2010 should I put 8 gigs or 16

[Weerez935]

Well I got to playing with the MacBook on a day off and saw owcs 8 and 16 gig ram upgrades.

This computer is mainly for web browsing but I am teaching my wife photoshop. Should I do the 8 gig for 50 or 16 for 99?

[simsaladimbamba]

8 GB RAM is the maximum for that model, only the 2011 and 2012 MBPs support 16 GB RAM.

Upgrading RAM in MacBooks and MacBook Pros

[vistadude]

I don't think 16 gb is going to make your notebook faster than 8 gb, you'll be limited more by processor, hard disk, and GPU. Go with 8 GB and a SSD will make your computer much much faster.

[Weerez935]

Ok thank you. I have other computers (2 mac airs, and a hp)

How hard is it to change the hard drive to an ssd?
I've never done this but I know my mac air with ssd is incredibly fast.

Would osx need to be reinstalled?
Would you buy the ssd from owc or somewhere else?

[simsaladimbamba]

Originally Posted by Weerez935

Ok thank you. I have other computers (2 mac airs, and a hp)

How hard is it to change the hard drive to an ssd?
I've never done this but I know my mac air with ssd is incredibly fast.

Would osx need to be reinstalled?
Would you buy the ssd from owc or somewhere else?

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD/SSD

the guide includes:

• 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
• 1. Getting a new HDD
• 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
• 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
• 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)

[Brian Y]

SSD is easy - and you can clone your install using Disk Utility.

RAM - the most you can physically use is 8GB. Your computer wont boot with 16GB.

[marc11]

Originally Posted by Brian Y

SSD is easy - and you can clone your install using Disk Utility.

RAM - the most you can physically use is 8GB. Your computer wont boot with 16GB.

Late 2010 Macbooks can accept 16 GB of ram, it has been proven and confirmed by OWC, in fact they sell a 16gb kit for it. That being said, it depends on what you are doing with the machine to know if 16 gb will make a difference or not; however considering the processor I would agree 8 gb and an SSD would be a nice bump in performance and a good balance of power/cost/expectations.

[Weerez935]

It's my wife's.
I've been teaching her a bit of photo editing.
She has a few photos as well but she mostly does web browsing.

I mean its only 50$ and I kind of an tempted to do it just to do it. However if there is no benefit then whats the point.

Also when I say photo editing I mean pretty light photoshop stuff. The gpu will probably limit her before the ram does. I mainly want the computer to run fast, and be capable of more intensive programs if we need. I do not think she will ever run cs6, after effects, light room, logic, iDVD, iTunes, safari while editing in iMovie and typing a paper.

She does open several tabs in safari often with one thing or so in the background but I want to rid her of the dreaded beach balls.

[mwhities]

I have the Mid 2010 Macbook (sig) and I run 16Gs of ram in my system. I'm not a picture editor or anything, not sure how much ram it requires but, I'd highly recommend it and a SSD if you can.

My thread of adding 16Gs ram to my Macbook.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1508452

Good luck either way!

[brop52]

All the Macbooks have shared VRAM and RAM so there is no GPU. Just a FYI. I wouldn't personally put 16GB into that machine. Seems a little overkill when 8GB is only $43.

[marc11]

Originally Posted by brop52

All the Macbooks have shared VRAM and RAM so there is no GPU. Just a FYI. I wouldn't personally put 16GB into that machine. Seems a little overkill when 8GB is only $43.

No GPU? I'm pretty sure my Mac book as a 320m GPU with256 mob of sdram.....

[brop52]

Originally Posted by marc11

No GPU? I'm pretty sure my Mac book as a 320m GPU with256 mob of sdram.....

It's integrated graphics shared with the system RAM.

[marc11]

Originally Posted by brop52

It's integrated graphics shared with the system RAM.

Yes, but you said there was no dedicated GPU and there is in fact a dedicated GPU with dedicated...be it small....ram.

[thekev]

Originally Posted by Weerez935

It's my wife's.
I've been teaching her a bit of photo editing.
She has a few photos as well but she mostly does web browsing.

I mean its only 50$ and I kind of an tempted to do it just to do it. However if there is no benefit then whats the point.

Also when I say photo editing I mean pretty light photoshop stuff. The gpu will probably limit her before the ram does. I mainly want the computer to run fast, and be capable of more intensive programs if we need. I do not think she will ever run cs6, after effects, light room, logic, iDVD, iTunes, safari while editing in iMovie and typing a paper.

She does open several tabs in safari often with one thing or so in the background but I want to rid her of the dreaded beach balls.

That isn't really true. The OpenGL implementation there doesn't help that much. If she's using at least CS5, it will make better use of ram. The 2010 may not support 16GB. I've read about a few people testing it, but intel never certified the chipset for 16. I'd say probably 8. If it still lags on her add an ssd to speed up scratch disk functions. The more ram you have, the less dependent you are on scratch disk functions. If you're on CS4 or lower, go for the ssd first.