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11-21-2012, 07:57 AM
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#1
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 127
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Mountain Lion is doodoo on 2GB RAM, what should I upgrade to?
So ML is really terrible on on 2GB RAM, should I go 4 or 8? Or 5, but that would be asynchronous and I think that would break dual channel? I'm happy with 4GB in Windows 8 but I'm not sure if ML handles differently (I was surprised how much heavier it feels than Windows). It's the last white macbook (c2d 2.4/320m).
If I did get a 4GB stick and went 5GB, would losing dual channel make anything significantly slower? This is for a med student, nothing heavy like programming or graphics work but she does multitask a lot.
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11-21-2012, 08:47 AM
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#2
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: San Diego
Posts: 3,822
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Your MacBook officially only supports 4GB but people have been able to bump to 8GB. I'm not sure how well NVIDIA chipsets handle mis-matched DIMM sizes. Intel has Flex Mode which does have much of a performance hit anymore at all. I doubt you'd notice anything.
I would say, jump to 6GB (2+4GB) or 8GB.
As a word of advice, stay away from Kingston. Kingston + Mac has always been finicky (I've never tried any Kingston memory that was designated "Mac", though). I worked in a Authorized Apple Service Provider shop for 4 years and every non-Mac Kingston stick had issues. Stick to Crucial and some Corsair. We officially used Crucial for everything (reliability might not be the best, but it worked).
__________________
-E3200,DG45FC,4GB,SSD - Q6600,GT240,eVGA 680i SLI,4GB - Q9400,8800GTS G92,EP45-UD3P,4GB
-Ci7 920,U2711,GT240,X58 FTW3,12GB,SSD - Ci7 860,HD5670,eVGA P55M,8GB,SSD
-17" MBP Ci5 - Mac Mini Server C2D - Mac Mini Server Ci7
-2x Xeon E5520,SM X8DTH-6F,24GB,ESXi5 - Xeon E3-1220,8TB RAID5,SM X9SCM-F,8GB,SSD -E3300,G43ITX,4GB,7.5TB RAID-Z+SSD
HEATWARE
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11-21-2012, 08:57 AM
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#3
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Lifer
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 22,581
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Throwing in an SSD helps a lot. I use Mushkin drives (120GB/240GB/480GB). They help the overall speed of the computer, including multi-tasking and virtual memory. The 240GB is on sale for $179:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226226
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11-21-2012, 09:18 AM
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#4
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,461
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Using 10.8 and 4GB pretty happily. I have an SSD though. I'd go to 8 if you can, just because it's cheap.
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11-21-2012, 09:50 AM
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#5
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Lifer
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 14,345
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4 GB would be fine, but 8 GB is cheap.
2 x 4 GB Crucial can be had for under 40 bucks. You'd only save about $15 by going with 2 x 2 GB.
__________________
OS X & iOS: 27" iMac Core i7 870 | 13" MacBook Pro C2D 2.26 P8400 + SSD | 13" MacBook C2D 2.4 T8300 + SSD | iPad 2
Windows: X3400 Athlon II X3 435 | 11.6" 1810TZ Pentium SU4100 + SSD | Revo R3610 Atom 330 + SSD
Android: RAZR HD | Nexus 7
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11-27-2012, 03:11 AM
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#6
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 4,506
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See my expense signature below… 
__________________
Main Laptop:
15" rMacBook Pro Intel i7 2.23 8GB ram 256GB SDD Mountain Lion 10.8
iPad 2
32GB Black WIFI + 3G
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11-27-2012, 08:30 PM
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#7
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Platinum Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,752
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Memory is cheap. Max it out.
__________________
GO BLUE!!
HEAT
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11-27-2012, 09:22 PM
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#8
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,512
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8GB and SSD for me, it flies.
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11-27-2012, 09:33 PM
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#9
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Platinum Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: PA
Posts: 2,042
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8 GB is $47.50 here
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?model=394
6 GB is $38 - why bother when it's only $10 for 2 GB more & maxed out?
SSD will help for sure, there are some bargains to be had.
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11-29-2012, 01:15 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 584
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ARE YOU NUTS???
8GB is so cheap it is hardly a mind thought. My October 2009 mini came alive with 8GB and I would never look back. I used the cheap g.skill off newegg and it tested and worked flawless right off the bat. Its been in for over 2 yrs and no issues.
An SSD like a samsung 830 series is also an awsome upgrade. It is tried and true.
__________________
-Mac mini | C2D 2.26 | 8GB | 500GB 7K500 | OS X 10.6.4 | Win7x64 Ultimate
-Dell Latitude D820 | C2D 2.0 | 2GB | 128GB Samsung 830 SSD | 15.4" WXGA | Win7 x86 Ultimate |
-Server: C2D 6400 2.13 | 6GB | 74GB Raptor (OS)| 2x Seagate 2TB (RAID 1) | 500GB Segate (Backups) |
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11-29-2012, 09:07 PM
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#11
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 20
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I second the Samsung 830 + 8GB RAM upgrade. Can't go wrong there.
Using G.Skill here with no issues.
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