MPB with SSD - Get 4 GB or 8 GB RAM?

[miata]

I'm planning on purchasing a 15" 2.4 MHz i5 MacBook Pro with a OWC 240 GB SSD. I do quite a bit of multi-tasking and don't like to close down windows often. It gets worse at home where I add additional media apps.

...

First, here is my current system:

15" MBP Early 2008 2.5 GHz C2D 6 MB L2 8600M GT, 320 GB 7200 RPM

Now, here are the list of apps I almost always have open at work:

- Mail with one browser, 3-4 notes windows open and 4-5 messages open
- Adium
- MS/Entourage
- MS/PowerPoint with 5-10 slide sets open
- MS/Excel with 5-10 spreadsheets open
- MS/Word with a couple of docs
- Preview with 3-5 docs
- Camino with 3-5 windows open (Flash blocked)
- Firefox with 3-4 windows open (Flash blocked)
- Address Book

I quit usingFusion, so good so far? Then I go home where I start doing video editing with my 1080 HD AVCHD footage. I don't close any of my work stuff, because I often have late night and early morning calls. At home add the following apps.

- iMovie for video editing
- Toast for burning Blu-ray discs
- Voltaic (AVCHD video encoding)

Then at home...

While pulling in AVCHD footage via an SD card reader in my ExpressCard slot and writing to a Firewire 800 disk I am burning a Blu-ray movie from Toast via my FW400 port. At the same time I might be using Carbon Copy Cloner to update my system to a different 2.5" external Firewire 800 drive. Oh yeah. Time Machine comes around once an hour and wants to backup to my Airport Extreme over ethernet.

Will I notice a big difference between 4 and 8 GB of RAM?

 

[WardC]

If I ever decide to get a new MacBook Pro I am going with the OWC 240GB SSD upgrade and 8GB of RAM. Just to be safe. 8GB of RAM upgrade is about $167 nowadays, not too incredibly bad considering how RAM prices used to be through the roof a few years ago.

 

[DJ-R]

Get them third party.

Apple SSD x2 slower and x2 more expensive.
Apple RAM x2 more expensive.

If you go third party. Enjoy saving at least $1000.

 

[omgitscro]

With OWC, the 8GB upgrade only costs around $140. You trade in your two included RAM modules and get $40 off of the $180 8GB upgrade.

 

[Reelknead1]

Newegg also has some crazy deals on RAM that will work on our computers. Last time i checked the cheapest was 125 or 130.

 

[miata]

I aways get my RAM from OWC. The real question is how much difference I will notice between 4 and 8 GB.

The reason I ask is that I am already going over my company puchase budget just getting the MBP and SSD drive upgrade. I would probably have to buy the RAM upgrade out of my own pocket. If I were to go the HDD route I wouldn't hesitate to max out RAM, but with SSD I'm not sure.

Also, thanks omgitscro. I've never taked advantage of the OWC rebate. I do have a question though. What happens if you have to take your computer into Apple for repair. Will the OWC RAM be a problem? I have generally kept my old RAM and HDDs while under warrantee in case I needed service.

 

[J&JPolangin]

If I ever decide to get a new MacBook Pro I am going with the OWC 240GB SSD upgrade and 8GB of RAM. Just to be safe. 8GB of RAM upgrade is about $167 nowadays, not too incredibly bad considering how RAM prices used to be through the roof a few years ago.

RAM is even less than that on www.newegg.com - I just got 8Gb with 2 free 4Gb flash drives for $143 shipped... it was allcomponets = a made in the USA brand with life warranty and they work great (in my HP DM4 i5 4 lbs laptop with Intel SSD)!

 

[milan03]

RAM is even less than that on www.newegg.com - I just got 8Gb with 2 free 4Gb flash drives for $143 shipped... it was allcomponets = a made in the USA brand with life warranty and they work great (in my HP DM4 i5 4 lbs laptop with Intel SSD)!

How is it cheaper on newegg when OWC is giving you:
This: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/8566DDR3S8GP/

PLUS A $39 REBATE

http://eshop.macsales.com/Customized_Pages/Framework.cfm?page=rebatecenter.html

Get your facts straight.

 

[Reelknead1]

How is it cheaper on newegg when OWC is giving you:
This: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/8566DDR3S8GP/

PLUS A $39 REBATE

http://eshop.macsales.com/Customized_Pages/Framework.cfm?page=rebatecenter.html

Get your facts straight.

Well if your going to trade in your ram then Macsales would be cheaper. If you are keeping your RAM for Warranty purposes then newegg is 10 dollars cheaper currently. If you watch the ram on Newegg it does go on sale quite a bit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231294

Not saying newegg is better just in this case RAM vs RAM newegg is 10 dollars cheaper. G-skill is being run in a friends 09 unibody 2.66 MBP and runs very well, no issues at all.

 

[milan03]

Well if your going to trade in your ram then Macsales would be cheaper. If you are keeping your RAM for Warranty purposes then newegg is 10 dollars cheaper currently. If you watch the ram on Newegg it does go on sale quite a bit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231294

Not saying newegg is better just in this case RAM vs RAM newegg is 10 dollars cheaper. G-skill is being run in a friends 09 unibody 2.66 MBP and runs very well, no issues at all.

Changing RAM in your MBP does NOT void the warranty. I wouldn't wanna keep slow Apple RAM for a sole purpose of collecting the dust... might as well cash in at some point, sooner better than latter.

 

[miata]

I appreciate the inputs on pricing, sounds like the OWC route makes a lot of sense.

Again, how difference will I notice?

 

[milan03]

I appreciate the inputs on pricing, sounds like the OWC route makes a lot of sense.

Again, how difference will I notice?

