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8gb Ram Stick Prices

M

MacYoukai

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 9, 2009
11
0
I am looking into upgrading my Macbook Pro to 16gb of ram. I currently have a laughable amount at 4gb. Does anyone here watch RAM prices closely enough to give an estimate as to when these will drop in price again? Is it reasonable to think they will potentially be $80.00/per unit/stick in a month or two?
I do remember seeing them almost double their current price as recently as mid-November. I am really wanting to upgrade my Macbook Pro to 16gb of ram. And before anyone says, "Just buy it now if you need it." I know I should, but I am ridiculously cheap at times. :p
 
In any case there is no way 16gb will be selling for $80 in the next 2 months.

But it is my understanding that the price of RAM was driven down by manufactures having excess supply.

Have a look at RAM price changes from 1957 thru 2010 to get an idea of the rate at which costs have changed in the past. Obviously the rate at which technology advances increases exponentially.

Still these do remain relevant: http://www.jcmit.com/memoryprice.htm

Any time is a good time to buy RAM, so if you see a good deal- take it. If you need 16gb you will barely be coping with 4gb and therefore should upgrade now as opposed to waiting it out.
 
MacYoukai said:
I am looking into upgrading my Macbook Pro to 16gb of ram. I currently have a laughable amount at 4gb. Does anyone here watch RAM prices closely enough to give an estimate as to when these will drop in price again? Is it reasonable to think they will potentially be $80.00/per unit/stick in a month or two?
Click to expand...

Frys is selling 8GB Corsair sticks for $79/stick.

CORSAIR DDR3 8GB 1333MHz SINGLE SO-DIMM MODULE Model: CMSO8GX3M1A1333C9 Speed: 1333MHz Timing: 9-9-9-24

it appears to be the same as Corsair’s Apple compatible memory (CMSA8GX3M1A1333C9); I use Corsair memory and am happy with it.

http://www.frys.com/product/6902187
 
If you need it to make money, buy it.

I just bought 16 gb for my new 15" MBP and paid $350 from OWC. Considering Apple charges $200 to go from 4 to 8, I thought this wasn't bad. And the 32 GB of FB-DIMMs in my 2008 Mac Pro cost me $1600.

However, 2x4 GB kits are $48. You're definitely paying a premium. If the price is giving you heartburn, maybe do 12 GB, since the 4 GB sticks are so cheap.

At some point, the time spent researching prices and waiting far outweighs just getting it over with. I had owned the MBP for about 1 hour when I ordered the RAM upgrade and SSD. :)
 
Thank you for all of your replies. I will probably buy an 8GB stick for now, that way I will have 10GB when I leave one of the 2GB stock-sticks in. I can probably get by with that for awhile before fully upgrading to 16gb.
I went to place my order on Crucial and found that they are out of stock, of course! I stick with crucial for my ram purchases, I did manage to find them on NewEgg, but they charge more there.
 
MacYoukai said:
I am looking into upgrading my Macbook Pro to 16gb of ram. I currently have a laughable amount at 4gb. Does anyone here watch RAM prices closely enough to give an estimate as to when these will drop in price again? Is it reasonable to think they will potentially be $80.00/per unit/stick in a month or two?
I do remember seeing them almost double their current price as recently as mid-November. I am really wanting to upgrade my Macbook Pro to 16gb of ram. And before anyone says, "Just buy it now if you need it." I know I should, but I am ridiculously cheap at times. :p
Click to expand...

I thought the maximum RAM on a macbook is 8GB ? Is it 16?
 
The MacBook Pro and Mac Mini can handle 16 GB of RAM though 8 GB is the maximum amount support by Apple.
 
Ice Dragon said:
The MacBook Pro and Mac Mini can handle 16 GB of RAM though 8 GB is the maximum amount support by Apple.
Click to expand...

As an addendum, it's primarily because the 16's didn't exist at the time that Apple spec'ed the computer.

We are however discussing the 2011 early/late releases though.
 
Ice Dragon said:
The MacBook Pro and Mac Mini can handle 16 GB of RAM though 8 GB is the maximum amount support by Apple.
Click to expand...

