Is Extra RAM worth it?

Hi, I'm Stan, I use my bro's iBook 1.2Ghz (133Mhz bus speed).
It currently has 256MB of RAM which came with the iBook, and I find the labtop a bit slow at times. Garageband becomes a pain to use at around 5 tracks at a time, thus making the program taking a couple minutes to load such files. And also opening simple apps like Safari, or iTunes, can take a little while even if it's the only app being opened.
I want to know if buying a 1GB RAM upgrade (costing $500+) is worth it. I know apps should work more easily, but is it worth it? Will it improve performance for big apps like LimeWire, or Warcraft World Editor?
1.2 Ghz CPU, 256MB RAM, 32MB of VRAM, 133Mhz bus speed is the current stats. I know that memory is the only upgradeable thing on an iBook, so... is a 1GB upgrade worth it, or is a 512MB upgrade good enough? I'm hoping that a 1GB upgrade will show exceptionable improvement, even compared to the 512MB one.
thnx
peace
P.s. plz don't suggest places to buy unless they're somewhere near Toronto, ON, Canada. I don't buy online

Adding extra ram will certainly help improve the performance of the iBook.
$500 sounds very expensive. Is that Canadian dollars?
I know you said you didn't want to buy online but it's useful to see what some of the online companies charge - Crucial offer 1GB for $152 US - I think this is about $185 Canadian dollars.
Where did you see $500 for ram?

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8gb ram worth it for 32bit Vista?

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If I upgraded to 8gb ram, would it really be worth it? I know the faq says that PS can somehow utilize this extra ram, but would PS be "as snappy" as when it has enough ram in the first place? If actions that take 15 minutes with these files would only take as long as the ones with my 600MB files, then I would do probably it. Do u think this would this be a major performance upgrade or just a tiny one?
your thoughts greatly appreciated!

Go with x64 vista first then try the file again ( in a 64 bit environment you can set PS to use just over 3gb ) then if you need more RAM then get 8GB.
But, like Freeagent said, x64 bit is the only way you will be able to use 8gb.
I work with massive files ( 45000 x 12000 pixels @250ppi ) and I need 16gb to keep things in check.....with vista ( search index, prefetch/superfetch etc disabled), photoshop and the image loaded, Vista will take up 12-14gb of RAM.
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You will see improvements in performance with 8gb in PS. One thing I have noticed since upgrading to 16gb is that save times are dramatically faster - what would normally take 15 mins to save now takes between 2 to 5 mins.
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Mac mini Late 2012 - 8 gb of ram worth it?

Hello :)
Are 8 gigabytes of ram worth it for my my Mac mini?
I use it for Xcode and sometimes my Mac takes a bit too long for easy tasks.
Or should I take 16 gb ?
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The Activity Monitor application can help you determine whether more memory would improve performance. If you often have memory pressure in the yellow or red zone, or if you often have more than a few MB of swap used, then you should consider adding memory.
OS X Mavericks: About Activity Monitor

Cost of extra RAM for newer MacBook Pro.

I'm considering (checking my budget) buying a new MacBook Pro 15" for my wife. As she also needs to access some Windows programs, I want to bump the 4GB to 8GB. Does anyone know the cost for the extra RAM?
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Hi Pete,
4GB RAM modules are still quite expensive.
MacSales sells 8GB (2x 4GB) for USD 277.99 for example with the opportunity to trade-in the 'old' modules.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/AppleMacBook_MacBookPro/Upgrade/DDR3
Regards
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Hi
I've enjoyed my U200-181 very much, but would like to have some extra RAM in addition to 512 Mb installed by default. How can I do that?
How many SO-DIMM slots available? Are there any disassembly instructions?
Thanks in advance

changing the memory is very easy.
1. pull off the black strip above the keyboard (it just snaps in place)
2. remove the 2 screws
3. pivot keyboard forward being careful not to damage keyboard cable
4. remove 2 screws on big metal plate on the right.
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Extra ram cause restarting problem on g7-2325dx

I have g7-2325dx with 4gb ram, and when I attach extra 4gb ddr3 sodim ram from best buy, the laptop shows error messages leading to restart. When I restart it, it will work for about 5 minutes and error message will show up again restarting the laptop. So I decided to get rid of it. Is there anyway I can put this extra ram without causing error messages?

Hello Chris,
As mentioned in post #2 (by Pepe) try updating your BIOS first. Btw Could you let me know the error message you were receiving? Also did you try installing the 4GB (new*) memory alone in the slots and did it boot up if you have tried?
Moreover, in order for your laptop to recognize 8GB of memory you need to have a 64Bit of operating system as 32Bit recognizes a memory of 3 - 3.5GB only.
My theory is either the 4GB module maybe defective or it maybe due to the use of generic brands. Sometimes some Generic (OEM) brand memory will not work. In case you need to test the memory, then you can test it using memtest86 (click here).
You can send back the memory to bestbuy and instead try buying from crucial, memorystock, corsair, G skill, OCZ. Kingston.. you can find the memory in the above websites.
Following is the exact specs of the memory which your system supports - 4GB DDR3-1600 MHz, PC3-12800 SODIMM (HP MFG # - H2P64UT#ABA)
Good Luck with the upgrade
Best Regards,
John
**Click the KUDOS star on the left to say 'Thanks'**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.

