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New Mac Mini Owner and Ram question?
- Thread starter macfan881
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You can buy just one 2GB stick and leave half of the existing 1GB for a total of 2.5GB. It's not a bad plan.
I paid $79 for a 4 GB kit through University of Arizona's bookstore. I saw on other sites kits were only $99 or so. I'll try to dig one up.
Two 2GB SO-DIMMs for 4GB total (Apple's 1GB removed to make room)
is obviously the way to go, since we're only talking an extra $25 or so.
But I stand by my statement that 2.5GB is "not a bad plan." There is
a minor penalty for mismatched DIMMs, but in my opinion it's not worth
worrying about too much. See also here (last paragraph of first post).
is obviously the way to go, since we're only talking an extra $25 or so.
But I stand by my statement that 2.5GB is "not a bad plan." There is
a minor penalty for mismatched DIMMs, but in my opinion it's not worth
worrying about too much. See also here (last paragraph of first post).
I have taken apart my new mac mini 2.26ghz four times now.
First to upgrade with some Patriot ram bought at Fry's for 80 bucks plus a 320gb Travelstar hard drive upgrade.
Then I found some Quantum ram on eBay for 64 bucks shipped so figured I'd swap out the Patriot ram and save 25 bucks on the ram with tax and return it to Fry's.
The quantum ram on eBay did not work before or after the last firmware update. Beware. It was labeled mac min ram, too...
Returning the Quantum ram. The point is, the pain of upgrading the ram isn't worth it for just three gigs. Do the four gig upgrade. Get good ram, too.
First to upgrade with some Patriot ram bought at Fry's for 80 bucks plus a 320gb Travelstar hard drive upgrade.
Then I found some Quantum ram on eBay for 64 bucks shipped so figured I'd swap out the Patriot ram and save 25 bucks on the ram with tax and return it to Fry's.
The quantum ram on eBay did not work before or after the last firmware update. Beware. It was labeled mac min ram, too...
Returning the Quantum ram. The point is, the pain of upgrading the ram isn't worth it for just three gigs. Do the four gig upgrade. Get good ram, too.
Mine didn't, but I bought mine way back on March 17th. Apple has had time to change.
If there's any doubt check the "Memory" tab in System Profiler.
Just cracked open (sorry, no pun intended) my just purchased refurb Mini to upgrade RAM and HDD and it had a single 1 GB stick. I got my 4 GB of Crucial here for $69--going for $72 now with free shipping.
And don't sweat doing the upgrade yourself---I was a bit worried about it myself but it was rather easy. All you need is a putty knife and a small philips head screwdriver and you're good to go--had my new RAM and 320 GB HDD installed in about 30 minutes. OWC has some nice tutorial videos--search on YouTube or go to their technical support section of their website. Just take your time and it'll go just fine.
And IIRC, doing the upgrades yourself doesn't void your warranty as long as you don't damage anything do it but I'm sure someone with a bit more knowledge about it can chime in to correct me if I'm mistaken.
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Your warrenty isn't effected by upgrading ram though I would keep the original incase you have to take it back. Just incase they swap the unit and lose your ram.
As above the mini is dual channel and is better suited to matched pairs. For the difference in cost it's a worth while upgrade.
As above the mini is dual channel and is better suited to matched pairs. For the difference in cost it's a worth while upgrade.
thanks did some browsing and found http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148191 62 bucks and free shipping i just got enough for the ram ill probally upgrade the HD later on i do also have a external Maxtor 750Gig hd so space is certainly not a issue atm
thanks did some browsing and foundhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148191 62 bucks and free shipping i just got enough for the ram ill probally upgrade the HD later on i do also have a external Maxtor 750Gig hd so space is certainly not a issue atm
That's the one I did - works great. No issues (I'm running SL).
As many have mentioned, just take your time and watch the YouTube tutorial. The other thing is make sure you have the right tools (mainly the right putty knife). I had one at home and when I sat down to do the upgrade it was evident that the knife was too thick. So I drove to Lowes and inspected all of the knives to find the thinnest.
The other thing I was going to mention. If you have the money, you should just do the HD upgrade at the same time. You have to remove the HD to get to the ram anyways, why risk taking everything apart twice.
You can poke a penknife in just to open the gap a touch, then shove the thicker putty knife in.
Yep. The OWC video tutorial is great, too. I'd also recommend giving a good eyeball to the angle of the original ram stick before and as you remove it, so you can duplicate that angle on installation of the new ram. My first stick went in pretty easy in the used slot, but the second one didn't want to go until i tilted it just a bit to start one corner first.
yeah just put the order on the ram a few minutes ago. A t the moment i only had enough to order that HD will be a thing ill invest in probally for Christmas or something like that. But as i said before i got a external 750 gig hd and i usally keep my music/video collection on the hd at all time so the extra space thing isnt to much of a issue atm.
