View Full Version : Can [early '07?] support 4GB RAM?
illegallydead
Nov 4, 2008, 02:37 PM
As the title aptly suggests, my question is: can the older, I believe mine is the early '07, Macbooks support up to 4GB of RAM? I know that crucial lists 2GB as the max, and I believe that Apple lists 2 as the max as well.
Anyone know for sure if this will work? Anyone have 4 in there?
Kind of curious. Thanks for the help.
Eidorian
Nov 4, 2008, 02:39 PM
You can put in 4 GB but only ~3GB is addressable.
illegallydead
Nov 4, 2008, 02:41 PM
You can put in 4 GB but only ~3GB is addressable.
Thanks. Is this something that we are thinking Snow Leopard might address, or is it more of a hardware limitation for some reason?
Eidorian
Nov 4, 2008, 02:42 PM
Thanks. Is this something that we are thinking Snow Leopard might address, or is it more of a hardware limitation for some reason?The chipset can only support 32-bit addressing.
mrrish
Nov 4, 2008, 03:16 PM
I had 2x2 GB sticks on my BlackBook early '07 model. Only 3GB is really adressible, though if you play video games, you will get usage higher than 3GB because the video memory (GMA950) can address a specific region of your memory that your system can't. So we are looking at ~3256 MB at max usage.
The good thing about having 4 GBs is that the two identical sticks will provide dual channel read/write capabilities which make your system run faster overall.
Would recommend the above over a 1GB x 2GB configuration, seeing as you probably have 2 x 512 MB right now if you're still at stock.
illegallydead
Nov 4, 2008, 03:20 PM
I had 2x2 GB sticks on my BlackBook early '07 model. Only 3GB is really adressible, though if you play video games, you will get usage higher than 3GB because the video memory (GMA950) can address a specific region of your memory that your system can't. So we are looking at ~3256 MB at max usage.
The good thing about having 4 GBs is that the two identical sticks will provide dual channel read/write capabilities which make your system run faster overall.
Would recommend the above over a 1GB x 2GB configuration, seeing as you probably have 2 x 512 MB right now if you're still at stock.
Right on, good to know. I have the 2GB, 2x1GB setup. Just looking to get a bit more around the holidays if possible :D
Thanks for all the help.
iag48
Nov 4, 2008, 09:36 PM
Hate to hijack your thread but I currently have 2 x 1gb sticks in my black macbook (2.0 core2duo) and I have an extra 2gb stick laying around. Should I add the 2gb stick and 1gb ? or just leave it 2 x 1gb?
Neil321
Nov 4, 2008, 11:42 PM
Hate to hijack your thread but I currently have 2 x 1gb sticks in my black macbook (2.0 core2duo) and I have an extra 2gb stick laying around. Should I add the 2gb stick and 1gb ? or just leave it 2 x 1gb?
If it were me id buy another 2GB stick, its recommended that you use matched pairs for dual channel support
iag48
Nov 4, 2008, 11:55 PM
Neil, pardon my ignorance but I read that my late 2006 black MB does only addresses 3.2 gb of ram. Therefore wouldn't 4gb be redundant?
Or are you saying that although only 3.2 will be recognize that by using in pairs the memory will be more effective?
Neil321
Nov 5, 2008, 12:11 AM
Or are you saying that although only 3.2 will be recognize that by using in pairs the memory will be more effective?
Yep thats what trying to say even though it'll only recognize 3.2 you will benefit from dual channel support by using matched pairs
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