Should I buy 8 or 16GB of ram?

[Harreh]

Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

I have a late 2011 MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM. I did a clean install of Lion, over the internet, yesterday (I was running Yosemite before the clean install). My Mac was running EXTREMELY slow. When i did the Lion install yesterday this thing was smoking fast. I've since done a clean install of Yosemite and things seem to be just as fast, however I haven't installed the first app.

Now for the record, I am not a Mac power user. My question is should I get 8GB or 16GB of RAM. I'm not going to get a SSD just yet, waiting for the cost to come down. I think RAM is my best option at the moment and I don't think I will buy a new MacBook for a few years.

Here are some specs:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Boot ROM Version: MBP81.0047.B2A
SMC Version (system): 1.69f4
4GB of apple stock RAM

 

[kch50428]

Re: Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

Get the most RAM your budget allows...

 

[pkcable]

Re: Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

I have a late 2011 MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM. I did a clean install of Lion, over the internet, yesterday (I was running Yosemite before the clean install). My Mac was running EXTREMELY slow. When i did the Lion install yesterday this thing was smoking fast. I've since done a clean install of Yosemite and things seem to be just as fast, however I haven't installed the first app.

Now for the record, I am not a Mac power user. My question is should I get 8GB or 16GB of RAM. I'm not going to get a SSD just yet, waiting for the cost to come down. I think RAM is my best option at the moment and I don't think I will buy a new MacBook for a few years.

Here are some specs:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Boot ROM Version: MBP81.0047.B2A
SMC Version (system): 1.69f4
4GB of apple stock RAM

Do you plan to not use the already installed 4? Or does that need to be replaced when you upgrade? Because I believe the system max is 16 so IF you are keeping the existing 4, then an additional 8 or 12 are your options. Sometimes it IS best to replace the existing as newer memory modules are often faster, and will slow down if installed with older slower modules. Get the most you can afford. Do you do lots of work with graphics and or video processing, or heavy duty gaming? I'm not sure if you really need 16, but if money is no obstacle get 16, if not doubling to 8 or tripling to 12 should be more than enough of a speed boost.

 

[Gtech21]

Re: Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

If you can get the 16 GB of ram.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

 

[mulasien]

Re: Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

Get the most RAM your budget allows...

This.

If you can afford more RAM. Get more RAM.

 

[Skynet3132]

Re: Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

You can get Crucial RAM for really good prices right now. I just ordered a new MBP, but didn't worry about that factory RAM upgrade when I know I can get twice as much for half the price elsewhere. took them less than 24 hours to ship too. just another option for ya.

 

[eastbayrae]

Re: Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

You can get Crucial RAM for really good prices right now. I just ordered a new MBP, but didn't worry about that factory RAM upgrade when I know I can get twice as much for half the price elsewhere. took them less than 24 hours to ship too. just another option for ya.

I don't think you can upgrade that after the fact, at least I couldn't.

 

[halw]

Re: Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

You can get Crucial RAM for really good prices right now. I just ordered a new MBP, but didn't worry about that factory RAM upgrade when I know I can get twice as much for half the price elsewhere. took them less than 24 hours to ship too. just another option for ya.

New MBPs have soldered memory. You need to order the memory you want when you order the system.

 

[reeneebob]

Re: Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

I purchased a used MacBook Pro last week and ordered Crucial's 8GB RAM kit tonight. I had a 128GB SSD I was planning on putting in my husbands old Lenovo but he's inherited my Republic of Gamers laptops with SSD and 14GB of RAM (12 for the system and 2 for the GeForce card)...so I'm putting the SSD into the MacBook instead. It's already running pretty good for its age but the SSD and RAM should breathe new life into it (going from a 320GB traditional to SSD alone would lol). I'm not concerned about storage because I have iTunes Match. Looking forward to the RAM arriving and the hard drive enclosure so I can use SuperDuper to clone the drive and do the swap.

For the ones here more familiar with this (I've never owned a non Windows PC before but I've done plenty of repair and drive swaps on Windows over the years), can I do RAM AND SSD at the same time or would it be best to do one, boot it, and then the other? I'm fairly sure that with SuperDuper that it's the easiest and most pain free way to replace the drive...

 

[Rob Phillips]

Re: Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

I don't think you can upgrade that after the fact, at least I couldn't.

It can definitely be done, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you know what you're doing.

 

[eastbayrae]

Re: Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

It can definitely be done, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you know what you're doing.

This was in reference to a new MBP. The RAM is soldered on and unless you have an SMT rework station, and the knowledge to use it, that RAM isn't getting replaced. I know on the older models it could be replaced.

 

[Rob Phillips]

Re: Should i buy 8 or 16GB of ram

This was in reference to a new MBP. The RAM is soldered on and unless you have an SMT rework station, and the knowledge to use it, that RAM isn't getting replaced. I know on the older models it could be replaced.

Aaaah I didn't realize we had jumped ahead. OP referenced a 2011 model.

 

[reeneebob]

Aaaah I didn't realize we had jumped ahead. OP referenced a 2011 model.

I installed the ssd first as the enclosure arrived first. I was already really pleased with the performance - it was hard to believe it was a early 2011 MacBook (and like I said its my first ever non Windows computer so I didn't know what to expect) but just swapping the HDD for the SSD made a HUGE difference.

The RAM arrived yesterday and so it's now bumped up to 8GB along with the SSD and it flies. And it's so much easier than working on a Windows system. Hell, the most time consuming part was the 27 minutes it took for SuperDuper to clone the drive over to the SSD...

Very pleased.

 

[Skynet3132]

my MBP is a mid 2012 13". was able to swap out the 4GB RAM and installed the 16GB super quick and easy before i even powered it on for the first time.

i wasn't aware that newer models cant be swapped. then again, this is my first Mac. sorry if i mislead anyone by my post. i blame it on being new around here. learning something new each day.

on a side note, i dont think ill ever go back to PC. this thing is awesome ;-)