NB550D - Is RAM and OS upgrade worth it?

Hi -
I have got a NB550D and generally pleased but would like to improve performance. Am considering either just an upgrade to 2GB of RAM & leaving with Windows 7 starter or going to 4GB RAM & upgrading to Windows 7 Home Edition but later would cost atleast 70 more & wondering if it is worth it.
I am not bothered about limitations like desktop & have overcome the DVD playback issues of Windows 7starter but do want the basic system to run quicker. Has anyone done either upgrade & was there a noticeable improvement?
Separately if I upgrade the OS do i need to reinstall the programs etc?
Thanks

Hey,
Are you not satisfied with the performance of new NB550D or why you want to upgrade it? I mean such netbooks are designed for mobile usage and therefore its great device. Very portable, small and light.
Usually 2GB RAM is enough for Windows 7 if you dont run 3D games or any high CPU usage programs like video editing or something else.
Furthermore Im not 100% sure but probably the chipset limitation is 2GB RAM. Did you check the user manual about RAM upgrade?
Anyway, in opinion its important such RAM upgrade.

Similar Messages

Ram and HDD Upgrade

Hi all, i am looking at upgrading my Macbook Pro 13 inch to a higher spec this month, due to using it constantly at uni on an interactive media course. I use all Adobe suite software, such as Photoshop, Illustrator etc, and i also use software such as Zbrush, Maya and Topogun for 3D character modelling. As you can imagine it crashes my mac quite a lot. I also have Bootcamp installed with Windows xp SP2 Professional version, in order for me to run 3D Studio Max. At the moment i have 2gb of RAm and a 160GB HDD.
I was looking at upgrading to 4GB of ram, and perhaps 500GB HDD, however i saw in a forum that someone had upgraded to a 1Terabyte HDD without any problems. This seems better for me as i could keep literally everything such as Photos, all my music and at least 200 GB worth of movies all in one place rather than using multiple, old, external drives.
Now what i wanted to know is would it be more beneficial to upgrade to 4GB of RAM or would you suggest more, perhaps 8 due to the programmes i run etc. And also any information on the terabyte HDD would be appreciated.
Another question is where can i source these parts cheap in the UK, as i will be buying them myself for my birthday and as a student i'm pretty skint! Thanks in advance!
Jamie.

A drive like this might be what you're after:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Samsung/HM100UI/
And the RAM:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/8566DDR3S8GP/
(Your use means the most RAM you can have the better)
You could find better deals on Amazon UK possibly ...

Macbook 7.1 (mid-2010) RAM and hdd upgrade questions!

Hello!
In a bit of impulsiveness, I have just acquired a Apple laptop: a lightly used Macbook 7.1 (released mid-2010 and discontinued, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo). This is my first Apple computer!
I want to upgrade just a wee bit to squeeze a bit more performance out of what is currently probably a mid to low end laptop. Two questions:
1) I know this Macbook takes 1066 MHz DDR memory. But I have two 2 GB sticks of 1333 MHz PC3-10600 DDR3 SODIMM. Can I put those in? Or do I have to get 1066 sticks?
2) I'd like to put a 7200 rpm hdd in it. Will there be any potential issues with heat? (I'm assuming a 7200rpm drive generates more heat than a 5400rpm drive.)
Thanks!!!!

Faster RAM will have a great chance to lead to problems. If it works it will not be noticeably faster; The bus speed is still 1066. Ram being cheap I would either put in more ram and not faster ram, buy from high reputation suppliers like Crucial, OWC.
The 7200 will not lead to problems, be sure that it is compatible, the fastest way to replace if you are using (snow) leopard OS: make a clone of the existing drive to the new one, boot from it when still outside, to test; replace the internal disk with the new one, et voila...

Ram and hdd upgrade questions

Hay; i'm a apple newbe so forgive me if any of the questions are basic ones.
I've been trying my hand at things like garageband using a emac that I purchased on ebay but would like to upgrade the ram and the hdd.
Any answers to any of the below would be extremely helpfull - fyi, about this mac says I have a powermac6.4.
Ram:
Google says that my model can take 2gb of ddr333 ram but only 1 gb is supported; is there some kind of issue that arises when one installs more than 1gb?
Also, should I get low or high dencity ram?
Hdd:
Installing ram seems easy enough, but instructions for installing the hdd seem to differ per site that I visit. Would someone be able to link me to some instructions for my model that are known to be correct?
Idealie i'd like to put a 250gb drive in there, but i'm wondering if this would result in 48lba issues?
Just out of interest, how much of a speed boost can I expect when going from 5400 rpm to 7200?
Also, I have noticed that my apple is quite noisy; whilst it doesn't sound like a worringly noisy computer, how much noise of this is due to the harddrive?
Thanks for any answers.

