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8GB RAM: Better to have 8 or 4 black boxes on the actual module?

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Vyruz Reaper

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 23, 2009
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I hope you understand what I am talking about. I thought having 4 bigger boxes are better than have 8 small ones. Can someone explain to me what they are exactly and if it makes a difference?

thanks!
 
Vyruz Reaper said:
I hope you understand what I am talking about. I thought having 4 bigger boxes are better than have 8 small ones. Can someone explain to me what they are exactly and if it makes a difference?

thanks!
Click to expand...

Ok i found some pics for you guys:

4 big ones :
51pi-7HjvPL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


8 small ones:

51f6xMGTYDL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
The little boxes are the actual ram chips. If you have 8 then the chips are low density. 4 means high density. I'm not sure if one is better then the other.
 
Intell said:
The little boxes are the actual ram chips. If you have 8 then the chips are low density. 4 means high density. I'm not sure if one is better then the other.
Click to expand...

well low density ram is better but Im still not sure if 8 or 4 ram chips are better
 
While I'm sure there is some difference, it's by no means any common knowledge, and it honestly doesn't matter either way. There are other factors that are more important such as the RAM timings, frequency, etc. Generally speaking though, especially for an MBP, you're not going to notice any difference in performance. If the speed of the modules are comparable, I'd just go with the cheaper set as long as it's from a reputable brand.
 
intelgrande said:
While I'm sure there is some difference, it's by no means any common knowledge, and it honestly doesn't matter either way. There are other factors that are more important such as the RAM timings, frequency, etc. Generally speaking though, especially for an MBP, you're not going to notice any difference in performance. If the speed of the modules are comparable, I'd just go with the cheaper set as long as it's from a reputable brand.
Click to expand...

it came down to OWC vs Kingston vs Crucial all which were around 270 bucks.

I could get g. Skill, nuram, mushkin all for about 215ish so is it worth the extra 60 dollars or so for owc, kinston or crucial?
 
I don't think it matters as long as you buy the same for both sticks (though I think you can mix as well).

If you're in the US, just buy them from OWC. You can't go wrong there!
 
alphaod said:
I don't think it matters as long as you buy the same for both sticks (though I think you can mix as well).

If you're in the US, just buy them from OWC. You can't go wrong there!
Click to expand...

I already bought the 8GB Kingston kit
 
There are no differences in performance.

Each 'black box' is a ram module. For a 4GB stick, you will see 8 of them. 512MB each module. For the 2GB stick, you may see either depending on whether they are using 512mb or 256mb modules.

Just make sure you get CAS latency 7 or below for MBPs. Also, make sure you have a well known brand and lifetime warranty.
 
vant said:
There are no differences in performance.

Each 'black box' is a ram module. For a 4GB stick, you will see 8 of them. 512MB each module. For the 2GB stick, you may see either depending on whether they are using 512mb or 256mb modules.

Just make sure you get CAS latency 7 or below for MBPs. Also, make sure you have a well known brand and lifetime warranty.
Click to expand...

So another question, do these ram modules come in 1Gb form? or are they all 512 or 256?
 
I was going to return my Kingston RAM and try out crucial. But kingston's ram has been working, it doesnt have any problems, so why switch? Il just stick with kingston(although the crucial ram is about 15 dollars cheaper)

thanks for everyone's help!
 
Vyruz Reaper said:
so does anyone know? i need to return RAM depending which one is better
Click to expand...
To tell you the truth that don't really matter and decide it goes by the speed and the cache, etc.. see which one's clock higher on benchmark, and 8 gbs is always better than 4 gbs. The more gigabytes you have the more processing load your computer can take at one time. So first it starts with your motherboard the speed of your motherboard then the speed of your PCI then your RAM chips and if you play games your GPU is very expensive (graphics card)... 8 gbs if ram is always better than 4
 
JaeMoney420 said:
To tell you the truth that don't really matter and decide it goes by the speed and the cache, etc.. see which one's clock higher on benchmark, and 8 gbs is always better than 4 gbs. The more gigabytes you have the more processing load your computer can take at one time. So first it starts with your motherboard the speed of your motherboard then the speed of your PCI then your RAM chips and if you play games your GPU is very expensive (graphics card)... 8 gbs if ram is always better than 4
Click to expand...
You do know that you’re responding to a 11-year-old post
 
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