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drnkn_stylz · Feb 5, 2007, 03:52 AM

I need a RAM upgrade, and I can only afford 1gb for now. I was thinking of getting a 1gb stick for now, and pair it up later. But, the 'Book will perform better with matched pairs, so would it be worth it getting 2x512mb?

pcguy1 · Feb 5, 2007, 09:30 AM

Get 1 gb now and suffer a "little" bit for a few month until u can afford to purchase a second stick to make it a match pair, is better to suffer a bit now then to waste money or suffer forever with a non match set later on.

drnkn_stylz · Feb 5, 2007, 11:11 AM

That's what I am thinking... Would there be that much "suffering" even? Wouldn't the extra RAM (1.25 vs 1) outweight the performance drop?

drnkn_stylz · Feb 7, 2007, 02:13 PM

Bump.

When the MacBook has unmatched pairs of RAM, it will use only one stick until it is "full", then use the other stick afterwards. How will this affect performance in simple programs such as browsers, watching videos, and with more hardcore programs such as Photoshop?

Can someone give me a little more info? Does anyone have any unmatched RAM?

peeb · Feb 7, 2007, 02:47 PM

In normal use there's no noticeable difference. You're talking about shaving fractions of a second every now and again. Of course, if you do a lot of heavy lifting, that adds up.

drnkn_stylz · Feb 7, 2007, 02:52 PM

So I guess the proposed 10% speed drop is only aparent when using programs such as Parallels or 3D rendering?

I think I may get a 1gb stick then, as the available RAM upgrade outweighs the performance drop.

bluedog · 09:31 PM

For the intel macbooks, I don't think the 'minor' performance hit is what it used to be. An Apple salesperson mentioned the video performance will suffer if you don't have the pairs. After thinking about it, I think it will be worse than it was in the past because the VIDEO is actually borrowing RAM for its purposes. If you shortchange your RAM access speed and your video is relying on it, I bet you notice. Its not like previous models that had a separate video card with video RAM dedicated to its use. Then the performance issues are likely limited and the cache can help alleviate some congestion. With video I think its going to be noticeable.

YMMV, and this type of *acceptable* performance is really subjective. I'd say suffer with it, but plan to upgrade as soon as you can. According to my guesstimates then, the MacBook Pros would not suffer as much with mismatched or single sticks because they *do* have a dedicated video chip/ram.

brassplayersrock² · Feb 7, 2007, 10:13 PM

IMHO if you got two 512 sticks, and then later got a gig stick you would have to deal with the extra 512 stick left over. i usually get whatever future proof way i can when i buy stuff like RAM. one: it saves money. two: you dont have to deal with an extra ram stick

my 2¢

-a

drnkn_stylz · Feb 8, 2007, 06:17 PM

Hmmm now I am torn again. I use my 'Book for quite a bit of video stuff...

I am leaning towards 2x512 again now. If I get a 1gb stick I wont be able to get it's match for a little while after. I am a student and I have bills to pay too.

1gb of RAM is pretty decent though, is it not? I have 512mb right now and I don't notice that much lag, and I don't need to be doing more than 3 things at once.