Replacing My RAM

[HiDeHo]

Hi i am thinking of upgrading from 4gb to 8gb ram.

I have a
Macbook Pro 13": October 2011
processor: 2.4GHz Intel Core i5
Memory(ram): 4GB 1333 MHZ DDR3
HDD: 500gb

I would like to know if i need any specialised tools, screwdrivers etc to open my mbp and replace the ram.

The ram I am looking at getting is click here. is this a good ram for my mbp.

just some basic things i am wanting to know. thanks in advance.

 

[yusukeaoki]

So you're getting 2 of these RAM correct?
And it would work.

The only tool you would need is a phillips screwdriver to pop open the backplate.

 

[firewater]

i Do all my upgrades with this companyhttp://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_1333MHz_SDRAM

 

[yusukeaoki]

i Do all my upgrades with this companyhttp://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_1333MHz_SDRAM

Not to mention they are way too expensive.
You can get a Corsair 8GB 1600MHz Vengeance RAM for 50USD.
OWC makes you pay nearly 60~70 on a 1333MHz model.

 

[firewater]

Not to mention they are way too expensive.
You can get a Corsair 8GB 1600MHz Vengeance RAM for 50USD.
OWC makes you pay nearly 60~70 on a 1333MHz model.

True but very trusted company that I never had any problems with, plus memory w/Lifetime warranty.

 

[yusukeaoki]

True but very trusted company that I never had any problems with, plus memory w/Lifetime warranty.

Agree with the reliability but Corsair are my choice.
They have lifetime warranty as well as cheaper price and great customer support.

 

[RAMtheSSD]

MY 2 Cents...

I have to say that I LOVE OWC. Thus far, their customer service has been impeccable. The fact that they do Mac and only Mac and have been willing to answer questions without the smallest hassle is very important to me; why?

20$ difference seems like a lot -NOW- but when something goes wrong...

I use Corsair ram on WinTel boxes and I have generally been satisfied with the performance and the CAS latency of the ram so its not like I have something against them.

but...OWC has my Mac business and I came to them by word of mouth from someone who came to them by word of mouth from someone.... etc...
and that doesn't happen by accident.

 

[HiDeHo]

Is it worth also saving for a SSD or a sdd/hdd combo drive.

and i hear you can also install 2 drives in the macbook pro but i cant understand how or where. don't seem enough space in the laptop.

Just thinking about options if i was going to put a ssd in the main hdd place where would a 2nd one go.

On thinking about it would there be a way to put it in place of the cd drive. only option i can think to put it.

just thinking of options. then if that is possable what to do with the cd drive. can i get a case for it or would it be easier to get a external usb hdd enclosure.

 

[yusukeaoki]

Is it worth also saving for a SSD or a sdd/hdd combo drive.

and i hear you can also install 2 drives in the macbook pro but i cant understand how or where. don't seem enough space in the laptop.

Just thinking about options if i was going to put a ssd in the main hdd place where would a 2nd one go.

On thinking about it would there be a way to put it in place of the cd drive. only option i can think to put it.

just thinking of options. then if that is possable what to do with the cd drive. can i get a case for it or would it be easier to get a external usb hdd enclosure.

Yes you can.
And if you need it or not is depending on you.
If you need the extra speed and space, get it.

The second drive replaces your optical drive or your CD/DVD drive.
You have to get a special enclosure for it but they can range between 15~100USD.
I personally went with the MCE 100USD model because they have great reliability.
They even give you a free DVD enclosure to put your DVD drive you pulled out.
As my sig, I have 128GB SSD+1TB HDD set up.
Blazing fast and able to keep all my data around with me.

 

[HiDeHo]

Yes you can.
And if you need it or not is depending on you.
If you need the extra speed and space, get it.

The second drive replaces your optical drive or your CD/DVD drive.
You have to get a special enclosure for it but they can range between 15~100USD.
I personally went with the MCE 100USD model because they have great reliability.
They even give you a free DVD enclosure to put your DVD drive you pulled out.
As my sig, I have 128GB SSD+1TB HDD set up.
Blazing fast and able to keep all my data around with me.

thats interesting I just looked on the mnc website and the optibay = $39.99 usd, enclosure for superdrive = $39.99 that = $79.98. thats a tidy price. pity i dont live in the US.

