Mini ram upgrade question

Well I have my duo mini, she's great. But as I've contuned to use more complecated and beafy programs, even World Of Warcraft, I've decided that 1 gb of ram is in order. Although I'm kicking myself that I didn't get it with 1 gb in the first place it still has to be done...

So, obvousily I have the standard 512 mb ram, but I'm not sure if I need to get a full gb and replace what I have, or just to throw in another 512 on top of the one I already got in there.

That's one question ^.^

Another is that there is no way I'm gonig to do this myself. One because I'm not confident in my abilities, another because I don't know what warrinties I would void >.<

So I guess my second question is how I would go about getting it installed. As in where to by the right one, along with where and/or how to get it installed reliabily

Any insight on any of this is appreciated, thanks for taking the time to read this and thats for taking any time to respond to it ! :black:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303378

Apple says

Additional memory should be installed by an Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider.

Click to expand...

. Many mini owners choose to do it themselves (much cheaper that way) but it's a tricky process involving a putty knife.

Any damage you cause will certainly not be covered by warranty.

No matter how much ram you put in it World of Warcraft is always going to be slow because of the GMA950 graphics.

From what I've read, the act of upgrading the RAM yourself will void NO warranties, but any damage you cause will NOT be covered.

I watched a quicktime movie at http://media.macsales.com/videos/mini/intel/highres.html that was very good (no, I have no reason to open my Mac at this time, so I didn't try it).

Do a search on this forum as there is a particular brand and model of putty knife that works great...others will have to be filed down with sandpaper to make them slim enough to fit. The number 1 thing about opening the mini is to take your time - go slow.

For the actual upgrade, you will have to buy 2 512 MB DIMMs - Apple doesn't leave an open slot from their factory installs.

technologist said:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303378

Apple says. Many mini owners choose to do it themselves (much cheaper that way) but it's a tricky process involving a putty knife.

Click to expand...

And reportedly much trickier on the Intel minis than it was on the G4 ones.

I just finished upgrading the RAM and it's actually relatively easy. The quicktime video from OWC made it quite simple. The only real trick I had was releasing the clips for the SODIMM slots. They're not the most robust and one actually popped off. It didn't make a difference, the RAM went in fairly easily. The nice thing about the video instructions is that they highlight the important information, like how to remove the antennae so you don't damage anything. I did leave a couple of scuff marks on the bottom of my mini but it was well worth the savings. I was able to pick up a 2 x 1gb pack of RAM with overnight delivery for $150. The upgraded RAM has made a huge difference in the performance of my machine.

jim

Yeah the intel mini's are quite a bit trickier than the PowerPC models, but as long as you follow the instructions carefully, it can be done.

But I wouldn't recommend it if you've never done this sort of thing before...

Thanks for all the insight so far,
Alright, I've just finished watching the movie... while your inside it seems simple enough if you just go slowly...

Only thing I don't trust is prying off the chassie with the puddy knife >.<

So... if I were to send it in somewhere does it have to be an apple specific retail store or something like, oh lets say future shop or bestbuy? ^.^

Unfortunately, no.

Your mac mini has 2x 256 MB of RAM in there, if you ordered the standard configuration. (You can check under apple->about this mac-> more info->memory).

So I'd either go for 1x1GB & 1x256MB or 2x1GB (paired RAM supposedly gives you a slight performance benefit).

My goodness, what an ordeal to change that hardware. I wonder why they do that?

Jonnyfive said:

My goodness, what an ordeal to change that hardware. I wonder why they do that?

Click to expand...

Lol,oh yes, why ever would they do that? It most certainily wasn't done on purpose... *wink*wink*

But once again, the only thing I'm afraid of is the putty-knife-prying... I really don't want to bend and/or crack my chassy >.<

That's really lame if they made it so people would pay to get it upgraded by an apple certified tech. If I were a tech I would be annoyed that it's so stupid to open, I am sure some of the cases have to get broken in the process from time to time.

It could be maybe because it is a consumer level computer, not really meant to mucked around with. Consider the powermacs which are professional level and how easy they are to open and work with.

That's what I would like to believe anyways...

Ok, so just as an atempt to sum this up... I should just go for some Ram at like TigerDirect and take it from there, right?

Uhm, and just to make myself sound like an idiot; I don't any specific ram do I? Just the regular that works with everything? >.<

I have WoW and 2 gigs of RAM, and I have to use all the setting on low for a decent FPS rate.