Hello. I am going to order the new mbp 17" with i7 CPU. Need to decide whether or not to get the 8gb ram from Apple now. In terms of performance, how the ram from apple compared with that of other companies such as crucial? In the past, I heard that some companies claimed that they developed special controllers to make their ram faster than the standard ones. Thanks
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Are ram from apple better in terms of performance?
- Thread starter hajime
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NO
get your RAM from other places like OWC, Crucial or others. Apple RAM is just normal RAM that is hideously over-priced.
get your RAM from other places like OWC, Crucial or others. Apple RAM is just normal RAM that is hideously over-priced.
Apple RAM is nothing special: they just buy whatever meets their minimum spec from whichever major supplier is cheapest. That said you'd probably never notice the performance difference between very-expensive high-speed RAM and normal stuff.
I'm not sure that's always true any more (it certainly used to be). Apple charged me under £300 to upgrade to 8Gb on my new MBP. I could not find anywhere in the UK that I could buy 8Gb of RAM for a MBP for less than £330-£340...
Well, sometimes you guys have odd pricing across the pond. In the states 99% of the time Apple's prices are horrible.
I would say it's always worth checking. You also have to consider the potential resale value of the RAM you get from Apple in the machine if you upgrade yourself (as I could have tried to sell the 2x2Gb sticks I would have got). In the end I didn't want the hassle to save quite a small amount of cash. I also get a lower price from Apple through a corporate scheme so that makes the Apple price somewhat more favourable.
I remember the days when you could buy RAM at under half the price Apple were charging to upgrade and then sell the RAM Apple included as well!
Exactly. I think this is the first time, from a user point of view, Apple offers an upgrade price that is cheaper than that from Crucial. I know that there are always ways to get cheaper RAM somewhere. However, I am in a small city where I cannot get them easily. If I do not buy from Apple, I have to import from the US. So, I could end up spending more if I do eventually upgrade to 8GB. I have been using my SR MBP with 4GB. It is ok but it would be nice if I have about 6GB. I suppose for speed gain, I need to have two modules of the same amount. So, the point is to just upgrade to 8GB now or try to new machine first and then run the risk of ending up paying more.
So, if some companies claim that they have developed controllers to make their RAM runs more efficiently and faster, I shouldn't count on it?