I just bought a 13" late-2011 MacBook pro, with the i7 and bigger HD (cost about $700 more.) It doesn't play games that well-- Skyrim lags pretty badly except on Medium or below graphics, and even Minecraft can be slow unless I close all open programs. My laptop gets a 7724 on Geekbench right now, which seems pretty good to me, and I understand games would most benefit from a better graphics card (which isn't an option.) Will my computer benefit much from being upgraded to 6GB RAM? (I'm thinking of buying a 4GB stick and replacing one of the 2GB's.)
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Will I benefit much from a 2GB ram increase?
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4GB is enough for gaming. If you'd said you're running 2GB then yeah, maybe adding more would help, but 4GB should be alright. Going from 4GB to 6GB will probably do nothing to help your problem, and it will just be like putting more fuel in a car - the car isn't going to go faster. Ideally you need a GPU upgrade, but unfortunately that's impossible :/
Without knowing the memory statistics while your doing various things on your Mac, it's tough to answer your question.
Since you said "even Minecraft can be slow unless I close all open programs", it sounds like more memory could help if you don't want to have to close the other open programs.
More memory may make it so you can increase some of the graphics settings on some games, but some options are definitely restricted by your GPU. For those who find this odd, remember some games load in textures in to memory and having more memory means you can have more loaded in for a better view distance and such.
Also, double check the price of getting 2x4GB if you decide to upgrade. It might just be worth it. And there is a minor performance increase by keeping both memory modules the same.
Since you said "even Minecraft can be slow unless I close all open programs", it sounds like more memory could help if you don't want to have to close the other open programs.
More memory may make it so you can increase some of the graphics settings on some games, but some options are definitely restricted by your GPU. For those who find this odd, remember some games load in textures in to memory and having more memory means you can have more loaded in for a better view distance and such.
Also, double check the price of getting 2x4GB if you decide to upgrade. It might just be worth it. And there is a minor performance increase by keeping both memory modules the same.
If you are going to go from 2-4gb ram then yes you will see a difference not in graphics per say but in terms of speed. Unless you feel the need to run a million programs at once then you really won't need more then 4gb ram.
To upgrade it from 4 to 8gb is 24 dollars.
CORSAIR 4GB DDR3 1333 Memory for Apple Model CMSA4GX3M1A1333C9
This site has a system scanner that will scan your system and tell you what's compatible. You can even buy directly from them.
http://www.crucial.com/
CORSAIR 4GB DDR3 1333 Memory for Apple Model CMSA4GX3M1A1333C9
This site has a system scanner that will scan your system and tell you what's compatible. You can even buy directly from them.
http://www.crucial.com/
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If he has 4GB (2x2GB) currently, that would only upgrade him to 6GB. It would be $46 to upgrade to 6GB. For me, that's a no-brainer, but I don't know his or her budgetary limits. I'm just saying, there's nothing wrong with join to 6 if you don't want to go to 8.
Well there is... sort of. Upgrading from 4GB to 6GB is a waste of money since you wouldn't notice any difference.
Thanks, that's a better deal than I've seen elsewhere.Very true. Either way I hope the link helps him out