Upgrading RAM - should I keep the old sticks?

[gunpowda]

Hi,

I have a mid-range MacBook with 1gb of ram, and I'd like to upgrade to 2gb.

I'm not sure, but it seems that changing ram does not void AppleCare. Even so, people recommend keeping the old sticks just in case. Is this a good idea?

Is there demand for 512 MB sticks of ram? I was thinking of selling both to offset the cost of the new ram.

Thanks

 

[mattscott306]

Not really a large demand for the 512 sticks, you can try to put them up on eBay or craigslist, but you're not gonna recoup anywhere near the full cost of the 1 gig sticks. Still, there's really no reason to keep them, so I'd sell them and go buy yourself something else with that money.

 

[cyclingplatypus]

I say keep them, I had a problem a few months ago and I started getting kernel panics, I got so frustrated that I wiped and reinstalled and had a problem with that so I finally ran the hardware test and discovered that my RAM was the problem and that was after I had the RAM in for 6 months...luckily I kept my old stick and dropped it back in so I could get reset again, I was actually glad I kept it, well that and because it was with the receipt of the defective chip.

 

[gunpowda]

Thanks. I think I'll go with Crucial, unless I can find a better deal on eBay.

 

[maxp1]

Old ram is essentially disposable. I have a drawer with about 20 sticks of various vintage. I don't even know what they go to these days.

 

[extraextra]

I'd keep it. Replacing RAM doesn't void the warranty.

But it'll help to avoid future problems with Geniuses claiming your 3rd-party RAM is to blame for this or that.

 

[Sun Baked]

I'd keep it. Replacing RAM doesn't void the warranty.

But it'll help to avoid future problems with Geniuses claiming your 3rd-party RAM is to blame for this or that.

Bingo, the reason to keep old RAM.

Nice to have some old memory around to make sure RAM isn't the issue.

 

[southpaw17]

I just got my crucial ram today. It is installed and works like a charm.
I'm also holding on to the old just in case something goes wrong I have backup. It is probably only worth like 20 dollars anyway.

 

[UKingdom]

i'm in a similar type situation, i just bought a imac 20 inch with 1 gig of ram (2 512's) and i want to upgrade to 2 gigs.

the only way i can do this is to take out the 2 512s and either put in a 2 gig in one slot, or 2 1 gig sticks. i'm leaning towards the latter.

i was able to find crucial 2 gig ( 2 x 1 gig) for 129.99, that's certainly a lot cheaper than the 350 apple is asking for a 2 gig stick. is the performance going to be comparable? i think crucial is a reputable brand, no?

i was considering selling the 2 512 stock sticks to offset the cost of new ram but having read the above i think it's a good idea to keep it just in case for applecare purposes.

 

[orangemacapple]

i had an emac that i upped the ram in. all was fine. after 2 years one of the sticks went bad. i was glad i kept the old ram so i had something to put in while i was awaiting the lifetime guaranteed ram to be replaced (9 days turnaround).