I think my first go would be to upgrade to 8gb ram. I better start saving knowing me on my budget it wil take 6 or more months. i better plan it all out.

 

[HiDeHo]

I wonder....

I also wondering if running virtual desktops would do anything to slow down the speed, processing, of the macbook. would anyone know if someone has done any testing on this.

I don't seem to hear much about that feature.

 

[leman]

I also wondering if running virtual desktops would do anything to slow down the speed, processing, of the macbook. would anyone know if someone has done any testing on this.

I don't seem to hear much about that feature.

What do you mean by virtual desktops? OS X spaces? It really depends - just having many spaces open won't have any negative effect on the performance. However, having many active applications open in many spaces will obviously affect performance. As such, it could be potentially faster to run many applications in separate spaces instead of one single space because the OS only needs to redraw what it sees. This is just a speculation on my part, I didn't do any tests. However, spaces is one of the defining features of OS X and I am sure it is optimized fairly well, I never had any performance problems with it.

 

[yusukeaoki]

I also wondering if running virtual desktops would do anything to slow down the speed, processing, of the macbook. would anyone know if someone has done any testing on this.

I don't seem to hear much about that feature.

You mean virtual OS? Like run Windows7 on VMware Fusion/Parallel?
It is a RAM and CPU hogger.
I still struggle to do heavy tasks with my 17in.
Thats because I need to share the CPU, GPU, and RAM for both OS's.
My setup is 2 cores for Windows 2 Cores for Mac, 8GB for each.
Yet the computer gets extremely hot and still struggles to do many tasks at once.
In fact, it eats up your battery as well because the CPU is eating more than it can provide power.
Since your's is the baseline 13in, I honestly dont recommend it.

 

[HiDeHo]

You mean virtual OS? Like run Windows7 on VMware Fusion/Parallel?
It is a RAM and CPU hogger.
I still struggle to do heavy tasks with my 17in.
Thats because I need to share the CPU, GPU, and RAM for both OS's.
My setup is 2 cores for Windows 2 Cores for Mac, 8GB for each.
Yet the computer gets extremely hot and still struggles to do many tasks at once.
In fact, it eats up your battery as well because the CPU is eating more than it can provide power.
Since your's is the baseline 13in, I honestly dont recommend it.

nope you got that wrong. (maybe you are more familiar with the old term Spaces from OSX 10.6 and previous now merged into Mission Control).

in Mountain Lion from mission control you can add more desktops. virtual desktops, multi-desktops (whatever you want to call them) was first a introduced as a linux idea. windows and mac have now followed suit. refer to this link click here and also click here

 

[kh3khalid]

I have a question regarding RAM.

I have 2x4GB 1333MHz of RAM that I bought a year ago and didn't use. Can I use 1333MHz RAM instead of 1600MHz for Mid-2012 MBP?

 

[yusukeaoki]

nope you got that wrong. (maybe you are more familiar with the old term Spaces from OSX 10.6 and previous now merged into Mission Control).

in Mountain Lion from mission control you can add more desktops. virtual desktops, multi-desktops (whatever you want to call them) was first a introduced as a linux idea. windows and mac have now followed suit. refer to this link click here and also click here

Ah I see.
I use that pretty much everyday but it depends on what you open on each desktop.
If its like one page of safari for each, not much doesnt change.
But if you open FCPX or Aperture, then yes more RAM will benefit.

 

[HiDeHo]

Ah I see.
I use that pretty much everyday but it depends on what you open on each desktop.
If its like one page of safari for each, not much doesnt change.
But if you open FCPX or Aperture, then yes more RAM will benefit.

I would think that most people would be using multi tabs in the browser rather than single tab per desktop.

please see my post about virtual desktops click here, It details my setup for you to get an idea, feel free to comment on that post or back here, if you like.