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HELP: Upgrading RAM on a Budget (Black Macbook)

M

maclook

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 2, 2008
1,146
40
Black Macbook
OSX 10.5.6
2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Uses: Photoshop CS4, Google SketchUp, and the most draining of all - Mozilla Firefox

I'm kind of a newbie with RAM but a friend suggested that bumping up my RAM will significantly improve the performance of my Mac. Right now I'm considering adding another GB of RAM to make it 2GB.
I have AppleCare so I'll probably let them handle the upgrade but I'm not too sure I want to buy the RAM sticks from the Apple store, assuming their prices are higher than competitors.

-How do I make sure I don't have two 512mb sticks? I'm pretty sure I don't but that would change my decision process greatly if I have to end up buying two 1gb sticks instead of one.
-When I search for the lowest price, does the new RAM stick need to be the exact same as my existing RAM (667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM)

Thanks for any help and additional tips for upgrading my RAM
 
kastenbrust said:
http://www.crucial.com/

Press Scan My System on the Left

Shows you exactly whats already inside your laptop
Shows you the maximum your laptop can take
and offers you some more of exactly what you need for sale at a reasonable price

:apple:
Click to expand...

I was curious and tried this even though I'm maxed out and the scanner is color-blind. It called my WhiteBook Black. How weird is that?
 
I'm pretty sure your Macbook would come with 2x512 and not 1x1gb, I think Apple always gives matched pairs.
 
hmm now that i think about it im pretty sure i have two 512s lol. that's a shame...so that means if i want 2gb of RAM i need to purchase two 1gb RAM sticks and then i have two useless 512mb sticks? (sidebar i dont know if theyre really called sticks i just dont know what else to call it)
 
maclook said:
hmm now that i think about it im pretty sure i have two 512s lol. that's a shame...so that means if i want 2gb of RAM i need to purchase two 1gb RAM sticks and then i have two useless 512mb sticks? (sidebar i dont know if theyre really called sticks i just dont know what else to call it)
Click to expand...

not useless. you can sell them. yeah you're right on all counts. I hear it's easy to do, looks easy. I have 2GB on it's way from newegg.
 
You're in luck; now is the best time to buy RAM :) Head over to Newegg.com and pick up a couple 1GBs for under $20 like already suggested. I believe 667MHz is the highest speed supported by these Macbooks, but I'm not sure.
 
If you are on a budget, check out eBay, seriously! There's lots of new RAM on there, and 4GB should set you back around $50-80 on eBay.

Your MacBook can handle 4GB (2x2GB)
 
maclook said:
realized that my old school macbook can only max out at 2gb RAM.
Click to expand...
Apple limited sales to 2GB of ram and that is their limitation. The hardware, however, can actually handle up to 3.3GB. If you were to order your 2x2GB set that you saw, that would give you the best possible performance. There would be a bit that the system would not use, but you would also get the advantage of dual channel. Despite what Apple says, your hardware can utilize 3.3GB, not just two. I have a model of the same revision running on 2.5GB and it works just fine.
 
Newegg right now, Crucial 4GB (2GBx2) $33 Your MacBook will more than likely only recognize 3GB, but you'll have Dual Channel Matched Ram
 
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