How to run a performance benchmark on my MacBook Pro?

Question

I need to run some sort of performance benchmark to measure how slow my MacBook Pro is (and why)—a 15" MacBook Pro (late 2008) with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB of DDR3 memory, and running Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4 very, very slowly. Most of the tasks I perform (e.g. deleting a file or folder, typing letters, switching desktops, etc) can take more than an unacceptable 10-30s response time. I also have a second, 22" monitor.

Is there any way to measure a MacBook Pro's response time? Is there any free software I could use to run a performance benchmark and understand why it is so slow? I'm running the built-in Activity Monitor, but I have no idea how to diagnose the issue(s).

Answer 1

I would run Geekbench on it and then you'll have some actual statistics to make comparisons with and go from there.

I would guess your HDD is the problem.

Answer 2

I have the exact same MacBook Pro. Mine was running extremely slow. I installed an SSD hard drive and did a clean install of OS X El Capitan. It runs like a new computer now.

I also upgraded my RAM from 4 GB to 8 GB. Crucial has a program that will tell you exactly what you need.

But for around $175, you can have it running like new!