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Currently i have a Macbook pro with a 2.2ghz core duo processor and 2 gig of ram, i noticed that crucial are offering 8gig for £35, if i upgrade the ram am i going to notice a change? will apps such as Aperture and word open quicker and work faster?
Yes - I have done exactly the same and it made a big difference.
Oh - and it is really easy to do, also...
Rachel
I'd check what the exact year/model is capable of, some Macbook Pro's are limited to a max of 4Gb of RAM and yes you will notice a difference in usability with more RAM.
Currently i have a Macbook pro with a 2.2ghz core duo processor and 2 gig of ram, i noticed that crucial are offering 8gig for £35
It'll be a Core 2 Duo not a Core Duo if it's a 2.2GHz processor (unless it's a newer i7). And 4GB of DDR2 667MHz RAM is definitely the most you can fit in that machine (unless it's a newer i7 in which case you can fit 8GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM)...
Clear as crystal? 😕
Oh, and as for will you notice a massive difference going from 2GB to 4?
Totally depends...
What do you use your computer for? If it's just some internet browsing, iTunes and the odd DVD, then no not at all. If you run some fairly powerful software, and/or like to have lots of applications open at the same time, then yes you probably will notice it speeds up a bit. But it won't be night and day, as to be fair, 2GB is already a reasonable amount on OSX anyway as it's much leaner than Windows 7 and can make do with less resources happily.
Slight hijack, but always wondered if expensive memory is better than the cheaper stuff? Do you get what you pay for?
Bloke at the apple store told me to buy the cheap stuff "all the same" he said.
I think he was one of those apple brain boxes, can't think what the proper name is
Ta! Worth knowing. Been meaning to upgrade the laptop for a couple of years. Running 32 bit Vista with 2x1GB of RAM, Photoshop CS5 Lightroom 3 and an album design prog, so it all sucks up the memory!
All memory is not born equal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAS_latency
However, that depends what you're doing with it and generally those who need the bleeding blistering edge of speed will know what they need.
4GB makes some difference over 2GB if you're doing anything like having a few programs open at the same time, using iPhoto, using Aperture, converting video files... If the 8GB (2x4GB) deal is cheaper than 2x2GB sticks then you could give it a go. The machine won't be able to use more than 4GB though.
If you're using OS X Lion definitely get more RAM. And get the cheapest compatible RAM, the more expensive stuff makes no difference for regular folks.
And if you want more speed, get a SSD to replace the spinning hard drive. This makes a dramatic difference to programs like Aperture. If you have the stock hard drive (spinning at 5400RPM) at least replace it with a 7200RPM if you don't want to splash out on a SSD.