Hello and welcome to Apple Discussions. No questions are too basic, as we all have to start somewhere.
Emac models are best differentiated by the CPU speed.
You can go to the Menu item  About this Mac will tell you the CPU speed.
From what you have said it sounds like a later model eMac.
is there some kind of issue that arises when one installs more than 1gb?
No, it is just that when these eMacs came out the highest RAM module made at the 333 Mhz speed was 512Mb. Later the manufacturers made 1Ghz modules, thus doubling the capacity from the original specifications. Keep in mind there are two slots for these modules. 1Ghz X 2 = 2 Ghz maximum.
Also, I have noticed that my apple is quite noisy; whilst it doesn't sound like a worringly noisy computer, how much noise of this is due to the harddrive?
None of it is due to the hard drive. Hard drive noise is intermittent and barely noticeable. The noise is the roaring of the fan. eMacs are notable for their robust and noisy fan.
Replacing the hard disk in an eMac requires quite some dissassembly.
Someone else may post disassembly links as I my old ones don't work anymore, and you may also get more detail about your RAM questions.

M6-n010dx RAM and HDD upgrade

Hello,
i was thinking of upgrading the RAM and HDD of my laptop but was not sure if the products i selected are compatible.
My concerns arise from the fact that the n010dx has AMD processors.
If someone would confirm that the chosen parts are compatible, it would be great.
Links included below:
-RAM
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B006YG8X9Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB
- SSD
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00KFAGCWK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB
thank you!

Hello and welcome to Apple Discussions. No questions are too basic, as we all have to start somewhere.
Emac models are best differentiated by the CPU speed.
You can go to the Menu item  About this Mac will tell you the CPU speed.
From what you have said it sounds like a later model eMac.
is there some kind of issue that arises when one installs more than 1gb?
No, it is just that when these eMacs came out the highest RAM module made at the 333 Mhz speed was 512Mb. Later the manufacturers made 1Ghz modules, thus doubling the capacity from the original specifications. Keep in mind there are two slots for these modules. 1Ghz X 2 = 2 Ghz maximum.
Also, I have noticed that my apple is quite noisy; whilst it doesn't sound like a worringly noisy computer, how much noise of this is due to the harddrive?
None of it is due to the hard drive. Hard drive noise is intermittent and barely noticeable. The noise is the roaring of the fan. eMacs are notable for their robust and noisy fan.
Replacing the hard disk in an eMac requires quite some dissassembly.
Someone else may post disassembly links as I my old ones don't work anymore, and you may also get more detail about your RAM questions.

Strange New Error Since RAM and HD Upgrade

Recently I added more RAM to my machine, I went from 8gb to 32, this update forced me to upgrade to Windows 7 Pro because Win 7 home edition is limited to 16GB, I also added a second hard drive and the files I am working with are on this new hard drive.
When I attempt to publish an Apple .IPA file via Adobe AIR I get this wall of errors. It does not happen every time but when it does it takes many restarts to get it to publish. Any ideas?

Ah thanks for clarifying 64bit to 64bit upgrade.
When you say blue screen (BSOD) the first thing that always comes to mind is memory issues. It doesn't even matter if you buy the same brand/model/size sticks, they can conflict with each other and blue screen you. The only way to avoid this is typically buy only matched sets (the manufacturer guarantees the RAM was tested together and is packaged together). That doesn't mean buying 2 separate paired sets is the same, they can conflict with each other.
One easy way that just takes patience is to use the good old Prime95 test. I recommend you download it and let it run for at least an hour on the torture test. It will attempt to make your RAM create a mistake, blue screen you, etc. If it does, you may have a RAM issue. I say "may" because it will test your processor, FSB and RAM all together. If it does make a blue screen, try removing all but one module of RAM and test again. If that passes, pair it up and try again. Eventually you will find the RAM combo that is failing if that's the issue.
You can get Prime95 here:
http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/ (direct link)
Don't sign up for GIMPS (unless you want to), just use the software for the testing purpose.
Lastly many modern motherboards support memtest86 directly in the BIOS menu (press delete, F1 or whatever your motherboard mentioned at PC startup). See if it's in the advanced or troubleshooting menus. That is the industry standard way to test RAM but it's not as easy as Prime95. If you don't have memtest86 in the menu you can download it here:
http://download.cnet.com/Memtest86/3000-2086_4-10524193.html
Note memtest86 is a CD image. You burn that onto a CD and then boot off the CD. It does not run in Windows.
If your memory checks out, that only leaves the HD as a potential issue. If your system reliably blue screens often, taking it out to see if it's causing it should be pretty easy.

