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iEric

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 26, 2003
819
11
I've decided to get a 15" Powerbook [1.5 Ghz] in a month...and I'm just wondering...Should I upgrade to 128 MB of video ram or go to 768 MB of Ram? (I'm getting the 5400 RPM drive for sure)
 
iEric said:
I've decided to get a 15" Powerbook [1.5 Ghz] in a month...and I'm just wondering...Should I upgrade to 128 MB of video ram or go to 768 MB of Ram? (I'm getting the 5400 RPM drive for sure)

Get 128MB of vram because you can always upgrade the system ram later.
 
I don't know; i'm on the fence on this one. We all know more RAM is better for performance reasons but would you ever really use the 128Mb of video memory? I think if you will play some heavy games with the powerbook then you might benefit from the extra video RAM, but if you plan to run a few apps at a time or do some development then you should probably consider the bump up to 768.
 
No Brainer.

You should go with the VRam for sure. Like others said, you can always upgrade system ram later. An who knows what sort of eye candy will come with Tiger & other new apps. 128MB video ram will make it that much better. And with future apps, I am sure you will find a use for 128MB of video ram. This is an easy one.
 
VRAM now.

You cannot upgrade later., You can always add more ram, but never again can you add VRAM.

iEric said:
I've decided to get a 15" Powerbook [1.5 Ghz] in a month...and I'm just wondering...Should I upgrade to 128 MB of video ram or go to 768 MB of Ram? (I'm getting the 5400 RPM drive for sure)
 
I think one of us is confused about the build-to-order options for the PB15. The faster superdrive model is the only 15" with the 128 meg video option. It already ships with 512 megs of system RAM and the only factory options are 512, 1024, and 2048 megs. There's no 768 meg option.

As far as which option to get, the best advice is to get all of the "now or never" options when you place the order and worry about the user-upgradable stuff later. You can always add system RAM on your own at any time. Unless I'm mistaken, you can't add video memory later. Even if you could, you probably wouldn't find the part for less than the $100 Apple wants.

The 512 megs of system memory that comes with that PB15 is plenty to get started. If you need more, you can always add it later. And much cheaper than Apple's upgrade options. 512 meg modules sell for $90. You can buy a pair for $180 and have a gig of RAM and two leftover 256 meg modules to sell on ebay. Apple charges $400 for this upgrade and you don't have any leftovers to sell.
 
I would agree with upping the VRAM. You might want to have your RAM as 1 512-stick though. You could always later pop in another 256, 512, 1 GB into the open slot or what-have-you like others have said.
 
Vram all the way. And for only $100 its a no brainer upgrade. There was a link somewhere by barefeats.com showing the increase in speed and I remember that it was definately worth the extra $100.

But without the link this post is pretty useless... so sorry. :D
 
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