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Macbook RAM Upgrade - 2.5GB good idea?

D

docc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 19, 2007
256
18
Miami
So, i purchased a new Macbook Rev C when it was announced in June. It came with stock 1GB RAM which i find isn't enough since i use XP on Parallels simultaneously. I was considering getting new RAM and after browsing through different threads here, i've noticed most people suggesting OWC.

I went to their website and noticed that they had quite a few capacities and brands available. I've read that having matched pair RAM marginally boosts performance. I've also read some contradictory statements regarding the same so i was wondering what exactly i need to do. Look at the configurations below and suggest what you think is the best:

1) 2 x 1GB for $104 (Micron)
2) 2GB single module for $157 (Micron). Adding this would give total 2.5GB.
3) 3GB (2GB + 1GB) for $159 (OWC). This is what i am inclined towards.

Also, is there any advantage in purchasing Micron over OWC? I've read that Apple uses Micron RAM which leads me to believe that Micron would be the more logical choice. I've also noticed that Newegg has some great deals on Apple RAM upgrades from Corsair, for eg 2 x 1GB for $80!

What should i do fella's?
 
docc said:
I've also noticed that Newegg has some great deals on Apple RAM upgrades from Corsair, for eg 2 x 1GB for $80!

What should i do fella's?
Click to expand...

I have a rev a 17" MBP and when I started using CS3 heavily I need to upgrade and I went with the 2 x 1 Corsair from Newegg. No problems what-so-ever in the 4 months since the upgrade.

I still have my original 1 x 1 Apple RAM that I have been thinking of selling.
 
I just recently bought the Corsair memory also from Newegg for my wife's MacBook. I paid a total of $87 total for the memory and shipping. I've had no problems whatsoever with the memory. I'm just holding onto the factory RAM in case we have to send it in for repair.
 
Avenger23 said:
I just recently bought the Corsair memory also from Newegg for my wife's MacBook. I paid a total of $87 total for the memory and shipping. I've had no problems whatsoever with the memory. I'm just holding onto the factory RAM in case we have to send it in for repair.
Click to expand...

I would third this opinion. Corsair is very solid, reliable, yet affordable RAM (especially when paired with Newegg's deals and services). They've [both] been at it as long as anyone with a great track record. Have 2x512 in my Windows system right now (haven't made the switch... yet) and its great. Have been thinking about adding 2 more modules, but I think I'm already close enough to making the switch, though.
 
Hmmm, seems like Corsair is the local favorite! Also, just to be future proof, do you guys think its more sensible to go for 3GB of RAM considering that Leopard MIGHT be a bit of a resource hog?

I don't want to repeatedly upgrade and want a solution that should hopefully last me an year or two.

Thanks for all the responses. Keep them coming in! :)
 
Cybergypsy said:
I bought 2x2G for my macbook by omni on ebay used omni a few times bought both sticks for 159.00 you have to watch ebay for them :)
Click to expand...

Thats a pretty sweet deal. I've not heard about the OMNI brand so i'm a little cautious. How long since you purchased this RAM and does it come with lifetime warranty? Also, although you have 2 x 2GB RAM modules, your Macbook can only see 3.3 GB right?
 
docc said:
Hmmm, seems like Corsair is the local favorite! Also, just to be future proof, do you guys think its more sensible to go for 3GB of RAM considering that Leopard MIGHT be a bit of a resource hog?

I don't want to repeatedly upgrade and want a solution that should hopefully last me an year or two.

Thanks for all the responses. Keep them coming in! :)
Click to expand...

