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MacBook Late 2006 (2,1) RAM Upgrade

M

malman89

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 29, 2011
1,651
6
Michigan
So I've had my MacBook for closing in on 5 years now and I've managed to stick with the stock 1 GB RAM all this time. Things have been getting pretty sluggish - here's a picture from mid-afternoon on Sunday after a bunch of Chrome browsing, viewing in VLC, and various other programs.

I'm still running Leopard 10.5.8. I just ordered 4 GB of RAM off OWC. Will I see a pretty significant boost in performance or at least decreased sluggishness from multi-tasking?

Also would Snow Leopard be a reasonable upgrade? I don't want to upgrade for the sake of upgrading if it'll decrease performance. We upgraded to Lion at work and I really have no intention of putting that on this laptop, probably ever.
 
malman89 said:
here's a picture from mid-afternoon on Sunday after a bunch of Chrome browsing, viewing in VLC, and various other programs.

I'm still running Leopard 10.5.8. I just ordered 4 GB of RAM off OWC. Will I see a pretty significant boost in performance or at least decreased sluggishness from multi-tasking?

Also would Snow Leopard be a reasonable upgrade?
Click to expand...
If that represents normal use for you, it looks like you'd benefit from more RAM. Be aware that page outs are cumulative since your last restart, so to get a clear picture, restart, then track page outs under normal use. If they're around 1GB or more, bump your RAM. I'd expect your performance with Leopard and SL would be similar.
 
I believe only 3 GB of the memory is addressable, so if you are running off of 1x1 GB there is no added advantage to having 2x2 GB.

I found SL to be a bit more streamlined and snappier than 10.5, just my opinion but probably worthwhile upgrade for around $20 (used copy). Lion on the other hand is completely unusable on my 2 GHz 2,1. I web browse a bit, or try and multitask and the fans go crazy. Granted, it might just be my computer, but still...
 
One of my Sitcks of ram on mine was broken so i sent it back so I ahev only 2GB at the moment.... Sooo much faster! Its amazing!

BTW, It supports up to 3.3GB of ram but runs faster because it has twin RAM modules... 
 
Yeah, I saw it recognizes 3.3 GB. Considering 2x2GB sticks were just about $60 shipped, I ordered a pair. Hopefully should have 4 (or 3.3) GB of RAM as of tomorrow. Really looking forward to seeing the results. I also do some gaming in WinXP via Bootcamp, which does seem to recognize the full 4GB, so that should be a solid upgrade.

I debated not buying in the first place because I was hoping to get a new laptop within the next 6-12 months, but it's now looking more like 12-18 (if it holds up), so I figured it was worth biting the bullet and upgrading. Didn't want to suffer sluggishness for that long.
 
I was in a similar situation about a year ago and RAM made a huge difference. Also have upgrade from Leopard -> SL -> Lion. I think SL has a lot more built in efficiencies. Only have had Lion a week so don't know on that.
 
Well, Activity Monitor and About this Mac recognize 4GB RAM total. I was a bit surprised to see that, since I constantly heard it only utilizes 3.3GB. Does it display 4 and only use 3.3? I guess I could open VLC, Photoshop and some other things to find out, but it at least appears to recognize 4 GB under 10.5.8
 
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