1 Gig stick or 2x512 MB sticks of RAM?

Sorry to ask this newbie question but what's better for a macbook pro's performance? 1 gig stick or 2x512 MB sticks of RAM? Does Macbook pro have dual channel?

 

in general 1gb sticks are better, so that later on you could add in another stick, but not only that. dual channel is overrated. i prefer single channel because even though the work is done by one stick its not broken up, which to put back together causes extra time delays, so each has its own benefit, i prefer single channel.

 

Thats just wrong.

The only thing that you said was true was that some people like to just put in one stick now (all they can afford at the time) and so they don't end up just tossing aside their other sticks.

Dual Channel is not overrated in the slightest, being in the IT field any gains in performance is welcome.

The reason why dual channel was designed was to address the increasing processor bottleneck that was becoming more and more apparent as processor speeds increased as well as data paths getting larger as well. To address the issue they designed Dual channel.

Here is a quote I found that answers this pretty well.

I have done tests on computers I've built in the past and always seen a huge increase of speed with dual channel usually 20%+ so really if you have a notebook that has a memory controller with the technology to use dual channel, then by all means take advantage of it!

However if your absolutely sure that you will get another stick to compliment that 1gb stick in the near future, than by all means just use the single channel way until you get that other stick to make it 2gb. 2GB is the sweet spot now.

remember if you are using a dual core processor, they definitely take advantage of the dual channel technology, just think about it if you had single channel and 2 processors demanding attention of the memory than that bottleneck effect gets even larger.

 

get the cheapest ram they have in the configuration menu, then go to Newegg and for $160 get 2x1gig sticks and you'll be better off.

 

Yeah, it's probably better to get the cheapest from apple then get the ram from newegg. Just make sure it's the right ram!
And keep the old one tucked away incase you have problems and they want to do tests with the original ram or if you have to send it back for any reason.

 

How do I know which ram is the right one for the Macbook pro? I've never bought ram in my life so I have no idea what the numbers mean.

 

Crucial's Memory Advisor will tell you the exact type of RAM you'll need. It is located here:

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listmodel.asp?cat=RAM&mfr=Apple&productline=MacBook+Pro&submit=Go

Just select your processor type and you'll be set.

 

Thanks for the link!

 

Everything I have read has said that in today's computers Dual-channel offers negligible gains. It just doesn't boost performance that much. Now that is not to say don't run dual channel, but it is far from essential.

Here's an article with benches:
http://www.tcmagazine.info/articles.php?action=show&id=128&perpage=1&pagenum=1

 

That link is way over a year old now, and computer technology has changed dramatically since then. I would never take a source more than a few months old and state that it stills applies today.

Dual Channel has come a bit since then.

A recent MBP test I seen confirmed that they saw a 20%+ increase in speed from using dual channel.

 

Well, all I know is I just went from 1.5 GB of RAM, single-channel to 2 GB of RAM dual-channel over the weekend. I see no difference. I think dual-channel is preferred, but nowhere near important when making the intial configuration of your computer. What I am saying is that 1.5GB RAM in single-channel will always be better than 1GB in dual-channel. And 1GB dual channel vs single channel won't show a noticable difference in most tasks.

So for the OP, my opinion is get whatever Apple offers standard and upgrade later. This way you save some dough, have backup RAM for testing, and if you ever have to return it, it is easier because you have a standard configuration.