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Early 2011 Mac Book Pro RAM upgrade help

X

xctfeuph

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 3, 2012
3
0
So, currently in my activity monitor memory log, I have 6.70GB page ins, and 33.63GB page outs. My laptop has been running really slow lately, and I'm thinking that not having enough RAM is my problem. I currently have 4GB of RAM installed. I haven't ever changed the RAM from how it was when I bought my laptop, but I think that I have 2 2GB RAM sticks (or whatever they're called, I'm not the most computer literate person in the world). I've been looking on Newegg, and it looks like I could get 2x4GB of RAM or one 8GB of RAM for about the same price. I know that apple says my laptop can only support up to 8GB of RAM, but I've heard of people installing more, so I was thinking that if the prices are similar I should just get the 8GB one so that I can leave in one of the 2GB sticks of RAM I already have, leaving me with 10GB of RAM instead of 8GB. Is this a good idea, and will my computer actually use all of this memory or will it just stop using it after 8GB? Also, I'm going to post the links to the RAM that I'm thinking about getting; could someone make sure that this RAM is actually compatible with my machine? I think it is, I just don't really trust myself with computer upgrades that much, so I wanted to double check. Thanks!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231575
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139985
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

Guest
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
31
located
Your page outs are quite a lot. What do you do with your Mac and when did you last restart it, since page outs accumulate over time?

Anyway, your Mac supports 16 GB RAM as of now, maybe even 32 GB RAM once 16 GB modules of 204-pin DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM arrive. 16 GB RAM (two 8 GB modules) can be had for less than 100 USD nowadays.


And yes, the RAM you linked to is compatible.
 
X

xctfeuph

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 3, 2012
3
0
Thanks for the help! Would you recommend getting 2 4GB RAM or getting 1 8GB RAM and then just keeping one of the 2GB ones that I already have installed?
 
V

vickysud

macrumors member
Jun 13, 2012
97
15
Installed 8GB RAM today and all seems good till know.

BHHAF.jpg
 
S

snaky69

macrumors 603
Mar 14, 2008
5,908
488
xctfeuph said:
Thanks for the help! Would you recommend getting 2 4GB RAM or getting 1 8GB RAM and then just keeping one of the 2GB ones that I already have installed?
Click to expand...

RAM works much faster/efficiently in matched pairs, so if I were you I'd got for either 2x4 or 2x8GB.
 
throAU

throAU

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2012
8,818
6,985
Perth, Western Australia
Just buy 16gb and be done with it for the life of your machine. it is cheap now.

And yes, your ram will be faster if installed in matched pairs - otherwise it can not run in dual channel mode (which doubles the bandwidth). Buy 2x8 and know that you won't have any issues with RAM capacity for at least the next few years.
 
X

xctfeuph

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 3, 2012
3
0
RAM Question

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking to upgrade my MacBook Pro RAM from 4GB (2x2GB right now) to at least 8GB. I basically have two options. I can buy 2x4GB of RAM, and replace both my RAM cards, and end up with 2x4GB of RAM, 8GB total. Or, for the same price, I can buy 1 new 8GB RAM card and just replace one of my 2GB cards, so I would have 1x8GB and 1x2GB, for 10GB total. I'm all for getting as much RAM as possible, but I've heard that if you have cards of different sizes, the RAM runs slower because you can't run in "dual mode" or something like that. Does this mean I should just buy the 4x4GB RAM? Or will the extra 2GB of the 10GB configuration make up for the slow down?
 
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