Resolved Mac Mini 2012 ram upgrade Qs

[saha-med]

Hi i own a base 2012 model with stock ram. I was planning to add more ram and im currently looking at two options due to budget constraints.

1. Buy 2 pcs of 4gb, replace both stock memory modules and make it 8gb total memory

2. Buy 1 pc of 8gb, replace only 1 stock memory module and make it (8+2)gb total memory

I was wondering if the 2nd option will have any performance degradation due to mixing of memory sizes. Any how about mixing memory with different speeds (eg, 1600mhz vs 1333mhz)?


Thanks for your inputs...

 

[jav6454]

Regarding speed, RAM will work at the lowest speed (whether it is the sticks or the DIMM). Regarding stick amount, well, there is a performance drop if you don't use two due to dual channel. Try to adhere to the 2x'Y'GB (where Y is a value of 2, 4, 8 or 16) configuration.

 

[philipma1957]

Regarding speed, RAM will work at the lowest speed (whether it is the sticks or the DIMM). Regarding stick amount, well, there is a performance drop if you don't use two due to dual channel. Try to adhere to the 2x'Y'GB (where Y is a value of 2, 4, 8 or 16) configuration.

don't mix speeds. unless the sticks are free. ^ correct .


as to 2 + 8 vs 4+4 .

the guy above is correct most of the time, but if you happen to use 8.01 to 9.99gb of ram a lot he would be wrong.

My advice is buy a pair of 4 gb sticks total 8gb as more then 90 percent of the time it would be better then 2 + 8. Also if you buy an 8gb stick now you may not be able to match it later causing compatibility issues.

 

[saha-med]

Thanks for your inputs. Will stick to 4gb x 2 configuration.

 

[jav6454]

don't mix speeds. unless the sticks are free. ^ correct .


as to 2 + 8 vs 4+4 .

the guy above is correct most of the time, but if you happen to use 8.01 to 9.99gb of ram a lot he would be wrong.

My advice is buy a pair of 4 gb sticks total 8gb as more then 90 percent of the time it would be better then 2 + 8. Also if you buy an 8gb stick now you may not be able to match it later causing compatibility issues.

What?

 

[justperry]

What?

Yeah, don't get it either.

 

[philipma1957]

First point mixing sticks on speed can work so if I gave you 2 sticks of 8gb one was 1333 and the other was 1600 the cost to try it is 0 dollars. A cash strapped person may as well try it if it is free since if it works cost is $0. A pair of matched 2gb sticks well be very slow if the user's programs run around 5gb or more. Swaps and page outs.

Second point
A 2gb plus a 8gb is just a bit better then a pair of 4gb sticks in only a few cases . The mini would need to be using 8.01 to 9.99gb of ram. If it uses 9gb of ram and has 10gb of ram on hand no page outs no swaps to the slow hdd. Chances are the mini won't run in the range of 8gb to 10gb most of the time> So lots and lots of swaps won't be prevented.

I base the answers on the op's indication of short on money. a pair of 8gb sticks are about 50 usd. A single 8gb stick is about 58 usd. Matching that 8gb stick 2 or 3 months later may not be that easy. The gain of 10gb size over 8gb size is meh. I also know many users only need 5 to 7gb ram most of the time.

 

[Giuly]

Frankly, I'd wait a bit until the 16GB Corsair Vengeance kit goes on sale for $89 again and save up $40 in the meantime.

 

[saha-med]

Frankly, I'd wait a bit until the 16GB Corsair Vengeance kit goes on sale for $89 again and save up $40 in the meantime.

Wow thats dirt cheap if it goes down to $89

Was comparing between these 2

Kingston KTA-MB1600 For MAC 2x4gb
OWC 1600MHz 2x4gb

Price difference between them is negligible. So im presuming either one should be fine?