Can I install uneven pairs of RAM in early 2009 Mac Mini?

[noah82]

I just bought the base model Mac Mini yesterday, and I am going to tear it open today to put in a bigger hard drive and more RAM.

My question is...since I don't need the entire 4GB of RAM, I am happy with 3GB. The system has one 1GB chip in there already, so can I simply just pop in a second 2GB chip for a total of 3GB? I wasn't sure if they had to be installed in pairs or not.

Is there any downside besides obviously the memory not being under Apple's warranty?

 

[Eidorian]

The loss of dual channel is acceptable since you're gaining more usable RAM in the system. 3 GB is fine.

 

[noah82]

Sounds good, thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Eidorian]

No problem. It's nice that Apple only filled one slot out of both this time in the Mac mini.