Mine is already 8gb, i wanted to go to Frys to have it upgraded to 16gb but they said my 13.3 inch macbook pro i5 is only 8gb max not 16.
 
the hippie said:
Mine is already 8gb, i wanted to go to Frys to have it upgraded to 16gb but they said my 13.3 inch macbook pro i5 is only 8gb max not 16.
Click to expand...

That's what they say though they are going by what Apple tells them. In addition, they are probably just covering themselves since only power users need 16 GB in their Minis and Pros. In the iMac, I would upgrade to 16 GB just because though only would recommend 32 GB to power users.

Make sense?
 
Frys has Corsair 1x8GB on sale for $80.

Crucial just lowered their price for 2x8GB from somewhere near $400 to $260.

In the last weeks, there were different sales with 2x8GB going for as low as $144, however that was no-name RAM.

@OP
I don't know when Crucial will lower their prices the next time.

I think it would be cheaper to upgrade to 8 GB now ($40) and pay around $100 for 16 GB in 6 month. If you buy 1x8GB now, you pay $130 with crucial.
 
Bwa said:
If you need it to make money, buy it.

I just bought 16 gb for my new 15" MBP and paid $350 from OWC. Considering Apple charges $200 to go from 4 to 8, I thought this wasn't bad. And the 32 GB of FB-DIMMs in my 2008 Mac Pro cost me $1600.

However, 2x4 GB kits are $48. You're definitely paying a premium. If the price is giving you heartburn, maybe do 12 GB, since the 4 GB sticks are so cheap.

At some point, the time spent researching prices and waiting far outweighs just getting it over with. I had owned the MBP for about 1 hour when I ordered the RAM upgrade and SSD. :)
Click to expand...

agreed. exact same. ditto? now i have 2 120gb intel 320 series sata II ssd's :D and 12gb of owc ram
 
MacYoukai said:
Thank you for all of your replies. I will probably buy an 8GB stick for now, that way I will have 10GB when I leave one of the 2GB stock-sticks in. I can probably get by with that for awhile before fully upgrading to 16gb.
I went to place my order on Crucial and found that they are out of stock, of course! I stick with crucial for my ram purchases, I did manage to find them on NewEgg, but they charge more there.
Click to expand...

There are only 2 slots for RAM. If you get 2*4GB memory sticks, you will have to remove what you currently have - you will only have a total of 8GB, not 10GB.
 
motoracer1486 said:
There are only 2 slots for RAM. If you get 2*4GB memory sticks, you will have to remove what you currently have - you will only have a total of 8GB, not 10GB.
Click to expand...

Except that he is going to buy a 1x8GB stick, so 8GB + 2GB = 10GB. This is what the whole thread was about.


Anyways I don't think this is a good idea, I don't know how big the speed difference is with/without dual channeling, but I'm sure it's more of a difference than 8GB vs 10GB.
 
thundersteele said:
Except that he is going to buy a 1x8GB stick, so 8GB + 2GB = 10GB. This is what the whole thread was about.


Anyways I don't think this is a good idea, I don't know how big the speed difference is with/without dual channeling, but I'm sure it's more of a difference than 8GB vs 10GB.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see :)
 
thundersteele said:
Except that he is going to buy a 1x8GB stick, so 8GB + 2GB = 10GB. This is what the whole thread was about.


Anyways I don't think this is a good idea, I don't know how big the speed difference is with/without dual channeling, but I'm sure it's more of a difference than 8GB vs 10GB.
Click to expand...

I could always test that when I do get my 8gb stick in the mail. Either way, it is bound to be a heck of a lot better than just having 4gb.
 
MacYoukai said:
I could always test that when I do get my 8gb stick in the mail. Either way, it is bound to be a heck of a lot better than just having 4gb.
Click to expand...

Why do you say that? Unless you are running a lot of memory intensive applications, adding more memory will not make your machine faster. Having non-paired memory could even slow your machine down, as others have pointed out.
Are you getting an excessive amount of page outs?
 
Does anyone happen to know if there is a decrease in memory bandwidth throughput as a result of using one 8GB SODIMM vs 2 4GB SODIMM modules?

I know there is a decrease on PC's..
 
4gb is not laughable and its pretty standard. most users wont even need anything more than 4gb

my 2006 hp desktop used 1gb which was standard. some were using 512mb of ram at the time LOL
 
Yes, I really consider getting this. I can always return it, if it doesn't work.
 
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