[forums.macresource.com]
A couple of weeks ago I asked about getting a new computer. As is so often the case on this forum, rgG was the voice of reason with Jem backing her up.

Last night I checked out the refurbs on the Apple Store & grabbed a MacBook! This will be the 1st time in my life to ever cross the gigahertz barrier. And to make things better, a coworker's roommate has been lusting after my G4 iBook so I'm gonna sell it to him.

Now comes the LONG wait between ordering & receiving.

Let me be the first to give you a big "over a Gig", Pre-Leader DavidC!
Enjoy!

LEADER! But, which Macbook did you order?

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MacBook Pro 2.0GHz quad-core Intel i7
IMac 27" 3.4GHz quad-core Intel i7

and you didnt do the amazon rebate instead?

Absolutely make sure the first thing you do is upgrade RAM, preferably to the maximum 2 GB.

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It is what it is.

!!!

Sorry... been out in the trout streams a bit lately, so have tackle-on-the-brain.

The above of course is a LEADER!

Yes, hurray for exceeding 1 Ghz... in fact, counting both processors you've got more than 3.5Ghz under the hood.

Please do post back and let us know which you got.

My iBook 900 G3 has been looking rather shopworn lately, and I'm wishing I could get a MacBook. But the G3's don't have as much value, and I have $1800 in car repairs coming up... so no funny money to play with, alas.

Enjoy!

It's the 2GHz model (13/2.0/2X256/60/SD:WHITE) with SuperDrive.
I just checked the order status & it should be here by July 12.
That's gonna be a LONG wait!

I just got through checking DealRam for prices. Do the RAMs have to be installed in pairs? Can I pull one of the 256s out & replace it with a 1GB stick?

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DavidC,

I don't believe these NEED to be paired RAM, as they are not 64-bit machines. There is SOME benefit to having paired RAM, but from what I've seen lately it is somewhat minor (2-3%), and in almost all cases having MORE RAM is more important than having paired RAM. In other words... having 1.25 GB RAM offers better performance overall than having 2 512MB paired chips for a total of 1 GB. I think I may have seen this in a recent macAddict or MacWorld article.

But I'd confirm elsewhere first before buying your memory.

Cheers,

Jem

UPDATE: MacTracker 4.05 doesn't indicate the need for paired RAM so you should be good getting a single 1 GB chip for now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2006 12:01PM by Jem.

Here's a recent post by OWC Larry about this subject:

Re: Help me speed up my father's new Intel iMac
Posted by: OWC Larry (10.11.13.28) [Ignore]
Date: June 15, 2006 07:29PM

We added matched set options in April after Apple showed that being a requirement for the mini. Expanded that setting in general in May when Apple made a general statement about there being a performance gain for matched size modules. [eshop.macsales.com]

And to be clear - while in the past matched pairs were needed for the memory performance advantage where offered or even for where pairs were required... with the current specs, to benefit - each installed module need only be the same size/capacity.

Simply put - if you have one 512MB from the factory and only want to go to 1.0GGB - when you add the 2nd 512MB - you are in business with that performance benefit. And if you got 1GB installed in one slot, you only need to buy one more 1GB module - not worry about buying a new pair and then selling the original one gig. That's something nice to point out on the memory bus/controller for the Intel Macs.

And still.... performance tends to be better having 1.5GBs or 1.25GBs of non-matched memory vs. having 1.0GB that is matched... and no comparison of course to only 512MB regardless of paired or not.

All good!

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Or rg can spank me.

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