Windows 7 and extra ram

I want to share an interesting experience with fllow iMac users.
I bought a reconditioned mid 2010 iMac 27" a couple of months ago. It came with 4gb of Ram but I decided to mac out to 16gb with four pieces of 4gb Transcend which worked fine. I also upgraded to Lion. With this config, I was unable to install Win 7 Ultimate 64, Win XP etc. (All original full versions). I then tried to revert to Snow Leopard but failed. I was on the phone to the nice Mac folks and they suggested I lug this 27" back to a dealer here in Hong Kong which is a nightmare with all the traffic. I was preapring to do this and thought I better put the old Ram back in so the techs don't fault me for using the wrong hardware. So I replace the ram and then have one more try at reinstalling MacOSX and it worked. I then added Win 7 and the whole family of Office Software. This was going fine. I then decided to add the extra Ram and then Win 7 would not boot again - MAC OSX was working fine with all kinds of combinations of RAM. I tried to repair it and inserted the original Ram but it did not work. I am now thinking of trying to add one piece at a time and see what happens.
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I saw a lot of old posts about this but nothing current so I thought I had better put something here for folks to consider.
If you have a similar iMac and upgraded with OEM (non MAC) ram and you are running fine let me know. Perhaps Win 7 in bootcamp can only accept MAC ram or needs new drivers for OEM ram.
If you know about issues and solutions, please share.

Hi and welcome to Discussions,
are the 8GB shown and used in OSX ?
Have you tried running the Apple Hardware Test yet ?
Stefan

Problem installing extra RAM

Hi,
I recently decided to increase my RAM. I have an iMac G5 with iSight ( Power PC ). I bought a memory module from the online Apple Store here in the UK, by clicking on the model ( under Memory ) and selecting the 1 Gb module - 533 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM ( it made no specific mention of the PC2-4200 compliancy but I assumed it was the right one given the route I followed ). It duly arrived and I installed it by following the manual. However, on checking About This Mac the extra RAM was not registering, ie still showing the original 512 Mb RAM. I called Apple Tech Support and we tried a few things like resetting PRAM etc,but no change. Eventually, I was put on to sales and arranged to retunr the module and get a refund. I got the impression by the way the conversation went that this was not the first time this had happened.
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Any help and/or advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Any RAM can be faulty, and I suspect the one you got from Apple was. Go online and Google for PC2-4200 (533MHz) DDR2 SDRAM memory. Kingston is a good brand and should come with a lifetime warranty. Most RAM from sources other than Apple is cheaper as well. The RAM you bought is correct for your model, and make sure that when you instal it, you hear it click into place.
Please post back with results,

Installing 2x1 Gig extra Ram

MSI P35 Neo2- FR
2 x 1 Gig Ram
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Intel Dual Core E8500
Bios 1.8
Newbie --
I am thinking about installing 2 x 1 Gig extra Ram, I understand that Windows XP 32 bit, will only recognised a total of 3 Gig. Does this mean that the system only operates of 3 Gig of Ram, all be it 4 Gig of Ram is inserted?

You could buy 2 x 512Mb modules......
You will not really see big increase in performance for day to day tasks. If you edit photos or do media work then yes you will see speed increase.
On a sidenote:- Did manage to acheive 3.5Gb seen buy XP pro, by dropping to a 64Mb graphics card.....

Do i need extra RAM to install adobe design standard cs5.5

I have an iMac bought mid 2010 snow leopard 10.6.8. I am looking to buy adobe creative suite design standard CS5.5, will I need extra RAM?
I hope not!
I only really need photoshop, illustrator and indesign, so my other question is can I just install these from the package?
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No, I am saying the three programs that you want to use in the suite, if you are planning on using all three programs (at the same time) then it is possible your system could slow down, then a RAM upgrade will help. Give it a try it may work out okay.
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I have an iMac which had 4 gb of ram. Photoshop defaulted the usage to just under 3 gb. I installed another 8 gb of ram but PSE fails to recognise the extra ram
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Hi smudger1939,
PSE won't recognize the extra RAM after 3072 MB. As it's the highest which a 64-bit application can use. So even if you install even another 16GB of it. I won't be able to use that one. However, it's a benefit when you are using several applications parallely. The extra RAM will be used by other applications, and will not hamper your PSE performance.
So if you want to increase the performance of PSE, reduce the history states. You can also refer to this kb article for the same:
http://kb2.adobe.com/community/publishing/856/cpsid_85658.html

Extra RAM

Hi guys, quick question about the 15" Superdrive Powerbook. Is it easy enough to install extra RAM? Would I have to go to a professional or could I install it myself? Cheers!