Satellite S55t-B5152 Ram and HD upgrade, please

I just bought a brand new Satellite S55t-B5152 from Microsoft Store. It came with 4GB ram and 512 HD. I have some extra rams and SSD. So I want to upgrade them by myself. unfortunately when receive the laptop, I regconize that the bottom cover is not easly remove, and I research the menual online, it state they are "not user upgradeable, factory installed only". But I did some research on the forum. It seems if you could get a upgarde guide, you may still do it by yourself. So I would ask these Moderators do me a favor, please PM the upgrade guide, so I can do the upgrade by myself. Thank you!

I could not find any guides after searching for many days. So I decided to go ahead and opened up the case. It was quite simple. First I removed the two crews circled in the image below, pulled out the battery, press the power button to make discharge any remaining power.Then I removed the other screws (12 total). Then pried out the cover piece starting from the corner where the power cord plugged in, and go around as showned by the arrows. The pieces were held together by small clips, if you are carefull, I don't think you will break any of them. I just add another piece of RAM, and it popped right in. Not sure how hard it will be to replace the HDD. I though Toshiba has their own RAM, but the one in there is a Kingstons (the blue piece in the picture below). Maybe they sell refurb as new? If you open your case and see a toshiba RAM, please let me know. I installed a 8M in there with the original 4M. OS reports 12M, but when I ran a few RAM tests using the app came with W8.1, the process hanged every time. Maybe some compatible problems. Hopefully, taking out the 4M will solve it. Hope this help.

Lag Issues since RAM and HD Upgrade

Hi all,
About a month ago I finally ran out of space on my 2007 MBP (2.2ghz). After much research, shopping, etc. I upgraded to 2x2GB Corsair RAM and the Western Digital 500gb Scorpio Blue hard drive.
RAM installation went smooth, no apparent issues.
Then the HD replacement followed a day or two later (just so I was sure the RAM was OK). Opening up the case was daunting, but seemed fine. Clean install of Tiger from the disks, and everything boots up great!
But....now I have lag. No clicking or audible hard drive parking as some have experienced, just a little delay that is inconsistent and across functions (i.e. typing, load new tab in Safari, CMD-TAB to switch applications). Sometimes beach ball, sometimes not.
I have checked all things posted in various forums - repaired permissions, smc and pram resets, and have used Disk Utility, Onyx and TechTool Deluxe (I'm still under Apple Care). The result is less lag, but lag nonetheless.
After booting to my old drive (external and left untouched since the upgrade), guess what? NO LAG!
Can anyone comment / help on the possible issues here? As I see it, here's the possible conclusions I've narrowed it down to:
1. This particular WD is (a bit) faulty. Exchange it assuming WD Scorpio Blues are compatible?
OR, can anyone suggest an HD that is more likely to work without issue?
2. Apple firmware is simply not 100% compatible with 3rd party drives - just need to hope they address this?
3. Tiger is the problem? Move to Snow Leopard and issues will disappear?
4. Insert your theory here.
Thanks!
Kevin
Message was edited by: Kevin Schultz

Just thought I would chime in here,
I am in exactly the same situation as yourself after installing a WD 500GB HD (Model: WD5000BEVT). I have also tried the "hdapm" application but after a lot of effort just couldn't get it to work. I am currently waiting for a response from WD as this seems like a common issue and should hear back from them by the end of today. Just to make sure we have the same thing here are the symptoms from my computer:
- Very brief lag (1 - 2secs) on most things. For example, right click on an item to bring up a menu will result in spinning wheel for a few moments and then the menu.
- At time of lag/freeze a noticeable sound of the HD spinning up before the action will be performed
- Computer boot up and shutdown time seems seem longer than with pervious "official" HD
- I also noticed when I was transferring all my music (43GB) onto the computer the computers responsiveness while using applications was much faster.
Whilst here, does anyone know which HD is the official 500GB 2.5inch SATA drive that apple uses and if apple themselves modify the firmware to make it work better with there notebooks. I would just be interested to know and if it comes to it I will put this current HD into something else and get a more compatible HD.
When I hear back from WD I will post what they said.
Regards.

Difficulty of RAM and HD upgrade installation.

