View Full Version : Buy some RAM
torifile
2009-02-11, 22:56
This is just a general thread to encourage people to max out RAM in their computers. I held off upping my RAM to 4 gigs because I thought it would be ungodly expensive to do it. But it's not. Newegg has a 4 gig kit from Crucial for like $38 right now. I was shocked. I only started looking because I couldn't stand to use Fusion with my 2 gigs. Don't think about it. Just do it. You'll be glad you did. :)
This is just a general thread to encourage people to max out RAM in their computers. I held off upping my RAM to 4 gigs because I thought it would be ungodly expensive to do it. But it's not. Newegg has a 4 gig kit from Crucial for like $38 right now. I was shocked. I only started looking because I couldn't stand to use Fusion with my 2 gigs. Don't think about it. Just do it. You'll be glad you did. :)
Seconded! Right now I have four 1 GB modules in my computer, but I'm planning on upgrading my computer this summer. If my new motherboard requires me to buy new RAM, I might just move up to 8 GB. Or at least two 2 GB modules so I can get 6-8 GB later.
There is never a reason not to have enough RAM.
I bumped up my MacBook Pro to 4 gigs over Christmas, mostly so I could run Ubuntu or Windows alongside Mac OS in VirtualBox. All but one of the computer science professors at my university use Linux, and while I could do everything on the Mac side, it's easier to just install Linux and XP as virtual operating systems.
(Plus, strong Linux skills are expected by this department, so it's as much for that as anything else)
BTW, does anyone know if the MacBook Pro (early 2008) can go up to six or eight gigs of RAM? It's prohibitively expensive right now but I might consider it in a few years, if it's possible.
beardedmacuser
2009-02-12, 06:23
Agreed! Maxing-out this dual 450 MHz G4 PowerMac to 2 gigs of RAM REALLY helps Leopard compared to when it only had 1 gig. I'm not doing anything demanding, but there's only half a gig of free RAM.
I upgraded my white MacBook to 4 gigs as soon as I bought it. RAM is so cheap nowadays you have to say why not? It's nice to allocate XP a full gig in Fusion and know I've still got plenty left for Leopard.
Seconded! Right now I have four 1 GB modules in my computer, but I'm planning on upgrading my computer this summer. If my new motherboard requires me to buy new RAM, I might just move up to 8 GB. Or at least two 2 GB modules so I can get 6-8 GB later.
There is never a reason not to have enough RAM.
Don't go above 4 yet imo. I have had nothing but problems with 64 bit windows (32 bit recognizes my 4 gigs as 3.25 gb), and even my hackintosh wigs out with 4 gigs enabled. I had to manually limit the max_mem in the boot.plist file to 3.5gb
I have 2gigs in my Alum Macbook right now but I'm thinking about upgrading to 4gigs. OWC has a 4gb kit for $67 there.
One thing I am really confused about though is that on the OWC website, they are selling 6gb kits. I thought the Alum Macbooks only would do 4gbs?
Don't go above 4 yet imo. I have had nothing but problems with 64 bit windows (32 bit recognizes my 4 gigs as 3.25 gb), and even my hackintosh wigs out with 4 gigs enabled. I had to manually limit the max_mem in the boot.plist file to 3.5gb
I will say that my Intel Mini doesn't seem to mind having 4GB in it at all. I've made no mod to anything on it either. Maybe this is where the Hackintosh has another limitation that the real thing doesn't. :\
Don't go above 4 yet imo. I have had nothing but problems with 64 bit windows (32 bit recognizes my 4 gigs as 3.25 gb), and even my hackintosh wigs out with 4 gigs enabled. I had to manually limit the max_mem in the boot.plist file to 3.5gb
You must have a cheap mobo, I had 4GBs in my PC with no trouble at all. A 64bit system really needs have 6-8GBs to be effective anyway.
Some motherboards have had problems recognizing 8 GB. I think RAM prices have fallen quicker than motherboard makers had anticipated!
The only 6 GB kits I've seen are for the Intel Core i7, which uses triple-channel memory, and that means that ideal performance is achieved with three or six modules (3x2GB kits are popular for those). But I did indeed see the 6 GB kits from OWC.
