Late 2006 MBP - Worth getting 4GB instead of 3GB?

[paragonj]

I have a Late 2006 MBP that came with a 1x1GB installed. I just recently decided to upgrade the RAM (I know should I should have done it right away, oh well).

I ordered a 2GB stick from OWC that hasn't arrived yet. I know that I got the last MBP that couldn't address the full 4 GB and can only "see" 3.3GB, so my question is....

Is it worth spending the $50 for another 2GB to get the extra 300MB of RAM and the Dual-Channel speed boost? I am not a power user or anything, probably the most intensive task I do is run VMWare Fusion to do Quicken in Windows (the lone hold-out program that I haven't found a suitable replacement for!)

I'm guessing it's not worth the other $50 but I'm just throwin' it out there to see if I'm wrong. Thanks.

 

[betomax]

save your money

I also have the Halloween 2006 mbp, ordered it with 3GB since it was cheapest at the time through Apple.com, esp. with the ADC discount.

I can tell you that I have never noticed paging like I do on a windows pc that is short on RAM. I have even opened all apps in the application folder (ctrl-a, open) simultaneously (heard about it on digg.com, thought I'd try it out) While it did take a while to load everything, all apps worked just fine, expose was crowded, but worked smoothly.

If I were you I'd save the $50 for a rainy day.

I realize that your usage may be different from mine (I can arbitrarily "require between 3 and 3.3GB of RAM by allocating a huge array in MATLAB just as someone else can claim that they need that extra 300MB for photoshop), but I really don't think that the possible performance benefit is worth the premium.

That is, unless you are so wealthy that $50 is nothing to you. If that is the case, might I suggest you establish a scholarship fund for Electrical Engineering students? Every thousand dollar reduction in tuition costs helps, it is what enabled me to get my MBP.

Bob in Ohio

 

[gotzero]

I popped 4GB in my 2.33. Why not get the dual channel benefit?