Anyone have 3GB of Ram in their Macbook Pro (C2D)?

I've heard many wacky things about having 3GB of RAM in the Macbook Pro (Dore 2 Duo) line. Like having a 2GB stick and a 1GB stick gimps the performance a little ...

Is this true?

I'm currently running 2 x 1GB sticks ... and since the new Macbook Pros come with 2GB standard, I'm really thinking that Leopard is going to require LOTS of Ram. So ... I'm just wondering if I should buy a 2GB stick soon, but I don't want too if it's going to nerf the performance.

Also, let's say if I had an apple guy install a 7,200rpm Hard Drive in my Mac, would it still void the warranty since the original C2D line of 15.4" Macbook Pros didn't come with a 7,200 HD option? I'm a little peaved that ALL the new Macbook Pros now have a 7,200rpm HD option, and I really needed that in the first place for my music apps & DAWs. I really don't want to void my warranty because I think that's something important to have ...

Thanks for your help!

 

i think that if an apple store replaces the HD it wont void the warenty. as for the ram... just spend a little more and get 4gb (2x2gb)

 

Well I could get 2 x 2GB of ram, but it only supports 3GB total ... so only 3.2 or something would show up. So I might as well just get a single 2GB stick. Still hoping that having a 2GB & 1GB stick paired doesn't have any negative performance issues.

I'll call the apple peeps today about the Hard Drive thing ... I really want a 160GB 7,200 rpm drive.

 

you will have to wait awhile on the 160gb 7200 rpm drive though, I don't think it is available from any retailers yet is it??? maybe there are a few?

 

Yeah, my guess is that it isn't available yet.

Still hoping there's no pairing issues with a 2GB stick and a 1GB stick ... anyone have opinions on that?

 

on the 3GB, I think it will work ok, you just loose the dual channel capability.

 

how much performance hit would u experience with loosing dual channel memory?

 

Hard to say for sure. I've seen some articles that say there is no real performance hit. If you are pushing the 2GB you have now, or exceeding it, that most assuredly 3GB would help performance.

If you are not really pushing the 2GB you have now, then maybe just stick with 2GB.

Personally, I think even if there is a performance hit, I doubt it's one of those things that a human would notice in day to day use.

 

I was in the same boat as you... got one of the 'old' machines and tempted to put 3gb in.

as far as I have been able to gather (and I don't know if this is right or not)... if you often exceed 2Gb then any loss of dual channel performance from 3Gb would be more than compensated for by the extra RAM.

However, when you are using less than 2Gb (most of the time) there would be a slight but probably not particularly noticeable drop in performance from the loss of dual channel support.

I don't know how accurate this is, I am no expert. In any case I decided to stick with 2Gb because it is more than enough for me 99% of the time.

Interested to hear if anyone has any different views.

H.