I plan to buy one of the new Minis for my wife, and install larger RAM (probably OWC) and HD (probably WD). How difficult is the installation? I presume it is not as trivial as on my MacPro.
(I would be happy to pay for Apple upgrades, if they were just outrageously high, and not absurdly stratospheric! )

This is what I bought http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148191 but it's sold out now. I didn't realize when I posted earlier. I used the same in my MPB 2.4 (Late 2008).
I received my mini about an hour ago. I didn't feel like waiting for the RAM from Newegg to come so put the RAM in my MBP into the mini. Works great. I put the OEM RAM back in the MBP. When the Newegg RAM comes on Fri. I'll put that in the MBP.
At any rate, installing the RAM into the mini was pretty easier. It's a little nervy at first but the case peels away fairly easily if you apply a gentle hand. Once the lid is off it's easy. Pop off the antennas, remove 4 screws, and pop off a cable connector. The upper guts of the mini can then easily be flips. Pop in the RAM and reverse. The whole procedure took me about 15-20min, probably b/c it was my first time and I was extra cautious.

Self RAM and HDD upgrade on mac mini

I would upgrade by myself RAM AND/OR HDD on a mac mini late 2009, will I void the warranty doing that kind of upgrade by myself?
Thank you
Message was edited by: eatrese
Message was edited by: eatrese

Hi Dahveed-
The question the original poster asked was if adding RAM would break his warranty. The answer, backed by the legal language in the Mini user guide, the Apple Hardware limited warranty booklet and the page on the Apple website is NO. Period. BUT if adding the RAM is the cause of failures or problems, then yes, the warranty will end immediately and forever. I believe I stated that quite clearly.
The statement that the apple web article is from 2004, and is therefore invalid, might work for some people on an emotional level, but not to a lawyer. Apple is wearing a big red bullseye on their back for as long as it remains up on the website.
I understand that you might be hung up on the idea that since there are no user serviceable parts in the Mini, you are breaking warranty by servicing the Mini.
This is not correct, and you will not find any language in any Apple documentation that says, "Servicing the Mini will void your warranty." If you can find that language anywhere, please correct me- I would be the first to admit I was wrong.
What Apple says is that since the Mini has no user serviceable parts, if you DAMAGE the Mini while servicing it and you are not an Apple Authorized repair center, YOU are liable for the damage, and not Apple. (Refer to Exclusions and Limitations paragraph F in the Apple Hardware Limited Warranty document in the Mac Mini box)
If the little RAM upgrade project had no bearing whatsoever on the problem your Mini suffers from, the warranty coverage applies.
Legally, warranties are always a bit of a corporate headache because a company must be very specific about what is NOT covered. This is why many electronics manufacturers, in addition to using specific language about what voids a warranty in the manual, often take the additional step of placing decals or other tamper-proof seals on sensitive internal components to assure that no servicing can be done. Nowhere inside the Mini, and nowhere in the manual and the warranty booklet does it say that servicing the Mini voids the warranty.
It is unfortunate that a couple of upgraders were allegedly turned down for service, but if they were turned down because their upgrade damaged, say, an Airport antenna or if they shorted something out by accidentally touching something, then yes, that shouldn't be covered.
On the other hand, if they can independently confirm with another repair center that the needed repairs were not in any way related to their upgrade, then they have a good claim on their hands, and a lawyer would say they had a good case against Apple.
Then again, I would be willing to bet that if those 2 posters had opened up their Mini again, taken out the upgrades, replaced them with the original apple parts, and THEN sent it in for service, they would have had no problems whatsoever.

Who has the most RAM and is it worth it?

I am building a box with 24GB of RAM.
Anyone using that much and did you notice a huge jump from you had previously in the 12GB range.... in particular RED editors.
Dual Xeon 6 core E5645 2.4 GHz
GeForce GTX570
Areca 1880 2GB cache RAID control
RAID 3
seven drives
I am asking for a little more money so I can go from 12 to 24 and want to be sure it is justified with the 64 bit OS and CUDA... and MPE.
Thanks!

Orko,
RED seems to suck up as much CPU as you can give it, but does not really seem to hog RAM as much. Based on a test I just ran with CS5, I would think that 24GB should be a good choice for your system.
Using a 4 layer RED 4.5K project on my timeline, playback is using just over 7GB of RAM. Also when I do a "render entire work area" (useful if you want to scrub 4xRED layers or playback at full resolution) 100% of my CPU is being used, but only 7.4GB of RAM. Using AME to render the same timeline to DVD used just a bit over 12GB of RAM.
Note that I am using a single 6-core CPU with 24GB of RAM and I seem to recall that dual CPU systems may use more RAM, and possibly much more RAM vs. a single-CPU system (something about dual Xeon systems using separate RAM banks for the two processors).
Regards,
Jim

Graphics Card for Motion 4, RAM and processor upgrade

I am using a dual quad-core Mac Pro with 8GB DDR2 667MHz RAM for FCP and Motion. I have a NVIDIA Quadro FX card which does not work with Motion. Any suggestions on the card? I am looking into ATI 4870. Also, would like to put in some more RAM..any suggestion? I am looking at products on www.crucial.com
Also, does putting two graphics cards help at all?
Considering processor upgrades..will it be worth it?
Thanks in advance for your responses and time.

