Digital Trends

Apple MacBook Pro 2.33GHz December 17th, 2006 | by Jason Tomczak

Experimentation with Crucial Memory

The new 15" MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo comes in two standard configurations - the 2.16GHz model with 1GB RAM, and the 2.33GHz model with 2GB of PC2-5300 (667MHz) memory. PC2-5300 laptop memory is some of the fastest on the market and allows the MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo to rip through beefy programs with whiplash-inducing speeds. Additionally, the MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo can operate with a maximum of 3GB RAM. Physically, the logic board will allow for installation of 4GB RAM, but the Intel chipset limits accessible RAM to 3GB.

I decided to test the MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo with all likely RAM levels - 1GB, 2GB, 3GB and 4GB - to see how applications, including OS X itself, would respond. The results were quite interesting. I used Crucial memory, not only due to the great quality I've come to expect, but for the benevolent pricing of RAM upgrades.

MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo & 1GB RAM
OS X boot time - 33 seconds
Open iTunes 7 - 12.2 seconds
Open Firefox 2 - 9.0 seconds
Open Acrobat Pro 7 - 30.3 seconds
Burn 512MB DVD - 6 mins 46 seconds
Import 112 photos (512MB) - 4 mins 45 seconds
Open 2.1MB photo in Photoshop - 39.6 seconds
Fully boot XP Pro in Parallels - 36.1 seconds

MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo & 2GB RAM
OS X boot time - 31 seconds
Open iTunes 7 - 6.9 seconds
Open Firefox 2 - 8.0 seconds
Open Acrobat Pro 7 - 25.73 seconds
Burn 512MB DVD - 6 mins 44 seconds
Import 112 photos (512MB) - 4 mins 44 seconds
Open 2.1MB photo in Photoshop - 16.9 seconds
Fully boot XP Pro in Parallels - 15.7 seconds

MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo & 3GB RAM
OS X boot time - 30 seconds
Open iTunes 7 - 3.89 seconds
Open Firefox 2 - 7.0 seconds
Open Acrobat Pro 7 - 11.39 seconds
Burn 512MB DVD - 6 mins 43 seconds
Import 112 photos (512MB) - 4 mins 44 seconds
Open 2.1MB photo in Photoshop - 15.2 seconds
Fully boot XP Pro in Parallels - 19.3 seconds

MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo & 4GB RAM **
OS X boot time - 30 seconds
Open iTunes 7 - 4.6 seconds
Open Firefox 2 - 8.3 seconds
Open Acrobat Pro 7 - 29 seconds
Burn 512MB DVD - 6 mins 43 seconds
Import 112 photos (512MB) - 4 mins 48 seconds
Open 2.1MB photo in Photoshop - 19.3 seconds
Fully boot XP Pro in Parallels - 17.1 seconds
** Again, the logic board will allow for installation of 4GB RAM, but the Intel chipset limits accessible RAM to 3GB.

Clearly, the 3GB configuration was the best overall.

A RAM anecdote: Like many techies around the world, I have regular occasion to open and edit large numbers of html files at a single sitting. My last project involved batch editing 170 beefy files. With my G5 iMac (1.5GB RAM, 2GHz), I was limited to opening about 40 files for batch editing under TacoHTML and TextMate before the system would begin to bog down. With the MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo and 2GB RAM, I was able to double the number of files I could edit simultaneously. With 3GB RAM, I've been able to open and edit nearly three times as many files at once, effectively cutting my work time by about 60%. The same scenario has been experienced in Photoshop and other apps most critical to my productivity.

Also important, the Crucial memory chips I've been using seem to run a bit cooler than the Samsung and Hynix chips that Apple supplied with the last two MacBook Pros that I purchased. Cooler is better.