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OSX. Upgrade again or do fresh install?


Shadowrider

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Running a 27" Mid-2011 iMac.  Quad core processor, 1TB drive, magic drive and 12GB of RAM with the OSX 10.11.6.  I bought new and have had no hardware issues to date.  Bottom line is that it still suits my needs after all this time.  I'm wanting to go to Sierra but I'm thinking that a fresh install is in order.  Safari occasionally will grab the processor and not let go as will the new MS Office 360 version of Excel requiring me to power down until it happens again.  I know...I know.  But I have to use MS Excel for work.  It's just not an option to use Open Office or Numbers.  I've upgraded OSX ever since Lion, so however many upgrade installs that is.  Should I go fresh or upgrade again?  I am running Time Machine to an external USB drive so I can move all of my work files, pics, etc. back.  I also have an upgraded iCloud account so that's an option.

This pegging out the processor problem has been going on for 2 or 3 months now and seems to have started with a Safari upgrade, but I'm not positive on that.  I thought I had the problem pinned to Safari as if I quit the program it very rarely does it and if I caught it in time I could force quit Safari and get the CPU back sometimes.  Then I caught Excel taking it over when Safari was quit a couple of times. I never had these issues at all before this and I'm going to transition to Sierra, so it sounds like maybe something that could be "cleaned up" by a fresh install.  

What say the Enosphere experts?  Is there a hard and fast rule to go fresh after a certain number of upgrades?

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I have the same iMac but I used to run it with 20gb of RAM. Right after Sierra was released I was in the same place you're right now but I decided to get a 1TB Samsung 850EVO SSD and 32gb of RAM. I did a clean install and migrated my files using the Migration Assistant from a backup in my Time Capsule.

That was the best thing I've ever done with my Mac... I've now got five more years out of it, at least! I LOVE IT!

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What brand RAM are you using?

my wife has a 2013 that has been nothing but trouble. Unusual since she has used MAC forever. 

We tried RAMJET memory and that made problems worse. 

She wants to update OS but is concerned it will cause problems again. Can't really accept problems as the Mac is her primary photo editor used in a side gig. 

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What brand RAM are you using?

my wife has a 2013 that has been nothing but trouble. Unusual since she has used MAC forever. 

We tried RAMJET memory and that made problems worse. 

She wants to update OS but is concerned it will cause problems again. Can't really accept problems as the Mac is her primary photo editor used in a side gig. 



I use Corsair.
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Thanks. 

My wife just reminded me that we also had an epic fault with Crucial brand RAM. 

Appreciate the help. I am NOT a computer guy by any stretch of imagination. I get by with following instructions and trying to duplicate the success of others. 

Come to think of it, that's how I approach shooting too :)

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