Memory... ...8g's

[Killery96]

Hi, I'm upgrading this month from a 2009 13" Macbook Pro, with a 2.26 Core 2 Duo and a Geforce 9400m, to a new 2.2 i7 Sandy Bridge Macbook pro 15". Obviously I'll experience plenty of processor and graphics performance upgrade, as well as a huge screen and HDD space boost, however here's my question:

From 4g's of 1067 memory to 8gs of 133 memory, will I notice a difference while using programs like:

itunes, safari, photoshop, preview, and photoshop all at once?
gaming and itunes + skype?
photoshop and iphoto?
imovie and itunes?

Will I even notice this difference? I have plenty of money, however I simply wonder whether it'd be worth it, aside from having apple upgrade with their memory package, which I'd rather have them do.

 

[Ampidire]

Go for it, if you'd rather have Apple do it and the cash to toss at it, it's not going to make things worse. The cash is better spent on a RAM upgrade than a CPU upgrade really, it just smooths things out a lot when going for multiple tasks like that, especially something like Photoshop, the rest aren't so demanding though.

It is generally cheaper to upgrade the RAM yourself but this way there is no doubt anything wrong will be covered under the same warranty and that's probably worth not having to call other companies over, I say go for it, it'll help the machine last longer for you as well so that's also a bonus!

 

[Killery96]

Go for it, if you'd rather have Apple do it and the cash to toss at it, it's not going to make things worse. The cash is better spent on a RAM upgrade than a CPU upgrade really, it just smooths things out a lot when going for multiple tasks like that, especially something like Photoshop, the rest aren't so demanding though.

It is generally cheaper to upgrade the RAM yourself but this way there is no doubt anything wrong will be covered under the same warranty and that's probably worth not having to call other companies over, I say go for it, it'll help the machine last longer for you as well so that's also a bonus!

hi, thanks for your reply. so you imagine that spending 180 on the doubling memory is worth more than 225 spent on a %5- percent upgrade on CPU performance...

 

[simsaladimbamba]

hi, thanks for your reply. so you imagine that spending 180 on the doubling memory is worth more than 225 spent on a %5- percent upgrade on CPU performance...

Or you could spend less than 100 USD for 8GB of RAM from OWC or the retailer of your choice and get an SSD, which would make things even faster. The 5% CPU increase is negligible for your stated computational needs.

Upgrading RAM in MacBooks and MacBook Pros​

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD​

How to format a new HDD/SSD to install Mac OS X or make a bootable copy onto​

SSD Buying Guide by Hellhammer​

Btw, it is called "GigaByte", therefore it is properly abbreviated "GB", as "G" or "g" is often used to indicate "generations".

 

[Killery96]

I also doubt it will make much of a difference in gaming?

 

[cluthz]

I also doubt it will make much of a difference in gaming?

4GB is usually enough for gaming, but with Safari and skype running you might get a tiny boost because safari alone can often use more than 1GB

 

[edddeduck]

4GB is usually enough for gaming, but with Safari and skype running you might get a tiny boost because safari alone can often use more than 1GB

You will notice a boost in frame rate stability (not as many drops in fps or stutters) especially if you have other things in the background like Mail or iChat. Although games are 32 bit (so cannot reference any more than around 4GB of RAM) the system also needs RAM so having 8GB will not hurt one bit.

I would personally buy the RAM separately as that is usually cheaper that Apple's prices although you do need to be confident enough to undo a few screws to install it (it's pretty simple and iFixit etc have picture instructions).

Edwin

 

[Killery96]

You will notice a boost in frame rate stability (not as many drops in fps or stutters) especially if you have other things in the background like Mail or iChat. Although games are 32 bit (so cannot reference any more than around 4GB of RAM) the system also needs RAM so having 8GB will not hurt one bit.

I would personally buy the RAM separately as that is usually cheaper that Apple's prices although you do need to be confident enough to undo a few screws to install it (it's pretty simple and iFixit etc have picture instructions).

Edwin

I've installed RAM on the previous macbook pro models, it's like a breeze, but I don't want to void my warranty on any part of the computer.