Ram ? : (1) 1gb stick, (2) 512mb sticks, or (1) 1gb + (1) 256mb stick...

[VoodooDaddy]

So I bought a mini about a week ago and want to upgrade the ram. Initially I wanted to get a 512mb stick to add to the 512 it already has, but then I discover its (2) 256 sticks.

I saw something on OWC that said "for best performance used equal amounts of ram in each slot." So is it not recommended to use a 1gb stick in 1 slot and nothing in the other? Should I just go with (2) 512 sticks, or could I get a 1gb stick and then use one of my 256mb sticks, so I'll have 1.25gb? Will it really affect the performance noticably if the slots aren't equal?

 

[MRU]

So I bought a mini about a week ago and want to upgrade the ram. Initially I wanted to get a 512mb stick to add to the 512 it already has, but then I discover its (2) 256 sticks.

I saw something on OWC that said "for best performance used equal amounts of ram in each slot." So is it not recommended to use a 1gb stick in 1 slot and nothing in the other? Should I just go with (2) 512 sticks, or could I get a 1gb stick and then use one of my 256mb sticks, so I'll have 1.25gb? Will it really affect the performance noticably if the slots aren't equal?

I prefer dual channel so I'd go for dual 512 mb x 2 or if youcan stretch to it, dual 1gb x 2.

The GMA 950 chipset in the mini prefers dual channel operation and will see a v.good boost from it - in applications relying on the gfx card.

 

[jsw]

[guide]Matched_RAM_on_Intel_Macs[/guide]

I think you're better off with more RAM than with matched RAM, given the choice. The speed boost is there but minimal, but RAM is vastly faster than fetching off the hard disk, and it's easy to get the mini to over 1GB of memory in use.

 

[VoodooDaddy]

[guide]Matched_RAM_on_Intel_Macs[/guide]

I think you're better off with more RAM than with matched RAM, given the choice. The speed boost is there but minimal, but RAM is vastly faster than fetching off the hard disk, and it's easy to get the mini to over 1GB of memory in use.

Thanks for the link. Guess its the 1gb stick and use one of the 256mb I already have.