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2GB vs 3GB memory in MBP

M

mthao00

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 24, 2007
50
0
I know, I know... maybe I'm a little obsessive in maxing out my MBP but it doesn't hurt...

Before ordering a 3GB memory kit (matched) from OWC, I was wondering how much faster or efficient the laptop will run. I've seen the benchmarks on OWC and it looks like a dramatic improvement. Probably won't see much difference in daily tasks but I'm just curious...

Just for context, I use Photoshop/Illustrator CS3 and Pro Tools LE (hopefully Logic Pro convert... haha) often. I have a 5400 rpm HD (heat/battery) and a 7200 rpm 2.5 sata attached via FW 800.

I want to do this before Leopard ships... Oh yeah, the 2GBs that's already in the MBP are going into my brother's macbook.

mT :apple:
 
To be honest with ya.
Having just upgraded my Core Duo Macbook Pro from 1gb to 2gb I'v noticed a huge jump in performance. Now that I have had a while to play around it yes apps do run much quicker and I can now do more at the same time.
But where I work in a photography studio, I have a quad Powermac G5 with 6gb of ram and there is no major speed boost in general usage.
Unless your using all those applications you mentioned at the same time then you may notice a boost in performance.
But I suppose if you can afford the extra memory why not? And memory these days is cheap.
I got 2gb for my Mac at 65€
 
I have the 2.33GHz C2D (late 2006) model. Still plenty powerful.
 
Using Photoshop/Illustrator CS3 and Pro Tools LE you will notice a huge difference with larger files, they wont be using your scratch disk, they will be using your much faster ram. From my experience if your working with a 2mb photoshop file then you prob wont notice it as much or at all. Having a 800mb 16bit scan the difference will be huge, especially when you start adding on more layers. I can't say much about illustrator I only use it when I have to make a vector logo and dont use it much. I would imagine pro tools would take advantage of it as well, when I used the pro tools at school it would tax the computers to the max.
 
mthao00 said:
I have the 2.33GHz C2D (late 2006) model. Still plenty powerful.
Click to expand...


I have the same model as you, and I just swapped out my 2GB of ram for 2x2GB of Ram, even though I can only use around 3GB total. I do a lot of web design work which involves CS3 and Parallels, and I can notice a definite boost in performance with the extra ram. Parallels runs a lot better now and doesn't freeze my computer for 20 secs or so like it did before.
 
If you have the same revision MBP as I do which only supports up to 3GB of RAM you'll notice a drop in the startup time of apps the first time you run them after a reboot but after that everything is snappy and nothing beats having that much ram, especially if you do any virtualization.
 
thegrifman said:
If you have the same revision MBP as I do which only supports up to 3GB of RAM you'll notice a drop in the startup time of apps the first time you run them after a reboot but after that everything is snappy and nothing beats having that much ram, especially if you do any virtualization.
Click to expand...

Do you have a 1GB and a 2GB, or two 2GB chips?
 
i threw 4GB in mine just for the heck of it, got a good deal on it.. cant really feel the difference between 2 and 4 gbs
 
Kendall015 said:
Do you have a 1GB and a 2GB, or two 2GB chips?
Click to expand...

1GB+2GB so I lost the dual-channel which brought the performance hit. I don't know that my revision (Rev. c) will operate with 2x2GB since it only supports up to 3GB but perhaps it'll recognize and just ignore the extra RAM, hopefully anyway :) Good luck.
 
Got the 3gb and haven't complained once. Everything is nice and speedy. Games run perfectly. I only have Photoshop CS but it runs like a dream, you won't be disappointed.
 
You most likely will not notice as big a difference going from 2-3gb as you will from 1-2gb. If you game, or do audio as you mentioned 3gb will benefit you. It will vary depending on what load you are running in PT or what game. If anything it will help smooth out any hickups. You probably wont notice any speed in casual things like internet, web browsing. I want to put 3gb in my MBP soon :) DDR2 ram is getting sooo cheap.
 
mthao00 said:
The plan is to purchase a 3GB (1GB+2GB) kit from OWC for $136.99. I believe they are matched so that should only be beneficial. At least, it says on the website.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/53IM2DDR3GBK/

Thanks for the wonderful advice. mT :apple:
Click to expand...

To be matched they would have to be "the same size, speed and 'composition'." [http://guides.macrumors.com/Understanding_Intel_Mac_RAM] So 1+2GB isn't matched. I looked at OWC when I was shopping for RAM and found them to be higher priced than Newegg, in fact on my 2Gb stick I saved about $35 buying from Newegg rather than OWC, but $136.99 for a 1+2 doesn't sound like a bad deal at all. If you've already got 1GB though, all you need is a single 2GB stick.
 
I was just going off what OWC is saying on their website. I understand that it's not really a matched pair.

Actually, I already have two 1GB modules installed (stock). The reason why I want to purchase a 3GB kit is because I plan on upgrading my brother's macbook to 2 GBs. So why not upgrade the MBP to 3GB and use the old modules to upgrade the macbook right? It only has two 512 MB modules. haha...

mT :apple:
 
How RAM Speeds things up.

RAM doesn't nessarly speed things up. But if your system runs low on RAM it will go to the next level or sorage your HardDisk. Wich is orders of magintude slower then your RAM. So the more RAM you get the less chance things will get SLOW. But if you are only using one App and things stay in RAM in the difference won't be much. But if you are handling High Resolution Photography or Graphics then you may run of RAM much quicker and serverly slowing you down when you most need the speed.
 
My Apple MacBook Pro 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (15.4-inch) only supports up to 3 GB of RAM. So far, it has 2 GB from the factory (1 GB + 1 GB).

I am still confused about the "matching pair" issues. Do they refer to matching makes of each ram sticks as a set instead of mixing one ram stick with another? Or, do they rather refer to matching the size of each ram stick? Like 1 GB + 1 GB or 2 GB + 2 GB, instead of 1 GB + 2 GB?
 
Put 4 gigs in my 2.33 ($30 bucks for each 2 gig stick at BB) and I can definitely tell a difference going from 3 to 4 gigs. Yes, you only get 3 gigs and change, but you get a bit of a boost with dual channel, and ddr2 ram is dirt cheap.

If you're comfortable doing it, and your mbp is out of warranty, put in a wd scorpio black or a seagate 7200.4 for an added boost.
 
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