Also, does putting two graphics cards help at all?
No, unless you need more than two displays.
Considering processor upgrades..will it be worth it?
No.

Ram and SSD upgrade on MB Pro 13.3" 2.4GHz (Model ID: 7,1)

Hello,
I have a MacBook Pro 13.3" 2.4GHz (Model ID: 7,1) and I am looking to upgrade some of the hardware and make it run much faster. I currently am running both Mac OS X and Windows 7 on the computer using Boot camp. I've neglected upgrading the software on the laptop for a while now because I just wasn't using the computer too much due to always using my work computer at the office and using an iPad for the miscellaneous stuff done at home.
Anyway, I first plan to fully upgrade the OS, firmware, all system updates before doing anything and then I would like to upgrade the RAM to 16 GB and potentially put an SSD in there. My question is, can I put an SSD on there as the primary hard drive to really realize the booting speed advantages of an SSD. And can I somehow clone my original hard drive so I can maintain my Windows 7 install on there as well. The point of upgrading is that I'd like to get a home office setup going and need to run MS office apps, Factset, and Bloomberg natively on the windows side for work and also be able to log into Citrix to access work files and with my current setup this slows down the computer significantly. Just wondering if I would run into any problems or if the SSD is not worth the trouble and I should just stick with the RAM upgrade.
Thanks!

Anyway, I first plan to fully upgrade the OS, firmware, all system updates before doing anything and then I would like to upgrade the RAM to 16 GB and potentially put an SSD in there. My question is, can I put an SSD on there as the primary hard drive to really realize the booting speed advantages of an SSD. And can I somehow clone my original hard drive so I can maintain my Windows 7 install on there as well. The point of upgrading is that I'd like to get a home office setup going and need to run MS office apps, Factset, and Bloomberg natively on the windows side for work and also be able to log into Citrix to access work files and with my current setup this slows down the computer significantly. Just wondering if I would run into any problems or if the SSD is not worth the trouble and I should just stick with the RAM upgrade.
You can fit an SSD and there will be a significant performance increase.
I suggest that you first (using WinClone) clone the Windows installation to an image on the OSX partition, then (using CCC) clone the Mac partition to the SSD (assuming there is enough space). Then use WinClone to restore the Windows partition.

Why can't I install MacOSX Lion on a Mac Mini with 10.6.8, 2GB RAM, and CPU upgraded to Core2 Duo?

I have an older Intel Mac Mini running fully updated Snow Leopard with an upgraded CPU (Core2 Duo), RAM (2GB), and hard drive.
Supposedly, this should be compatible with Lion, but the App Store refuses to download it.
Any ideas?
Thanks.

It's not the graphics card it is the fact that it is an "upgraded"
system. Lion, as with any OSX install, is based on the
original computer ID. If the ID indicated that it was not
a model that was shipped with a CPU that meets the minimum
requirements it will not install.
The reason I say it is not the graphics card, is that my
Macbook has that card and Lion installed without issue. It
was, however, equipped with a Core2Duo processor.

Ram and ssd upgrade for v5 572pg recommendations please

hi all , im running lightroom 5 and photoshop cc with my current acer v5 572pg it has 4gb ram i want to add 8gb im guessing i will have 12 gb of ram then i also want to add a 500gb ssd drive can someone please give me links to the right drive and ram upgrade my budget is around 400 dollars any help greatly appreciated also if i add a new drive what process do i need to do to install windows , i have windows 8.1 on my drive now and looking to upgrade to windows ten soon so i thought a new ssd drive before i upgrade would be the best way to go , can i install it by adding the drive to a usb slot and making the windows ten upgrade go onto the new ssd drive then replace the old drive with the new ssd one with windows ten on it problem im having is my disc always seems to be 100 percent or gets there just by opening up any program or web page , it does settle down a bit but lightroom and photoshop both put heavy pressure on

looking at these two Samsung 8GB DDR3L RAM PC3L-12800 DDR3 1600Mhz 204pin Laptop Memory SODIMM 1.35v and a samsung 500gb evo , are these compatible with the acer aspire v 572 pg , it has software to transfer the old hard drive over , will this include the operating system and then do i just take out the old one and put the new drive in , will windows then boot , im thinking then i can do a clean install of windows and transfer all my files and programs back from the old hard drive using the sata to usb adaptor

NB550D - Is RAM and OS upgrade worth it?

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