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Nov 06, 08 - 01:36 pm Comment from: ericdano

But doesn't this slow down the computer slightly as the memory interleaving isn't active?

Nov 06, 08 - 02:01 pm Comment from: MrScrith

Actually I'm more surprised that the MB & MBPro's can use 6gb of memory, I had heard that because of hardware decisions only 4gb is usable (even though the OS can handle 32gb).

Anyone know if Apple made a hardware change that allows this increase in memory to be usable?

Nov 06, 08 - 02:53 pm Comment from: KingMel

That's a cool $620 to go from 4GB to 6GB. I can't imagine that there is much of a market for that. You can do a lot with 4GB, and it is a MacBook Pro, not a Mac Pro, after all.

Minimally, but in general, if you're doing something that needs 6GB of RAM, the performance gains of having that 6GB vs 4GB is going to far outstrip the losses incurred by not having two identical modules.

What I heard was that Nvidia said that the chipset or the complete hardware does support the 8Gb, but Apple disable it via firmware.

if 8gb were possible i'd buy a MB tomorrow.

why only allow 6gb....seriously....

like back in the day when MBPs only supported 3gb, to soon support 4gb?

Very, very pricey…$479.95 for 6 GB RAM upgrade.

Also, Dresser states that he can now do days without rebooting with the new RAM upgrades.

That guy must drink a lot of coffee while working so hard.

As for me, when I am not using any of my Macs for any reason they are powered off.

This is good news though, because that means that chips are getting cooler even at larger sizes. I would buy two 4GB chips if I knew my Santa Rosa MBP could utilize it, but I don't have disposable income. (Does anyone know if it would be possible to run 8GB on the new unibody and the model just prior to it?)

I don't restart my laptop for days, even weeks, at a time. I run many RAM intensive programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and games on a daily basis. I never have a problem with the RAM overloading. Leopard is smart enough to allocate new memory to new tasks as needed, while moving inactive stuff to the scratch disk as it were (this is where a SSD would come in handy for that extra boost of speed). With Windows XP, I had to restart my computer at least once a day, if not more often. Also with Windows you have to check the drive for errors at least once a week and run a "defrag" once every two weeks—even with a rather large hard drive—because unlike Mac OS X 10.3 and later, it doesn't automatically do this. Basically what I'm attempting to say is that you should not have to reboot your computer that often. Just quit all your programs and the RAM will "reset" itself and be able to reallocate as needed. We're not dealing with Windows here.

This site has some good info on using up to 8GB on the Santa Rosa and new unibody Penryn books. Looks like Snow Leopard will run 2x4GB chips with no hiccups, Leopard is still buggy. My suggestion is just to wait until next summer. Memory will likely be under $250 (it's $299.99 on newegg.com right now), and Snow Leopard will have been released. Plus, you'll get dual channel usage if you get 2x4GB chips as opposed to just a 2GB and 4GB assortment. Patience, little children. I know I want 8GB in my MBP. It would be screaming hot though…and I mean temperature.

Nathan, I understand all that stuff you are doing, but my point is if if your Mac is doing absolutely nothing at all the best thing is to power it down.

It will last longer that way and you can trust me on that.

It's not a refrigerator, something that's meant run all the time. That's why your computer has a power off feature.

Leaving a computer powered on all the time (unless it's a server or it is performing some task) makes as much sense as leaving a TV on or your car running 24/7.

@Mark S

"if your Mac is doing absolutely nothing at all the best thing is to power it down."

Not necessarily true. A machine that is always on stays at a fairly constant temperature. A machine that powers on and off a lot heats up and cools down. That puts a lot of stress on the components as they expand and contract.

"It's not a refrigerator, something that's meant run all the time"

Better power down all the servers in my server room then. Not.

Tried to hit the upgrade link to OWC to check this out, but time after time I got a mouseover link to a Staples ad.

Result: (pay attention to this, advertisers!) My policy is to not buy anything at an advertiser for at least a year if an ad irritates me.

I know this goes against the common belief of ad agency geeks that so long as your name gets in front of the public that "life is good, let's go get a beer!"

I worked with ad agencies for years. 80% of their people don't have the common sense of your basic house cat.

But I will go to OWC directly and check out their site!
Bye

Went to OWC site, bought the upgrade, but not going to Staples anytime soon.

Mark S.,

I agree that you can power it down, but I just close the lid and let it sleep. That way when I come back to it, I just pop it open and it's good to go. You don't have to shut it off. The only power used is for the LED blinking and very little power in the memory to keep it active. Sleep for Macs has always been superior to Windows machines. I do rather hate the hibernate feature of Windows PCs also. It's too cumbersome for it to be useful unless you have a 7200 rpm drive.

For all of you paying for overpriced memory, try newegg.com first. It's only $160 for a single 4gb chip and $300 for two. Seems a lot better than paying almost $500 for a single chip. Plus on newegg that memory has been tested. (See my above post for link.)