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Which to upgrade first- HD or RAM?

S

StevnJ9971

macrumors member
Original poster
Hey all,

I'm planning on buying one of the current MacBooks (2.4Ghz) once the new ones come out, but I'm having trouble deciding on what to upgrade first.

I will mostly be using it for photo editing (Photoshop) and web browsing. Eventually I'll be upgrading both, but I only have the money right now to buy the computer and one upgrade, so let me know what you think.

Here are my choices for upgrades:
Samsung 500GB 5400 RPM HD, $149, newegg.com
4 GB RAM, $67, crucial.com

As a side note: I'm really excited to finally switch over from my clunky old Dell!
 
I'd say that depends on what you personally think you need first, no? Me, I'd go for the RAM, because you'll notice a performance upgrade right away, whereas you could wait until your HD is filled up before you upgrade (if it isn't already full).
 
I could be wrong, but I think the hard drive you're looking at is for a desktop. I think the current max for laptop hard drives is 320gb.

Either way, upgrade the RAM first. You'll be able to use the RAM right away, while the HD would just have space sitting around, waiting to be filled.
 
unless you need the HD space now, go for the RAM. i think the macbook can only use 3GB of RAM.

there was an article about a new 2.5" 500GB HD, but i don't think it's out yet and it certainly won't be $149.

edit: are you talking about a 500GB external?
 
Def RAM. As people have said the space is good if you need it asap, but the RAM will take effect as soon as you turn it on!
 
RAM - cheaper fix for Photoshop - your (new) machine can take 4GB (2x2GB)

Hard disk prices always fall - so put off for a few months if you can - saying that 320GB laptop sata disks are not that expensive ($90-100)
 
StevnJ9971 said:
Here are my choices for upgrades:
Samsung 500GB 5400 RPM HD, $149, newegg.com
4 GB RAM, $67, crucial.com
Click to expand...

Watch out: Hard drives for MacBook and MacBook Pro must be 2.5 inch, 9.5mm high (or 1/8th height, it's the same thing). If the hard drive is 3.5 inch, or if it is 12mm high or 1/6th height, it won't fit. I am not aware of any 500GB drive that fits in a MacBook yet.
 
StevnJ9971 said:
Hey all,

I'm planning on buying one of the current MacBooks (2.4Ghz) once the new ones come out, but I'm having trouble deciding on what to upgrade first.

I will mostly be using it for photo editing (Photoshop) and web browsing. Eventually I'll be upgrading both, but I only have the money right now to buy the computer and one upgrade, so let me know what you think.

Here are my choices for upgrades:
Samsung 500GB 5400 RPM HD, $149, newegg.com
4 GB RAM, $67, crucial.com

As a side note: I'm really excited to finally switch over from my clunky old Dell!
Click to expand...
Macbook might not read that drive
 
works just fine!!

I've being using it since june, no probs whatsoever on a sr 2ghz.

I'd opted for a bottom of the range refurb with 80gb drive, so really had to get bigger drive, as for RAM, I got 4GB but to be honest, probably could've got away with 2 for osx, but sure need 3 with vista.
 
Mr Kram said:
unless you need the HD space now, go for the RAM. i think the macbook can only use 3GB of RAM.

there was an article about a new 2.5" 500GB HD, but i don't think it's out yet and it certainly won't be $149.

edit: are you talking about a 500GB external?
Click to expand...

It can take 4 GB and use all 4 GB.
 
I think it depends on your needs really....


I recommend RAM

But if you are keeping a lot of data, music, photos and things like that then go for the HD




good luck either way


ML
 
StevnJ9971 said:
Hey all,

I'm planning on buying one of the current MacBooks (2.4Ghz) once the new ones come out, but I'm having trouble deciding on what to upgrade first.

I will mostly be using it for photo editing (Photoshop) and web browsing. Eventually I'll be upgrading both, but I only have the money right now to buy the computer and one upgrade, so let me know what you think.

Here are my choices for upgrades:
Samsung 500GB 5400 RPM HD, $149, newegg.com
4 GB RAM, $67, crucial.com

As a side note: I'm really excited to finally switch over from my clunky old Dell!
Click to expand...
You should keep an eye on frys.com it is very often they sell the crucial 4GB upgrade with a good rebate. Last week it was 34.99 after a 30 rebate
 
gnasher729 said:
Watch out: Hard drives for MacBook and MacBook Pro must be 2.5 inch, 9.5mm high (or 1/8th height, it's the same thing). If the hard drive is 3.5 inch, or if it is 12mm high or 1/6th height, it won't fit. I am not aware of any 500GB drive that fits in a MacBook yet.
Click to expand...

DeusInvictus7 said:
that drive doesnt fit in the regular macbook...only the 17in Pro...

its too thick to fit in the macbook
Click to expand...

The samsung m6 is 9.5mm thick & will fit in all MB & MBP's its the Hitachi travelstar that you two are thinking off


Here's a random screenshot of a retailer stating the specs


Picture 1.png
 
Since you said the "new" MBs, you mean the unreleased ones? If so, they may have DDR3 RAM and AFAIK 4GB of that is not $67. It's like $150.
 
Also with the pending release of Snow Leopard (not too soon, but definitely coming up), 64 bit technology will be introduced to the Mac (making it theoretically possible to have 32TB of RAM lol), which makes it feasible that the new Macbooks will support more than the current 4GB max. If it were me, I would go for the RAM because everything will be faster.
 
It's actually 16TB of RAM, not 32TB. But getting that high, it doesn't really make a difference lol.
 
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