Just upgraded RAM - Couple of Questions

[currins]

I just upgraded to 8GB RAM (Crucial) on my brand new 15" MBP. Installation went well, although I tried to push the 2nd stick down before it was actually in the notches.

So, About this Mac shows "8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3" and both Banks show OK in the More Info Memory section. So far so good, right.

Then I compared by Geekbench results before and after, and I'm a little concerned:

Before:
Memory, Memory performance, 3825
Stream, Memory bandwidth performance, 3037
After:
Memory, Memory performance, 3857
Stream, Memory bandwidth performance, 3079

I knew from a youtube demo that the geekbench results didn't jump dramatically, but are these results acceptable?

This is the first time I've opened a computer, much less a new MBP, so I'm worried that I screwed something up, like when I pushed down and the RAM stick wasn't in the right slot (mentioned above).

Thoughts?

 

[MacDawg]

Sounds like your installation went fine and your MBP is showing all 8GB
I wouldn't worry about the Geekbench results, just enjoy your new RAM

 

[currins]

This is a ridiculous question since I just upgraded, but where do you see the biggest benefit from the 8GB?

I'm not a heavy user - safari, imovie movie editing, iphoto, itunes, etc.

The real answer is I probably don't need 8GB right now, but it just wasn't that expensive to upgrade.

 

[Mac-key]

you'll see the biggest performance gains when running many applications at once - especially your bigger, more intensive apps - like final cut, photoshop, CS5 and such.

Also if you run a virtual machine, your computer will LOVE you for upgrading to 8g of RAM.

 

[laser71]

You'd only see it if you previous ram was being maxed - maybe movie editing, if the files are big enough. Maybe if you run a lot of programs. But perhaps it's just not needed for your fairly light use.