I think 2GB should be plenty for now, unless you plan on some serious multitasking. I would say, however, if you plan on that, your probably going to bottleneck in other resources of your machine too
Oh woops, just saw its a recent macbook... but even so. Dual channel kits with identical sticks (the 2x1GB Corsair, for example) tend to run more efficiently than 2 sticks of different capacity, or even, brand. And, tend to have a better price:GB ratio too :). So if I were you, I would take the Corsair and runnnn smoothly, but come New Years time if you're feeling the hurt in Leopard, you could treak yourself to a 2GB stick if you like. But I think you'll be fine on the Corsair for a bit. I do some pretty decent multitasking on my XP machine (2.6ghz Core Duo (cheap but great), 1GB corsair, 256mb GF7300GT, 160GB Seagate 7200rpm running WoW, iTunes, Firefox with a horrible amount of tabs open, GTalk, AIM, and maybe another misc program open) and it holds up well, it can lag a little when switching in/out of game, or trying to access something when its loading tabs, switching songs in iTunes, and in a city in WoW, but its nothing thats ever been unbearable. If it is, I just go get myself a drink, and realize that I need to shut down my machine more often haha. I've only had it freeze up on me once, when I was doing all this plus O&O Defrag was set to start an extensive defrag on my media volume at 3AM (as I have it set up to do twice a week...woops, should have gone to bed haha). I feel confident that if I had a 2x1GB Corsair set, I would be running all those with relative ease, and only occasional lag of a few seconds at most.

Tip: This might be a windows thing... but apparently repainting the Desktop eats up a lot of VidRAM. So if you're doing a lot of multitasking, keep a plain color background on your desktop, or keep a window on top of it all the time.

Good luck!
(woops, that one got a little long-winded... sorry!)
 
not sure how crucial is regarding macbooks, but I've found them to be prompt and to have some *very* good prices. Also the ram I've bought from them has never failed.

Also it's very easy to find 10% off codes for all of their ram, and they do free delivery as well.
 
Will i get a very "significant" improvement f i improve from 2gb to 3gb on mbp? pls advise.. thanks:eek:
 
Ok so here's what i did. I purchased a 2GB module from Fry's for $99. I'm going to remove one of the 512MB modules and replace it with the 2GB module giving me a total of 2.5GB RAM. I've seen benchmark reports on OWC that show that it isn't necessary to have matched pairs to have good performance. Now, is that info legit?
 
You will still see a significant performance going from 1GB to 2.5, but matched pairs give a slight boost. But since you can't get matched pairs at 2.5gb, you can save up for another 2gb module to replace the 512mb in the future.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I know that going from 1GB to 2.5GB will definitely give me a huge performace boost but what i was more concerned was about the detrimental effect on hardware because of using unmatched pairs. Should i be expecting any kernel panics or anything of that sort?

And yea, i was considering getting another 2GB module to replace the other 512MB module, but i don't really need that much RAM so will probably wait till Leopard is out.
 
docc said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I know that going from 1GB to 2.5GB will definitely give me a huge performace boost but what i was more concerned was about the detrimental effect on hardware because of using unmatched pairs. Should i be expecting any kernel panics or anything of that sort?

And yea, i was considering getting another 2GB module to replace the other 512MB module, but i don't really need that much RAM so will probably wait till Leopard is out.
Click to expand...

I haven't seen any posts or read anywhere that unmatched pairs will cause KPs, but you can never say never so it MAY happen in your case, but HIGHLY doubtful.
 
Hey guys seriously don't buy anything yet there's this site with like every company

check this url I found It's got some cheap stuff like that 3gb upgrade for 67$ or a 2gb single memory unit for 21$. So I would suggest you use this url and get the 2GB one that way it's really cheap and you get almost the same speed, certaintly better than what they offer at apple.com. Here's the url : http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/DDR2/


sorry just cut and paste
 
MacWizkid said:
check this url I found It's got some cheap stuff like that 3gb upgrade for 67$ or a 2gb single memory unit for 21$. So I would suggest you use this url and get the 2GB one that way it's really cheap and you get almost the same speed, certaintly better than what they offer at apple.com. Here's the url : http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/DDR2/
Click to expand...

Welcome to MR, but I think the original poster would have bought their ram about 8 months ago (check the dates on the posts)

(and it's not $21 for a 2 GB module...)
 
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