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25% of my RAM chip is broken? Pic Inside to see what I mean!

V

vader1990

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 23, 2008
220
2
Hi,

I have the Late 2008 UMBP with 2GB RAM, 2.4Ghz, etc. For some reason, iFreeMem and Activity monitor only see 1.75 GB of ram and not the full 2.00 GB??? And I notice it too, when the computer starts to lag...

Anything I can do?

I've been thinking about upgrading to either 4GB or 8GB, but low on cash right now, so not going to for at least the summer....

thanks much!
 

Attachments

  • Screen shot 2009-10-19 at 12.54.47 AM.png
    Screen shot 2009-10-19 at 12.54.47 AM.png
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mine says 1.75gb too. it also says i have 233mb free, which im curious on what im using thats taking up so much memory. damn, that 4gb upgrade may come sooner than expected.
 
That happens because when you're in 9400 (low power GPU) mode, the GPU uses 256 MB of ram as 'shared graphics ram'. Only the higher end Macbook Pro's have the higher power 9600 discrete GPU which has it's own memory.

Basically, the GPU doesn't have any ram of it's own, so it takes some of the systems.
 
Wait, so this means my computer will run faster, and be less choppy if I switch to the 9600?????? Like I'm running Eclipse [Java], and Safari, and I'm getting straight owned!!! Like my computer is hanging a lotttttt....will these hangs go away with the 9600?

Thanks for any insight into this!!!
 
vader1990 said:
Wait, so this means my computer will run faster, and be less choppy if I switch to the 9600?????? Like I'm running Eclipse [Java], and Safari, and I'm getting straight owned!!! Like my computer is hanging a lotttttt....will these hangs go away with the 9600?

Thanks for any insight into this!!!
Click to expand...

to add on to that, will it become less choppy and run faster when upgraded to the 4gb of ram?
i mean noticeable speed, not just a tad bit bump up.
 
ipodlover77 said:
to add on to that, will it become less choppy and run faster when upgraded to the 4gb of ram?
i mean noticeable speed, not just a tad bit bump up.
Click to expand...

Yea it would increase your perfomance when you switch to 9600.


ipod lover, not really. 4gb isn't needed unless you do heavy intensive apps that require lotsa memory like photoshop
 
even using the 9600m you lose 256mb ram due to the 9400m shared memory being reserved for openCL in snow leopard. the upgrade from 2gb to 4gb ram is obvious..the price is right, 8gb..not so much unless you really need it (most don't) . regarding the hangs the latest performance update addressed an issue which caused that
 
Looking at that RAM chart, you would most likely benefit from 4GB.
 
Ok, switching to the 9600 did help a good bit, the system is a lot more responsive, though it does run hotter, and the battery life is considerably shorter. However, it still only says 1.75GB in Activity monitor...
 
There is another topic that talks about this. Basically since the 9400M is the chip by default, it will always take a portion of the RAM I believe. When you change over to the 9600 GT in the System Preferences the changes will take effect though not be shown.
 
An upgrade to 4gb is strongly recommended by me if you're running Eclipse a lot. That IDE likes its RAM fresh and strong in the morning :(

Edit: Although, if you wait 6 months to a year, the 4gb chips will probably be cheaper and you could jump directly to 8gb.
 
copykris said:
this thread of course brought to you by the guy who thinks 0.25 is 25% of 2.00

brilliant
Click to expand...

haha I was thinking how long it would take for someone to notice the flaw in the OP's math.

25% of 2000MB is 500MB OP.

I'm surprised you "noticed" a different from a 256MB decrease in ram. Somthing ELSE is wrong if you're getting choppy performance from Eclipse and safari.
 
Based on your Page in / out information, I would also suggest that more RAM would improve performance. The "rule of thumb" I have heard is that page outs should ideally be 10% or less of page ins.
 
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