upgrading mac memory.

[Soap Mactavish]

Now ik what you guys are gonna say off the bat. "mac RAM is outrageously priced". But i found the manufacturers site and the cost of the RAM is fractional to Apple Store's price.

http://www.edgetechcorp.com/memory/upgrade.asp?cid=35543

now, i currently have 4GB of RAM installed on my mac right now. What i am thinking is that gaming speeds may improve with the full 8GB RAM installed. Should i spend the extra money for the (2x4GB), or is 4GB of RAM enough?

*anyone looking for Mac RAM or any other computer using EDGE RAM, this site seemed to be selling it for the cheapest.*

[Soap Mactavish]

it was my understanding that i could take out the two sticks of RAM (2GB each) and put the 2, 4GB sticks in the empty slots.

[Soap Mactavish]

what if i just bought 1 (4GB) stick of RAM? it will give me an increase and wont cost as much. Is that ok? or do i need equal amounts in each slot/

[aeria.]

You can do that. 1x4GB and 1x2GB will give you 6 GB of memory, however take note that I only have 2 GB of RAM and I still manage

[shadow]

What both red and ag are trying to say, 4 gb is good for normal gaming and normal computer use. I don't see why you would need more. Is your computer running slow?Do you have any problems when you have 2 or more programs open? Do you want to waste money? Do you have any problems with games running on low settings and still a bit laggy?

If you answer is no, then there's no need for you to upgrade your RAM.

Unless, you are planning to buy heavier software, or are planning on using more programs together.

If you still wanna do it, put 2 of the same sticks, gives you more efficiency.

[Soap Mactavish]

no, i dont have issues with regular apps open, its just CoD4 lags a little when i storm a house or get into a qucik situtation

[aeria.]

You can improve your framerate by disabling specular map, decreasing Texture Resolution, decreasing your resolution, or if you really need the performance, disable shadows altogether.

Here's how I usually adjust my ingame settings:

First thing first, disable Depth of Field. Disables the annoying blur when you are ADS, slight performance increase.

Next, open up the console and type in /fps_draw 1
This will allow you to monitor your FPS ingame. Your goal is to maintain a 60FPS for the most part and to never go low than 45 FPS in very heavy situations.


Use max resolution, max settings. Anti-alias smooths the jagged edges on guns, however it's very heavy on GPU performance. When your resolutions get higher, you won't need much AA because there's more pixels to draw. So if you're getting framerate problems, you can disable it.

If you're still having problems, try turning the resolution down to 720p/800p. IF the framerate is still bad, turn down the textures to High (or Normal if you need to go that low)

Then try disabling specular map. It doesn't make the weapons shiny anymore but it helps. Glow is also useful to disable. Lighting I suggest should be on at all times because you need to see.

After that, you might want to drop the resolution to 600p or lower. If that's the case, you should enable AA because it will be EVERY ugly if you don't.

If you computer is still failing to play cod4, try disabling shadows. This can be a disadvantage in lighted areas where you can see the shadows of your enemies, however it'll give you a good FPS boost.

After that... just disable everything and put the resolutions on low. It'll look horrible, however that's the only choice you got

See if that helps before you shell out the money for extra memory.

--AG

[Soap Mactavish]

Thx AG.