4GB vs 5GB

[leons]

I inherited a mid-2009 Macbook Pro w/2GB RAM. I want to upgrade it to 4GB. I understand that the best performance is achieved with matched RAM. I have read some forums that imply that unmatched RAM will suffer a 10-15% performance degradation. Here's my question:

Would overall performance be better if I buy 1 4GB RAM, and pair it with a ! GB already in there (giving me a total of 5G)? Or, should I remove both, and buy 2 2GB (for a total of 4GB).

Which choice is better overall? (The machine is used primarily for web surfing, watching videos, and some financial applications with real-time charts/graphs).

 

[raptor402]

I inherited a mid-2009 Macbook Pro w/2GB RAM. I want to upgrade it to 4GB. I understand that the best performance is achieved with matched RAM. I have read some forums that imply that unmatched RAM will suffer a 10-15% performance degradation. Here's my question:

Would overall performance be better if I buy 1 4GB RAM, and pair it with a ! GB already in there (giving me a total of 5G)? Or, should I remove both, and buy 2 2GB (for a total of 4GB).

Which choice is better overall? (The machine is used primarily for web surfing, watching videos, and some financial applications with real-time charts/graphs).

5 GB won't give you as much of an edge in capacity over 2*2GB as 2*2GB would give over 5GB in performance and stability.

You should go for 2*2GB. If you plan to keep the laptop for a while (2 years or more), you might want to consider 2*4GB. But then again, your money would be better spent on an SSD.

Best of luck!
Raptor

 

[Meister]

Get 2x2gb of ram and an ssd.
Enjoy

 

[brdeveloper]

I inherited a mid-2009 Macbook Pro w/2GB RAM. I want to upgrade it to 4GB. I understand that the best performance is achieved with matched RAM. I have read some forums that imply that unmatched RAM will suffer a 10-15% performance degradation. Here's my question:

Would overall performance be better if I buy 1 4GB RAM, and pair it with a ! GB already in there (giving me a total of 5G)? Or, should I remove both, and buy 2 2GB (for a total of 4GB).

Which choice is better overall? (The machine is used primarily for web surfing, watching videos, and some financial applications with real-time charts/graphs).

If you have a 9400m GPU, I think your model supports up to 8GB (not officially). Get 2x2GB or 2x4GB (if supported) and a 120GB SSD at minimum. Be happy.

 

[wytwolf]

yeah I had a look on everymac.com and both mid 2009s are listed as able to take 8GB. Officially apple states only 4 but the laptop can accept and use unto 8. Offically my macbook pro can only take 8 but i have 16 installed.

 

[Hieveryone]

From what I know 4GB is a bit low these days but 2x2 is definitely better. When ram prices drop I would consider 8GB RAM. I have 8GB ram and I often use 7.5GB RAM just watching youtube videos and leaving applications open.