RAM on Macbook?

[rapala]

I am planning to upgrade the RAM on my 1.83 Macbook.Ran through previous threads on RAM but many different opinions.
Should I
i) buy a 1G and run at 1.25G or buy 2 pcs 512 ?
Any issue with combining different maker.
ii)Recomended (proven)brands on compatibility with Mac as warranty and
after sales support is almost non existence here in Malaysia.

Handling mostly windows application, not a gamer.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Well, you're likely to get a repeat of the same opinions here, but here goes.

Don't choose RAM by brand. It's not the brand that is important, it's whether the particular module has been tested and is guaranteed compatible with your Mac.
For example, Kingston and Crucial make good RAM -- and 99.9% of the RAM they make is made for other machines and is not compatible. Third party manufacturers can also make good, compatible RAM with chips from Infineon, Micron, Samsung, Hynix, Elpida, etc. But that is no guarantee that all third-party modules made with those chips are good.

Specifically, you can get the correct Kingston and Crucial part numbers from their configurators. Or, choose a vendor who guarantees Mac compatibility.

There should be no issue with combining compatible RAM from two different makers. I prefer 1 Gb + 256 in your situation, because it leaves the door open to upgrading later to 2 Gb. There imay be a small performance benefit (6%-8% real world) to running 2 x 512 (Dual Channel access), but I think more RAM trumps matched RAM.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[MacKarl]

Dual Channel Benchmarks?

Well, you're likely to get a repeat of the same opinions here, but here goes.

Don't choose RAM by brand. It's not the brand that is important, it's whether the particular module has been tested and is guaranteed compatible with your Mac.
For example, Kingston and Crucial make good RAM -- and 99.9% of the RAM they make is made for other machines and is not compatible. Third party manufacturers can also make good, compatible RAM with chips from Infineon, Micron, Samsung, Hynix, Elpida, etc. But that is no guarantee that all third-party modules made with those chips are good.

Specifically, you can get the correct Kingston and Crucial part numbers from their configurators. Or, choose a vendor who guarantees Mac compatibility.

There should be no issue with combining compatible RAM from two different makers. I prefer 1 Gb + 256 in your situation, because it leaves the door open to upgrading later to 2 Gb. There imay be a small performance benefit (6%-8% real world) to running 2 x 512 (Dual Channel access), but I think more RAM trumps matched RAM.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

Do you know where to find benchmark results from running dual channel compared to single channel?

 

[rapala]

Trevor,

thanks for the detailed input.Now i need to find a vendor that guarantees Mac compatibility which would be quite difficult in our Microsoft dominated area.
Apple is pretty unknown here except for the Ipods.