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RAM uprgade
Hi all! i currently have a 15in macbook pro with a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4gigs of Ram. i do a lot of motion graphics work and editing using programs such as After Effects and FCP. I want to maximize my laptop as much as possible. i know the Macbook pros can go up to 8gigs but ive been reading around and read that people who have upgraded to 8gigs have had a lot of problems such as freezing and and shutting down. my question is what are the safest and most efficient ways to maximize my laptop wether it be through the processor or RAM?
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3 Replies
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Thats odd, and an issue I’ve never heard before. I work for an apple premium reseller, we’re not technicians but we do this all the time and havent had any problems that I can think of- just make sure you get the right knd of ram (I believe it’ll be 1066mhz) and you should be fine. Also I would advise not going for the cheapest you can find, faulty ram can cause things like kernel panics; we sell Kingston, which is very good stuff. Installing it is a cinch, depends on which model you have but the worst youll have to do is unscrew a few screws and literally cram the stuff in there haha. People recommend you ground yourself first though, so you are not statically charged, but again, this is not something we worry too much about and I’ve personally never had issues, even after doing it to hundreds of macs.
😀
Tom Morter-Laing
Freelance Editor
Certified Apple Product Proffessional, 2010
http://www.depictproductions.co.ukSony Z5, with Rode NTG2.
iMac 27″ intel i7 2.93GHz, 12GB RAM, ATI HD5750 [1GB GDDR5], 2TB Int. SATA with 2TB External HDD; (FW800), with Elgato Turbo H264HD. -
[Charles Williams] “i know the Macbook pros can go up to 8gigs”
Some yes but most NO.
Go to https://www.crucial.com and download their scanner it will let you know how much your machine can take.
Keep in mind that MANY applications cannot use more then 4GB or ram as they are only 32bit. FCP for example is one of them.
**Hindsight is always 1080p**
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The only reasons I can see that going to 8 GB in a MBP (a model that supports 8 GB,that is) would cause crashes are:
– Some odd firmware problem that Apple has. I really doubt this, but there could be some bug.
– Poor quality memory. I’ll second Thomas’ recommendation for Kingston. I’ve had very good luck with it in a number of different machines at work and home (home built PC’s, Macs, exorbitantly expensive IBM UNIX servers). When I got my 2008 MacPro (back in 2008), I bought some lesser expensive memory (the price gap was huge between Kingston and this other memory and I saw lots of posts of good luck with it) and have had it throw lots of ECC errors over time and a number of the DIMMs just completely die. I’ve since put Kingston memory in my machine (much better prices). The other vendor RMA’d all of it for $0 and no hassle (actually very impressed with that customer service), but I’m reluctant to put it back in.
– You just aren’t giving enough electrical power to your machine. Remember that RAM takes electricity. With a system that now need more power than before, previously acceptable voltage fluctuations may not be acceptable any longer and cause various issues. The point where the Mac switches to battery on a low voltage may be lower than the power you need to run with 8 GB of RAM — I don’t know the details here, so I’m doing a bit of guesswork. Solve this with a good UPS (don’t be cheap here!).Hope that helps.
Chris
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