Time for a RAM upgrade?

[nateo200]

So I have the last production model of the 2010 MacBook Pro's in the 13". Its been great, super fast, I love it even with the C2DUO. But recently I think I've been pushing it pretty hard and its getting slower really fast. I installed the newest OS X Lion and have been encoding video files of some pretty large sizes like I'm talking 10 gigabyte Mkv's in 1080p and raw Blue ray files I use handbrake. Anyways would upgrading to 8GB's of RAM help significantly? Thanks in advance...

 

[S.B.G]

How much RAM does it have now? What are your page outs looking like? Either way, more RAM is the easiest and least expensive way to speed up most computers.

 

[Philflow]

So I have the last production model of the 2010 MacBook Pro's in the 13". Its been great, super fast, I love it even with the C2DUO. But recently I think I've been pushing it pretty hard and its getting slower really fast. I installed the newest OS X Lion and have been encoding video files of some pretty large sizes like I'm talking 10 gigabyte Mkv's in 1080p and raw Blue ray files I use handbrake. Anyways would upgrading to 8GB's of RAM help significantly? Thanks in advance...

4GB should be enough for your usage. You'll get more speed boost from a clean install and a hard drive upgrade. SSDs, Seagate's Hybrid drive or WD Black 750GB are good for performance.

Encoding is mainly bottlenecked by the CPU though. So even if you upgrade to SSD and 8GB RAM, it's unlikely encoding will go significantly faster.

 

[scupking]

I just installed 8GBs of G.Skill in my 2010 13" yesterday. I went from 4GB to 8GBs and notice a difference even doing basic things. You can get 8GBs of the G.Skill for $46 off newegg. Its cheap and a very easy upgrade. Took me less then 10 minutes to install.

 

[solowmodel]

Encoding is mainly bottlenecked by the CPU though. So even if you upgrade to SSD and 8GB RAM, it's unlikely encoding will go significantly faster.

This. However, RAM upgrades are cheap so if you have the spare cash, why not?

 

[Starry]

I just installed 8GBs of G.Skill in my 2010 13" yesterday. I went from 4GB to 8GBs and notice a difference even doing basic things. You can get 8GBs of the G.Skill for $46 off newegg. Its cheap and a very easy upgrade. Took me less then 10 minutes to install.

I was wondering.. Is G.Skill a good brand of RAM? I spent about $75 on two 4GB sticks of Kingston RAM because I heard it's a reputable brand. What's the MHz on your RAM?

 

[scupking]

I was wondering.. Is G.Skill a good brand of RAM? I spent about $75 on two 4GB sticks of Kingston RAM because I heard it's a reputable brand. What's the MHz on your RAM?

I have used G.Skill for years on all my systems even my gaming machine that the ram is overclocked. The ram on my MBP is running at 1066Mhz. Can't go any higher on the 2010 13".

 

[jasonbro]

check in activity manager. If you don't have any page outs then more ram won't make any difference. In fact you will have decreased battery, it takes more power to run 2 4gb chips than 2 2gb chips.

 

[newtype2011]

I just installed 8GBs of G.Skill in my 2010 13" yesterday. I went from 4GB to 8GBs and notice a difference even doing basic things. You can get 8GBs of the G.Skill for $46 off newegg. Its cheap and a very easy upgrade. Took me less then 10 minutes to install.

Is this the RAM that you bought?

http://bit.ly/ptPtij

I have the exact same system as you, and while I don't necessarily need more RAM, I wouldn't mind having 8GBs for $50.

Anything else you care to say about the RAM would be much appreciated as well!

 

[aeboi]

Is this the RAM that you bought?

http://bit.ly/ptPtij

I have the exact same system as you, and while I don't necessarily need more RAM, I wouldn't mind having 8GBs for $50.

Anything else you care to say about the RAM would be much appreciated as well!

That's the 8GB ram that I have in my 2010 2.4GHz 13" and it runs flawlessly, not much else to say about it. Has a limited lifetime warranty which is nice. It is considered to be a "name brand" so I wouldn't be turned off because of it.

 

[newtype2011]

That's the 8GB ram that I have in my 2010 2.4GHz 13" and it runs flawlessly, not much else to say about it. Has a limited lifetime warranty which is nice. It is considered to be a "name brand" so I wouldn't be turned off because of it.

Thanks for the info.

Any comments regarding battery life, heat, etc?