Here's the link to Apple's instructions on how to add extra ram:
http://www.info.apple.com/usen/cip/pdf/pbg4/pbg415fw800mem.pdf
You may want to open it up to see what you have now....1GB may mean that you have two slots filled already....the factory 512 and another 512. If that's the case, then you'll need to remove one, or both, to add one or two 1GB cards.

HT1270 Where do i buy extra ram memory? and prices

I need to buy extra Ram memory for my new laptop, from 4 gb I want to go for 8 g. Where do I buy it and who installs it?
Thanks

OWC and Crucial are the best sources for Mac compatible RAM. Process are on their web sites.
RAM can be user installed. Look for installation videos on the OWC web site.
Note that retina MBPs cannot have RAM upgraded.
Ciao.

1st Mac purchase: 13" i5 w Extra Ram or 13" i7?

So after years of getting by in PC land, all the while loving life with an iPod & then iPhone, I've decided to make the plunge & get myself a Macbook Pro, as my 6 year old Dell laptop is, well, struggling to say the least.
I've decided on the 13" range for size & portablity reasons, so let's focus on what's available there.
I want to spend a bit of extra money now, to ensure the usable life-span of my new mac is increased as much as possible, rather then have it become a crawling brick in only a couple years time.
With this in mind, what would the experts out there recommend?
My usage is primarily browsing, music playing, video streaming (Netflix etc), a bit of photo editing & down the track, a bit of video editing, but only hobby style stuff, nothing professional or study related.
Would a 2.3 GHz i5 processor with 8Gb of RAM be better suited to the kind of multi-tasking, everything happening at once, fast switching between applications I'll be doing? Or would the 2.7 GHZ i7 with the standard 4Gb RAM still be a 'faster' machine for how I want to use it?
I've asked at the apple store but some of the kids there aren't really able to give a decent answer.
Would it also be worth considering the i7 with 8Gb of RAM? Would that help keep it speedy enough, even when the next range comes in, which I've heard is exected February?
Look forward to your opinions, thanks.

I have never bought used equipment as I am always worried about reliability etc., but that is my own personal fear.
3 - 4 years in computer terms is prehistoric and apps like FCP X have been designed to work best with the latest technology so I would go for a new MBP, especially as you say you need a laptop.
If you didn't require the laptop I would say get an iMac which will give you far more bangs for your buck than a MBP plus a lovely big screen on even the entry model.

Is 3GB ram worth it, and how does the 2.33Ghz and 256GFX card handle WoW?

Well I was totally set on getting a MBP until I saw my friends 24" iMac and I fell in love.
Here is what I want to use it for:
iLife - I want to get back into ENJOYING programs on my computer again and not mindlessly doing nothing on a PC
Podcasting - Looking to do a podcast with a friend
Audio design - Love to make my own songs
Video editing - Final cut, more as a hobby and some stuff for my church
Gaming - World of Warcraft is really the only game I play
Computer stats:
24" iMac
2.33Ghz
2 or 3 GB Ram
256 Nvideo Gfx card
250 GB HD
My question is this:
I was hoping to get a 512 minimum Gfx card in my computer (mainly just for gaming) but the iMac maxes at 256. Is this performance fine for a game like World of Warcraft, is it ok for editing etc? Im just tired of bad FPS on my PC and don't want to deal with that again, it would almost defeat the purpose of a new computer. Also, regarding RAM, from what I have seen Macs with just 1GB handle multiple programs running AMAZINGLY well, I know games are a bit more demanding, and I am unsure if 2GB will be just fine since Macs operate differently, or if I should get the 3GB RAM if needed. The RAM is the only REAL price jump in my decision so Im not sure if its worth it or not.
Thanks in advance.

Awesome! I was timid about going from 2.16 to 2.33, but my friend who works at the Mac store said its a noticable difference, and the price isnt that bad. I too usually play WoW in Window mode, I like being able to tab through all my other programs and not feel "locked in" to WoW. What is your usual FPS with all settings maxed? I just start feeling sick when I get choppy picture and I am trying to raid or PvP. 7-18 FPS normally and 2-5 FPS on boss fights really doesnt cut it.
As for the extra HD space, Ill have to take a peek. Im currently running a 160GB HD + 250GB External, I seem to be fine on space, and to be honest, since my Mac will be new and clean, I really wanna keep anything NOT needed on the computer off of it. I just felt my PC's were always bogged down by the 100GB of crap I put on the main HD, I was planning on getting a 2nd FW800 External and just store all my files on multiple drives. I've been told its better to edit video off external drives rather then the main HD as well.

Is Extra RAM worth it?

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