It's strange that the MBP would have such a seemingly arbitrary limit. Not sure if it's a limitation of the CPU's memory controller or the OS itself. I'd guess a bit of both. This link seems to imply that it might have something to do with the OS, but it has to have at least something to do with the hardware because I know there are people out there running Mac Pros with 8-16 GB of RAM (perhaps some with even 32 GB!) without problems.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=573906
I have 2gigs in my Alum Macbook right now but I'm thinking about upgrading to 4gigs. OWC has a 4gb kit for $67 there.
One thing I am really confused about though is that on the OWC website, they are selling 6gb kits. I thought the Alum Macbooks only would do 4gbs?
The 17" MBP can handle up to 8 GB, but the MB and 15" MBP can only use 4 GB.
I've got 4 GB in my aluminum MacBook, and it runs great. I get some slowdown when I'm doing anything really heavy in Access (running XP in Parallels), but it's great any other time.
My RAM is not maxed out, but I don't feel like I need it to be; my desktop would support 8, but 6GB is more than enough for me. Vista hogs a lot of it, but I still have more than enough to run 5-10 applications, including games like KotOR or Guild Wars, and still have everything feel snappy.
Even on 1GB RAM, my Dell Mini doesn't feel like it needs more RAM. I'm not sure if that's because I only use it for internet and word processing, if Ubuntu is that efficient, or something else entirely.
The 17" MBP can handle up to 8 GB, but the MB and 15" MBP can only use 4 GB.
I've got 4 GB in my aluminum MacBook, and it runs great. I get some slowdown when I'm doing anything really heavy in Access (running XP in Parallels), but it's great any other time.
That's what I thought too, but if you go to OWC and go to the 2.0/2.4 Alum Macbook, they sell 6GB kits for it.
Yes, Apple only officially supports 4 GB, but technically 6 GB does work. Beyond that, you will have problems. IMO, it's not worth it to go past 4 GB because the cost is so incredibly high (nearly $400 vs. $60-$80).
I did find this on a blog post:
Figured, I’d drop you a piece of advice as far as the RAM goes in the new Penryn-based Mac Pros (which I have.) I saw you were talking about having 2, 8, 16, or 32 GB in there. However, you aren’t limited in that fashion… not sure why you think those are your only options. Your RAM needs to be installed in pairs, and you get up to 4 pairs. Those 4 pairs do NOT have to match each other. I have 3 pairs of 2GB modules and 1 pair of 1GB modules in there, totaling 10GB.
I got mine with 2GB, and had ordered 8GB separately. The RAM came after the computer did, and I was in hell for 3 days while waiting for that RAM to arrive. I keep an absolute minimum of 14 apps running at a time on this machine, including Safari which at this moment has 4 windows open with a total of 37 tabs between them.
Anyhow, don’t even consider 16 or 32 GB RAM, it will be a waste of money. OS X is amazing at managing memory. I added the 8GB into this machine, on top of the 2GB it came with. 10GB total, and with all my apps running (including Vista running in a Parallels VM with 2GB RAM dedicated to it) I have 3GB of RAM free, and my swap memory on my hard drive has not been touched at all, once.
So if you plan on running a VM, as well as a ton of other apps at the time time - like I do - you will only need more than 10GB if you plan on doing more than I do at the same time, which is pretty rare ;) If you absolutely want to have all your RAM slots filled, go for 12.
Just my two cents.
I think whoever wrote that messed up a bit though... he said he added three pairs of 2 GB modules, but he surely meant two pairs, not three. The point still stands, though. One thing I have heard is that the Mac Pro runs the fastest when you fill all 8 slots with matched pairs. So an 8-14 GB setup would be ideal, using various combinations of the original 2x1 GB and filling the remaining six slots with pairs of 1 GB or 2 GB modules. It's probably not worth replacing the original 2 GB though.
OS X luvs RAM. There's no reason to have less than you can get for a reasonable price. If possible, fill every slot on your computer with 2 GB modules (4 GB ones are way too expensive to be worth it).
Gargoyle
2009-02-17, 10:53
Look at the sig - yeah baby! I can switch to and from my virtual machines without even the hint of a page swap! :D :D
Edit:
Well, you could look at the sig if I had written some more :)
By the way, for anyone looking for advice on what brand of RAM to buy, someone on 4chan's technology board made this handy guide. Obviously some of the choices are disputable, but most builds I see on various tech sites include either Crucial, Corsair, or G.Skill memory. Of course, you can use whatever you want, but most RAM costs the same so why not go for a brand with a better reputation?
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