrade a far better choice now.)

Why Cache is important
CPU speed has increased at a much faster rate than RAM access/cycle times have lowered, so cache ram has become more critical than ever to allow the faster CPUs to reach their full potential. Cache plays an important role in allowing your CPU to run more efficiently with less waiting on slower devices and main memory (RAM). It drastically minimizes the effects of the slower system bus speeds present in most (pre-G3) Macintosh models. Larger caches allow more data to be stored in the cache, further reducing wait states on the processor and increasing performance. L2 cache, along with RAM, is one of the best "bang for the buck" purchases you could make. (Update: Later CPU cards with the PowerPC 750 (G3) have a special form of L2 cache on the card called "backside cache" that eliminates the need for motherboard L2 cache, but this article was written before these upgrade cards became affordable for most Mac owners. When this article was written, a G3 CPU card cost $1000 to $1500. Now they are available for a tiny fraction of that cost.)

Step 2: Add RAM
If you already have L2 cache, the next upgrade you should consider is RAM. At one time 64MB was thought to be a lot of RAM (and prices were very high on 32MB or larger DIMMs). I won't repeat the comments on the importance of RAM from earlier in this article, but you get the idea - the more RAM you have the better. For older Macs like the 73-9x00 series, I'd suggest buying 64MB modules. With more RAM you can also run more programs simultaneously, which can help increase your performance/productivity.

You can never have too much RAM, and I recommend that you get as much as you can afford. Check your owner's manual or consult with the vendor to determine the correct type of RAM for your particular Mac (SIMM/DIMM, 70ns or faster, etc). Personally for legacy Macs, I've always bought matched sets of 60NS RAM - as the 7300-9600 models (and many clones like the Umax S900/J700, PowerTower Pro, etc.) support Interleaved RAM which can boost performance when matched pairs of DIMMs (same size/type) are installed in Ax/Bx slots. (See my article on the benefits of Interleaved RAM for more info and test results.)

For information on the types and sources of RAM upgrades for your Mac, see my Frequently Asked Questions Memory topic area, or buy from Mac savvy dealers like OWC or Transintl.com which know/list RAM by Mac model online.

The importance of RAM for applications like Photoshop surprised even me during a review of the Seagate Cheetah Ultra-Wide SCSI drive and PCI SCSI controller upgrade. During testing of this very expensive upgrade package I discovered that you could get almost the same Photoshop performance increase by allocating 90MB of RAM to Photoshop as was obtained using the Ultra-Wide 10,000 rpm Cheetah drive and PCI SCSI controller with a 50MB Photoshop allocation when using large image files. Netscape Navigator is also an example of a program that benefits from more RAM, as allocating 16MB or more improves reliability as well as performance. (Note: An old rule of thumb is to allocate 3-5 times the image size in RAM to Photoshop to avoid any swap file activity which takes a performance hit.) Photoshop will almost immediately hit the scratch disk on images that are even 1/2 its allocated memory size, and when this happens performance suffers. Adding RAM can reduce or avoid this slowdown, and allow you to run more programs simultaneously (which can make you more productive).

Install as much RAM as you can before you start looking at more expensive upgrades like CPU cards. You may find it provides all the speed increase you need. If you're running an older OS version, with more RAM installed you can increase your disk cache size (Note: later OS versions adjust this automatically, older OS versions defaulted to a very small cache), and allocate more RAM to programs that need it to make best use of your added memory.

OS 7.x Virtual Memory = Real Performance Loss
(Note: This was originally written before OS 8.1 was released, OS 8.1's Virtual Memory is far superior to previous versions with less performance impact, but I still believe in having sufficent RAM so that Virtual Memory is not needed. In later OS versions with a PowerPC CPU, setting VM to 1MB over installed RAM delivers the best VM performance. Enabling VM will also reduce program/OS memory usage. With later Mac models/OS versions, VM enabled (at 1MB over installed RAM) has very little to no performance impact usually - *except* for applications like Pro Audio Apps, where VM should not be enabled as it can increase latency/decrease performance. The original comments on VM in this article were related to OS 7.x versions.)

Running Benchmarks with Virtual Memory enabled will not show nearly as much negative impact as you will see during actual heavy application use, as the benchmark utility is generally small enough to prevent the system from using the disk as RAM, which is where performance takes a nosedive. (Later Macs with much faster Memory/system bus/hard drives and later OS versions don't show the negative effects of VM like older Macs/older OS versions do.)

Productive Software
Anyone who has visited my web site knows that one of the first pieces of software I install is Connectix's Speed Doubler. Although you're adding an extension and control panel, this set more than pays its way by providing real performance benefits. Speed Doubler provides faster emulation performance (the Mac OS is still not completely PowerPC native) and faster copying (as well as its unique 'Smart Copy' feature). Speed Doubler 8 adds macros as well, which can save you keystrokes and allow you to accomplish tasks faster. For about $50, I consider it a bargain and a "must-have" for PowerPC Macs. (Note: this software was discontined around the time OS 9.x was released. My comments on using it apply to OS 7.x/8.1 era.)

Although it offers up to a 60% FPU boost in MacBench (simple FPU benchmark) I don't recommend you use the freeware Libmoto extension for two reasons. First, I've yet to see any real benefit in applications (even those that are FPU dependent like Bryce2 - 2 seconds saved on a 5 minute rendering) and second is the reduced accuracy and compatibility issues noted on my LibMoto page at http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/libmoto.html. (OS 8.1's FPU performance is much better than OS 7.x, without any of the negatives of Libmoto.)

Disk optimizers can also improve performance, especially if you do a lot of adding or deleting of files or repeated editing of documents (or anything else that changes file sizes). Over time with even normal use the files on the disk become fragmented, which means that a single file may be stored in many areas of the disk rather than one contiguous section. This severely slows the reading and writing of that file, as the drive head must move many times to retrieve or save the file. Norton Utilities includes a good disk optimizer called Speed Disk, but many feel that the best such utility is DiskExpress Pro, sold by Alsoft Inc. at http://www.alsoftinc.com/. DiskExpress Pro intelligently defragments files based on file types (data files are placed so they have room to grow without fragmenting and often-used files are placed closer to the head of the disk for faster access times).

Summary

The bottom line is that before you think of spending a lot of money for a CPU upgrade card or new Macintosh, see how much performance you can squeeze out of your existing system by trimming control panels and extensions, running the lowest video resolution and color depth you can live with, and ensuring you have L2 cache and as much RAM as possible. You may save a bundle and extend the life of your Mac for quite some time. At the very least you will have a much better foundation for other upgrades (such as a new CPU card).

Further Reading:

To learn more about Mac upgrades and how they benefit application and game performance - read the main site topics pages for the upgrades you are considering (CPU Upgrades, Graphics cards, SCSI/IDE/Hard drives) and consult the Frequently Asked Questions page for answers to hundreds of common questions on over a dozen topics.

Considering a CPU Upgrade or Video Card upgrade? After reading the reviews at the above links, see how thousands of owners rated theirs at my Rate Your CPU Upgrade and Mac Game/Video Card Performance searchable databases.