I don't think it's bad VRAM, it is more likely OS X (Rather, the new versions) not being efficiently coded to include.... "old equipment" I never had a problem under snow leopard, but under Mavericks, I had plenty of restarts. I tested that theory by running various programs under 10.6.8 and didn't have a single crash, but when I slapped my 10.9 ssd in, boom, random restarts. So, I came across this fix, it's worked a treat, I don't have any problems or performance issues. So I've not really come up with a detailed analysis. FCP 7 and FCP X were fine under 10.6.8, under 10.9, they would occasionally restart. But after the fix... I have a rock solid machine with no random restarts.
ok. thanks.
one more question, though. fcp x for 10.6.8? isn't 10.8 or 10.9 the minimum for fcp x?
i went to os x 10.7 for a few weeks and it was stabler. i didn't have problems working in fcp express 4 either using transitions, titles and the whole plethora of tools available w/o it KPing like fcp x. i would have gladly stayed there except, i couldn't use most of my apps including fcp x and pixelmator.
i hope apple fixes it if it is just OS-related. i am sort of secretly wishing it is since it is the cheapest solution for me.