Memory Upgrade - Suggestions please

[sid1982]

Hi Guys,

I have been using Parallels on Mountain Lion (10.8.2) for the last couple of weeks and noticed a huge lag in my laptop's performance. I have never seen any applications hang since the day I switched to Mac until this day. Given below are the specs of my MBP.

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro7,1
13-inch Mid 2010
2.66 Hz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB

I am planning to upgrade memory to 6 GB/8GB, whichever works out to be cheaper and effective. Can someone please take some time to answer the following questions.

1. Can I still use the stock 2GB in one slot and buy a brand new 4GB? I guess it would be cheaper, but does MBP work well with 2 + 4 GB combination?

2. I looked at Apple's website to buy memory, but it was not surprising to find out, the memory is outrageously expensive. Can you suggest few websites where I get find better deals? Also, please suggest some quality brands. I am a kind of guy who is willing to spend few extra bucks for quality.

If someone has upgraded memory on a simliar configuration recently and have some good/bad experiences to share with, please do so

Thanks,

Sid

 

[Giuly]

You need two completely identical modules to run the RAM in dual channel mode.
The difference between Crucial 2x4GB or 2x8GB isn't really that dramatic, so you could also upgrade to 16GB, which is supported in you install the latest EFI update.

 

[sid1982]

You need two completely identical modules to run the RAM in dual channel mode.
The difference between Crucial 2x4GB or 2x8GB isn't really that dramatic, so you could also upgrade to 16GB, which is supported in you install the latest EFI update.

Thanks for your response. I will go with 2 identical modules. However, I didn't quite understand how my laptop can support 16 GB when specs say max 8 GB. When I tried to install the EFI updated mentioned by you, I am getting an error saying "this update is not supported by your machine". Any thoughts?

 

[sid1982]

Hi Guys,

I have been using Parallels on Mountain Lion (10.8.2) for the last couple of weeks and noticed a huge lag in my laptop's performance. I have never seen any applications hang since the day I switched to Mac until this day. Given below are the specs of my MBP.

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro7,1
13-inch Mid 2010
2.66 Hz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB

I am planning to upgrade memory to 6 GB/8GB, whichever works out to be cheaper and effective. Can someone please take some time to answer the following questions.

1. Can I still use the stock 2GB in one slot and buy a brand new 4GB? I guess it would be cheaper, but does MBP work well with 2 + 4 GB combination?

2. I looked at Apple's website to buy memory, but it was not surprising to find out, the memory is outrageously expensive. Can you suggest few websites where I get find better deals? Also, please suggest some quality brands. I am a kind of guy who is willing to spend few extra bucks for quality.

If someone has upgraded memory on a simliar configuration recently and have some good/bad experiences to share with, please do so

Thanks,

Sid

I have shortlisted Crucial and OWC so far. I was under the impression that Crucial ones are pricier than rest, but if you look at the following links Crucial is coming out to be cheaper than OWC. The only difference that I could see was Crucial is offering 1.35 V while OWC is offering 1.5 V. Any suggestions on which ones to pick? I heard the lesser the voltage the better it is in terms of battery life etc.

http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=B8EDEEA9A5CA7304

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/8566DDR3S8GP/

 

[spartacvs]

I have shortlisted Crucial and OWC so far. I was under the impression that Crucial ones are pricier than rest, but if you look at the following links Crucial is coming out to be cheaper than OWC. The only difference that I could see was Crucial is offering 1.35 V while OWC is offering 1.5 V. Any suggestions on which ones to pick? I heard the lesser the voltage the better it is in terms of battery life etc.

http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=B8EDEEA9A5CA7304

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/8566DDR3S8GP/

Get one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100018235%20600006178%20600000401%20600000445&IsNodeId=1&Description=ram%20ddr3&bop=And&CompareItemList=381%7C20-139-481%5E20-139-481-TS%2C20-231-294%5E20-231-294-TS

 

[sid1982]

Get one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100018235%20600006178%20600000401%20600000445&IsNodeId=1&Description=ram%20ddr3&bop=And&CompareItemList=381%7C20-139-481%5E20-139-481-TS%2C20-231-294%5E20-231-294-TS

After going through different manufacturer's I noticed that it is quite a competitive market and there isn't a big difference in the prices. I am okay to spend a few bucks more for the best ones. Now the difficult question is which one is the best one? Kingston/Crucial/OWC/G Skill/ other? Can someone help me in choosing right brand all things being equal?

 

[gngan]

After going through different manufacturer's I noticed that it is quite a competitive market and there isn't a big difference in the prices. I am okay to spend a few bucks more for the best ones. Now the difficult question is which one is the best one? Kingston/Crucial/OWC/G Skill/ other? Can someone help me in choosing right brand all things being equal?

There's no such thing as the best. There's only some dodgy brand that you should avoid. Those you listed are reputable brand therefore get the one that is the cheapest.

 

[sid1982]

There's no such thing as the best. There's only some dodgy brand that you should avoid. Those you listed are reputable brand therefore get the one that is the cheapest.

I get it. Thanks.

 

[sid1982]

I get it. Thanks.

I found this one (Kingston Technology 8GB Kit (2x4 GB Modules) 1066MHz) on Amazon and found the price to be attractive enough to immediately place an order. I will keep you posted once I install it on my MBP. Thanks for all your inputs.

http://amzn.to/WUswy9