Looking to Upgrade RAM

[Parsec]

Hello urrrrbody. Name's Sam and i'm new to the forums but not to sweetwater in general. I'm looking to upgrade the RAM on my Macbook Pro, which currently has 2 Gigs.

That said, I have gotten my CPU to max out while creating a tune with 32 tracks of audio/midi with automation and multiple effects/plug-ins on each channel. My tunes will have to be more complex than this one in the future and i don't want to always have to bounce stuff out for the sake of the CPU.

so 2 noobish questions:

1. Does running the computer at full CPU use harm the computer in any way? (i.e. heat) i don't have it on a stand or anything.

2. Is there a specific company or type of RAM that i should be researching before i buy and install it in my macbook pro. I'm fairly sure it can only go up to 4 gigs... so i'm lookin for 2 more, hoping to avoid any pitfalls and buy good stuff one time.


thanks for any and all help in advance. i'll be lurking the forums- glad to be here.


-sam parsec

[michaelhoddy]

I've been using Other World Computing (www.macsales.com) for RAM and hard drives for years- they're always great.

On the CPU/heat issue, are the cooling fans spooling up to full speed? You should hear them when they do that. That's the only way I could imagine potential damage- if the machine is running that way all the time.

[Smithcok]

Ditto Macsales.com

They have great information about which ram to get, how to install it, etc...
Plus their warranty is good.

I had a stick of Mac Pro RAM go bad, replaced it extremely quickly with no hiccups.

[Rad]

Just make sure the type of RAM you buy is the right one - there s DDR, DDR2, dual-channel, etc
Your manual should say exactly what memory you need - typically a code like PC2700 type. Laptops are esp. sensitive to having the right type.

[Parsec]

thanks for the replies guys (or girls but probably not) i haven't noticed the fans speeding up to full speed really, i mean sometimes they rev up but i don't think they're running all the time at full speed. just things move slower in logic when i'm stretchin the CPU and the computer just feels hot and i'm scared about damaging it.

i should get a stand though probably. i'd rather not get a laptop cooling fan for it to sit on cuz of the noise.

again, thanks for the RAM advice and if the fans run at full speed all the time i'll post back if that's the case.

peace!

-sam

[Parsec]

From the macsales.com website:

"For the maximum performance benefit possible, Apple recommends that two modules of the same size be installed to enable 128MBit memory addressing."

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/Pro/Core2/

from this link, by my count, the cheapest one is the right one? (weird) anyway i only need 2 to match my 2, so i don't want to buy the 4 gig upgrade cuz then i'll have 2 NEW ones (2 gb each) instead of one new one with 2 gb's to match my present 2 gb's.

sound right?

sorry, i'm new.

thanks!

-sam

[Justin]

We carry most of the necessary RAM for Mac Book and Mac Book Pro.
If you want to get with your salesperson with the model number we can figure out which DIMM you need.

[Parsec]

i will do that sir, thank you.

thanks to everybody for the responses.