Hi, so i am looking to upgrade my 13" early 2011 mbp i5 ram with crucial. I have 4gb right now and I have heard if I upgrade it to 8gb my integrated gpu the intel 3000 or whatever will go from having 384mb of shared memory to around 600. Is this true and if so will it be able to handle more rendering? And be noticeable or will it have a minor improvement? Thanks!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Will the gpu be better?
- Thread starter Polofiesta
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yea that's weird. cause it would make sense if it would increase the amount of shared ram. Because the gpu (Intel hd graphics 3000) takes it from the main memory.
Lol, read this.. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3246
and go down to intel hd graphics 3000. They do allocate more ram.
and go down to intel hd graphics 3000. They do allocate more ram.
OP, yes upgrading your RAM from 4gb to 8gb will increase the GPU Memory from 384 to 512mb. In the case of applications that require additional GPU memory it will increase performance; otherwise Intel wouldn't have created the GPU to do so.
Will you notice the difference? Really not sure, but if you use your GPU for visual apps like PS or AE, then I imagine there will be at least minimal increases rendering performance.
EDIT: you beat me to the punch.
There are some that claim upgrading to 1600mhz RAM as well will increase GPU performance. While this is true it depends on whether the chipset/OS fully recognizes the faster RAM. I debated between the OEM speed 1333mhz and 1600mhz, and ultimately choose 1333 for the better battery performance.
Will you notice the difference? Really not sure, but if you use your GPU for visual apps like PS or AE, then I imagine there will be at least minimal increases rendering performance.
EDIT: you beat me to the punch.
There are some that claim upgrading to 1600mhz RAM as well will increase GPU performance. While this is true it depends on whether the chipset/OS fully recognizes the faster RAM. I debated between the OEM speed 1333mhz and 1600mhz, and ultimately choose 1333 for the better battery performance.
Last edited:
Well, I already game wow, starcraft and league of legends on my mac and it's running fine. Obviously with low video settings. And yea the whole reason i am getting the ram is for photoshop and after effects so it can run more smoothly. But i was just wondering if it will help the performance in my games.
Only if those games benefit from the additional ram. I wouldn't claim to know a whole lot, but I would imagine factors like draw distance would benefit minimally.
Yea. well my crucial ram is coming in soon. So i will definitely post a forum on my findings. It will definitely help in PS and AE. Anyways thanks for your help!
Well i found i can run it at a decent video setting like medium and a bit high. The only reason why i keep it down to low is because the heat of my processor stays around 70 when I am gaming. It runs with no lag on medium, and i did try high and it ran fine. Just it was getting pretty toasty 
So I rather save the life of my computer. And this is only at 4gb ram. When I upgrade to 8gb it could only help. So we will see.
So I rather save the life of my computer. And this is only at 4gb ram. When I upgrade to 8gb it could only help. So we will see.