You will certainly have more headroom to work with. No swapping, smoother sailing. And if you do multitask a lot, and keep the apps open, it will help your workflow. How much? Can't measure it, but for $100 it's certainly the most affordable upgrade you can do.

Enjoy.

 

[miata]

You will certainly have more headroom to work with. No swapping, smoother sailing. And if you do multitask a lot, and keep the apps open, it will help your workflow. How much? Can't measure it, but for $100 it's certainly the most affordable upgrade you can do.

Enjoy.

OK. As the price approaches $130 after rebate, it probably makes sense to bite the bullet even with the SSD swap space.

 

[milan03]

OK. As the price approaches $130 after rebate, it probably makes sense to bite the bullet even with the SSD swap space.

It's $105 after the rebate. Where did you get $130?

 

[miata]

It's $105 after the rebate. Where did you get $130?

OWC $173 - $39 = $134

 

[Jaro65]

The RAM is so cheap nowadays, it is really a no-brainer....

 

[danwat1234]

I appreciate the inputs on pricing, sounds like the OWC route makes a lot of sense.

Again, how difference will I notice?

4GB is fine.
I have an Intel G2 SSD in my laptop, and I once did an experiment;

I opened up all the programs I could find, loaded up a ton of tabs on my web browser until I had zero RAM free and my swap file was 9GB in size!

The smoothness was mostly still there, although there was a crapload of swapping happening, the SSD kept up! The behavior of the system was a little jerky, but hardly any appreciable delays, just randon sub second delays due to insane SSD thrashing.

If you get a good SSD, how much RAM you have free doesn't really matter in most cases.

Just stick with 4GB, and load up your RAM, and if for some reason the SSD can't keep up, perhaps 8GB is the answer. But I doubt you would notice any difference.

Yes, this is on Windows 7.

 

[onlnagent]

Get the MBP with 4 GB of ram and upgrade it with aftermarket ram. I went the more costly route and ordered my ram next day Sat delivery from Crucial and it was about $200.00 I got the ram delivered to my door in about 16 hours.

I run a few virtual machines occasionally and for this the more cores and ram you have the better. For me the upgrade was a no brainer.

OWC is a great vendor and has a great warranty and trade in program if you want quality ram with a budget.

 

[milan03]

OWC $173 - $39 = $134

You don't read posts don't you...? read my post with two links. one for memory and one for rebate, then calculate. Then please tell us how did you get $130 mark out of $147 minus $39.

Thank you.

 

[miata]

You don't read posts don't you...? read my post with two links. one for memory and one for rebate, then calculate. Then please tell us how did you get $130 mark out of $147 minus $39.

Thank you.

Thanks for the clarification. I did go to the rebate link, since I didn't know about it and I already checked the OWC computing site like always.

I've always gotten the OWC branded memory. DOes anybody know how the Newer memory would compare for reliability. OWC memory has a flawless record for me.

I did a few searches and NuRAM seems to be OK. I guess I'll go that route them. Thanks again milan03.

 

[miata]

4GB is fine.
I have an Intel G2 SSD in my laptop, and I once did an experiment;

I opened up all the programs I could find, loaded up a ton of tabs on my web browser until I had zero RAM free and my swap file was 9GB in size!

The smoothness was mostly still there, although there was a crapload of swapping happening, the SSD kept up! The behavior of the system was a little jerky, but hardly any appreciable delays, just randon sub second delays due to insane SSD thrashing.

If you get a good SSD, how much RAM you have free doesn't really matter in most cases.

Just stick with 4GB, and load up your RAM, and if for some reason the SSD can't keep up, perhaps 8GB is the answer. But I doubt you would notice any difference.

Yes, this is on Windows 7.

So, all you comments apply to Windows. I would only be using MacOS. I've even gotten to the point were I can avoid running Fusion lately.

 

[Reelknead1]

Changing RAM in your MBP does NOT void the warranty. I wouldn't wanna keep slow Apple RAM for a sole purpose of collecting the dust... might as well cash in at some point, sooner better than latter.

You are correct in some ways. It will not void your warranty but if you do have kernel panics on your computer or other issues and you bring it in to the genius bar or send it out to a repair facility. Many times they will blame it on the non-OEM ram. I have seen it many times with RAM and HDDs, warranties repairs that are denied because of a replaced RAM and/or HDD.

Just last week I sent out a clients MBP 2.66 Core2 for a Mobo replacement. It had an exact replacement HDD as the original but it didn't have the apple stamp and the RAM was upgraded. The computer was sent back to me, saying they wouldn't touch it without the original parts in the computer because they felt that the aftermarket parts where causing the issue with the computer. I put an OEM drive and ram back in it, sent it out and 2 days later got it back with a new Mobo, swapped everything back it and was golden.

It will not void any sort of warranty but it may cause you trouble depending on the person you have to deal with in the future.

 

[danwat1234]

So, all you comments apply to Windows. I would only be using MacOS. I've even gotten to the point were I can avoid running Fusion lately.

I am assuming that OSX uses memory and I/O as efficiently or better than Win7. I also assume that OSX also takes care of swap file thrashing as well if not better than Win7. so my comments do count, I think. If they don't then I suppose that means that performance with OSX would be poorer in low memory situations with an SSD than Win7.

 

[karsten]

i put 8gb in my 13" mbp and i swear its slower. os x as far as i know loads up all your ram until its maxed out as a way to maximize cached data etc. problem is by the time my hard drive (not ssd) reads out 8gb into ram it slows the system down. it actually seemed faster under os x with the stock 2gb of ram. i got the 8gb for using with virtual machines which of course almost necessitated more than 2gb of ram.

 

[DJ-R]

Do NOT get Apple SSD. Not only because of the price.

It is because they are slower than other SSD out there on the 3rd market. I wish I have links to pull up here but please do a Google search about Apple SSD vs other.