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Is it worth upgrading from 2GB to 4GB memory for new MacBook?

V

vtbean

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 27, 2009
19
0
Hi guys. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to computer hardware and I was wondering if I'll see a noticeable difference if I upgrade the ram for my new MacBook (white unibody) from 2GB to 4GB. I think it will cost around $90 for this upgrade and I don't want to do it if it's not really necessary. My main work on this comp is for iPhone dev. and some video/photo editing. Thanks! :D
 
Most people in this forum will probably tell you to do it.

However, I have the original base aluminum MacBook, complete with the stock 2GB of DDR3 ram, and it runs just fine for most of what I do. There are a few things it would be nice to have that extra 2GB for. VMWare Fusion didn't run the best (XP Pro) and I could bog down the computer running several instances of preview, several excel spreadsheets, safari, mail, iChat, etc while I was working on my Masters degree, but for normal, everyday use, the 2GB is more than enough.

It's up to you though. Bigger is always better. It just depends if the performance upgrade is worth the money for you personally. For me, it wasn't. Especially now that I got my beautiful new iMac.
 
...I have the 2.0 Ghz whitebook in my signature and I would probably be fine with the stock 2 GB of RAM if I didn't use Fusion on it... the upgrade was gotten for only $45 shipped as its the PC6400 DDR2 RAM so it was well worth the upgrade!
 
You'll probably find the extra memory useful for the video editing, and for the photo editing if you have a high pixel count camera.

The nice thing about memory, though, is that it's the easiest part to upgrade. You could always start out with the 2GB and if you feel like the computer is struggling with certain tasks, using a lot of swap, etc, upgrade then.
 
Cheffy Dave said:
What ever I have I max the RAM, my BMB has 4GB and it is fast, but after the Ram, upgrade to at least a 7200 HDD, better yet a Runcore SSD like I did and banish beach balls forever, now it's not fast, it is supersonic:eek:
RUNCORE ROCKS!:cool:
Click to expand...

Haha. That sounds awesome but it would be an overkill for my use. Besides, I don't have enough money for hard drive upgrade...maybe in a year when SSD price comes down I'll buy it. :D
 
4 GB is almost like a requirement for decent computing.. Especially if you have a machine like MacBook which uses some of that RAM for the graphics card.

Buy something with low latency.. And dont go cheap.. :D
 
My view is at the moment 2GB is OK! I only ever need more when I'm doing some serious work.
 
Azrel said:
My view is at the moment 2GB is OK! I only ever need more when I'm doing some serious work.
__________________
13" Aluminum MacBook, 2.0GHz, 6GB RAM, 128GB SSD; 500GB OptiBay; 23" Apple Display HD; 16GB iPhone 3G; Canon EOS 500d;
Click to expand...

Your sig speaks for itself... ;)

To the OP, I would do at least 4GB for what you'll be doing. You should definitely notice a difference.
 
Cheffy Dave said:
I always use OWC, use their charts to match RAM with your product-simple
Click to expand...

I just noticed that at OWC they have 8gb ram option for my new MacBook but in the spec it can only have up to 4gb??? So the machine can handle more than 4gb? Not that I'm gonna pay couple hundred dollars for 8gb but just wondering...:D
 
I'd also like to know if the white macbook unibody can be upgraded to more than 4GB of RAM?

Apple only offers 4GB, but apparently the white macbook now has the same logic board as the pro, so it should be possible?
 
colourfulclock said:
I'd also like to know if the white macbook unibody can be upgraded to more than 4GB of RAM?

Apple only offers 4GB, but apparently the white macbook now has the same logic board as the pro, so it should be possible?
Click to expand...

I was looking on the owc site this morning, and they have a 8 gig upgrade for the 2009 2.26 macbook. It's $475. :eek:

And as for if you need more than 2 gigs, I'd suggest going to activity monitor while you're using your machine and see if a) you're using all of your ram, and b) if you have any significant page outs.

Macworld benchmarked the 2.26 13" macbook pro, and couldn't find an increase in performance for upgrading its ram. I'm assuming it will be the same for the 09 uni macbook. Therefore, I wouldn't get the ram unless you know you actually need it.
 
vtbean said:
I just noticed that at OWC they have 8gb ram option for my new MacBook but in the spec it can only have up to 4gb??? So the machine can handle more than 4gb? Not that I'm gonna pay couple hundred dollars for 8gb but just wondering...:D
Click to expand...

I think it's a situation where in principle you could use 8 GB RAM, but at the price that Apple charges for RAM, it would be ridiculously expensive (like twice the normal price). So instead of people complaining about a ridiculous price and nobody buying it anyway, they just don't offer it.

A good thing about the new iMacs is that they have four slots for RAM, so you can have 8 GB using four cheap 2GB chips.
 
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