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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > MacBook: How much RAM?

MacBook: How much RAM?
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Yakov
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May 17, 2006, 11:48 PM
 
Is 1gig enough for normal life, would you say?
I'm not especially professional but I'll be monkeying around with iDVD, Sibelius 3 (professional music score writing program) on Rosetta*, etc.

Are the computers available for play at Apple always the prebuilt (512mb) models, or are they ever juiced-up?

Thanks friends.

-Y.
*You may be wondering why a switcher would have a program that would run in Rosetta -- the answer is that Sibelius software is always sold with Mac and Windows versions on the same disk. Love ya, Sib'.
     
breakbeat46
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May 17, 2006, 11:53 PM
 
I'd think you'd be okay.
     
Yakov  (op)
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May 18, 2006, 12:27 AM
 
Thanks!

(Hey, are you a musician too?)

y
     
SeSawaya
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May 18, 2006, 12:46 AM
 
That willl be fine unless your playing back like huge scores I'd think. You might have some hickups only cause Sibelius 3 isnt universal yet. (neither is 4 of course.....)

Now, looking around, I WISH I would've bought the apple ram for the 2x512s but I forgot!! Now I'm screwed waiting for my machine to come in with only 512 of ram. Should I cancel my order and rebuy it? OR, can I buy the ram at the apple store at the same price?

I never though apple ram would be the cheapest out there, but Crucial has it for $168 for the 2x512 sticks!!!! ughh
     
jamil5454
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May 18, 2006, 12:53 AM
 
Try http://newegg.com for your RAM. Has always been top-notch with service.
     
Yakov  (op)
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May 18, 2006, 01:25 AM
 
i would cancel the order and start over, if possible, if you want 1gb like me.

the BTO 1 gig upgrade is $90, which gets you Apple-insured RAM in the PC. this IS the cheapest way to get 2x512 in your macbook. (reason it's cheaper: you're not ALSO getting 2x256.)

plus, you don't need to worry about third-party dealers, extra shipping, installation, or having to get rid of 2x256 sodimms.

CANCEL!

y
     
Yakov  (op)
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May 18, 2006, 01:27 AM
 
by the way: there's a steel drum band in pittsburgh called "steelpan combination," I think, that plays steel drum, bass, drums, and guitar. very groovy, reggaeish (?), danceable. i'm not a huge fan of pure classic steel drum music but i could listen to steel combo all night long. (and have!)

maybe i should take this to the lounge tho...

reg. Sib: yeah, I'll use 3 on Rosetta until version 5 / UB is out... I don't see upgrading before then...
     
breakbeat46
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May 18, 2006, 04:21 AM
 
Originally Posted by Yakov
Thanks!

(Hey, are you a musician too?)

y
Not really, perhaps wannabe. I've done some engineering and live sound.
     
KetanMV
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May 18, 2006, 11:18 AM
 
If I were to remove one of the 256 sticks and replace it with a 1GB stick - what would be the negative impact of having the 2 different size sticks in ther (256mb and 1gb)? Would the large amount of RAM outweigh the impact of them not matching? Thanks.
     
harrisjamieh
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May 18, 2006, 11:23 AM
 
Thats what I wana know, because I have 2/3 options (due to me not wanting to spend any more money!):

1. Leave the RAM as is... (2 x 256) - (matched pairs)

2. Take 512 out of my CD iMac which currently has a total of 1.5, and put it in the MacBook, giving the MB a total of 768, though unmatched pairs, and the iMac a total of 1.25 (1 x 256 from the MB, 1 x 1 gig already in the iMac)

3. Take 1GB out of my iMac, put it in the MB, giving it a total of 1.25 (unmatched pairs), and the iMac a total of 768

Hmmm....

Or I could just bite the ~£80 and buy 2 x 512 for the MB. I wonder how much I will get for 2 x 256 on ebay....
iMac Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 1.25GB RAM | 160HD, MacBook Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 13.3" | 60HD | 1.0GB RAM
     
icruise
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May 18, 2006, 11:32 AM
 
Am I right in thinking that the shared video memory results in you only having 448MB of memory available?
     
KetanMV
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May 18, 2006, 11:36 AM
 
Someone posted this on the Apple support forums:

"Matching pairs does improve performance with the Intel Mac although early testing has shown that the difference is no where near as significant as with the G5. Most people probably wouldn't notice the difference."
     
harrisjamieh
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May 18, 2006, 11:39 AM
 
Originally Posted by Icruise
Am I right in thinking that the shared video memory results in you only having 448MB of memory available?

yep
iMac Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 1.25GB RAM | 160HD, MacBook Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 13.3" | 60HD | 1.0GB RAM
     
icruise
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May 18, 2006, 11:45 AM
 
Actually, I guess it's less than that, since there is some overhead involved. 432mb?
     
Eug Wanker
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May 18, 2006, 11:51 AM
 
512 - 80 MB = 432 MB. (80 MB because 16 MB is used for overhead.)

Matched RAM gives an enormous improvement 3D performance on Macs with Intel integrated graphics, since the GPU is relying upon system memory bandwidth. eg. In Quake 3 on the Core Duo 1.66 GHz Mac mini, the frame rate jumps from 57 FPS to 86, a 50% speed increase. Quake 3 is an extreme example, but it does illustrate that if you're going to be using the GPU at all, you should stick with matched RAM.

For most other stuff it apparently makes little difference however.

Anyways, I've ordered 2 GB Samsung RAM from a 3rd party. That way I don't have to fight with Safari's 300 MB RAM usage when I'm running Rosetta'd apps. (I've been told that Rosetta'd apps take up roughly twice the RAM as native apps.)
     
harrisjamieh
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May 18, 2006, 11:59 AM
 
How does the crappy graphics system manage to get 86 FPS??? Is doom 3 a really old game or something? (i know nothing about doom)
iMac Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 1.25GB RAM | 160HD, MacBook Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 13.3" | 60HD | 1.0GB RAM
     
Eug Wanker
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May 18, 2006, 12:01 PM
 
Originally Posted by harrisjamieh
How does the crappy graphics system manage to get 86 FPS??? Is doom 3 a really old game or something? (i know nothing about doom)
Quake 3, not Doom 3.


Quake 3 is a very old game:




Doom 3 is a recent game:




GRAPH LEGEND:
iMac CD/1.83 -- Apple Intel iMac with 1.83GHz Core Duo, 2GB of 667MHz memory and Radeon 1600 GPU with 128MB VRAM
Mac mini CD/2.0 "M" -- Apple Intel Mac mini with 1.66GHz Core Duo, matched pair of 1GB 667MHz memory modules and Intel GMA950 GPU that shares main memory
Mac mini CD/2.0 "U" -- Apple Intel Mac mini with 1.66GHz Core Duo, UNmatched pair of 667MHz memory modules (1GB + 256MB) and Intel GMA950 GPU that shares main memory
Mac mini G4/1.42 -- Apple PPC Mac mini with 1.42GHz G4, 1GB of 333MHz memory and Radeon 9200 GPU with 32MB of VRAM.
     
harrisjamieh
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May 18, 2006, 12:20 PM
 
Ah rite, doom 3 - ouch!
iMac Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 1.25GB RAM | 160HD, MacBook Core Duo 1.83 Ghz | 13.3" | 60HD | 1.0GB RAM
     
   
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