MB 1,1-7,1 6gb in a 2009 White MacBook worth it?

[DouglasCarroll]

Hi everyone,

So I currently have a late 2009 White MacBook running Lion with 4gb of ram and saw that you can go to 6gb with a 4gb simm, but the 4gb simm is outrageously expensive ($50+ most places).

My question is, does anyone think it’s worth it to go from 4gb to 6gb on this machine with this OS, or not worth it?

I just mess around with this laptop so nothing serious, but I’ve never had to try and figure out this this kind of cost to gain so I’m undecided if it’s worth it.

Thanks in advance for any tips on this.

😁

 

[Bigwaff]

Thanks in advance for any tips on this.

Scour eBay. I'm sure you can find it much cheaper.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Per everymac, the late 2009 white macbook can go up to 8gb ram. I have a number of 2008 and 09 macbook and macbookpros with 8gb memory which I think the upgrade to 8 (with an ssd) is definitely a good idea if it can be done affordably. *not my auction* Check out this auction - Crucial 8gb kit for 22.50 shipped ... so closer to around $24.50 after sales tax.

Crucial 8GB KIT 2X 4GB DDR3 1066MHz PC3 8500S Laptop 204Pin SODIMM Memory Ram | eBay

DDR3 1066MHZ=PC3-8500,CL7. The SPD interface on the CPU-Z can be checked. Free user support. Capacity per Module4 GB. Total Capacity8 GB.

ebay.us

That's pretty affordable in my book. My wife spends more than that in a couple weeks on Starbucks coffee

Oh neat, here's another Crucial DDR3 ebay auction for 20.50 shipped.

Crucial 8GB(2x 4GB) KIT DDR3 1066MHz PC3-8500 204-Pin 2Rx8 SODIMM Memory Ram | eBay

Ddr3 1066MHZ=PC3-8500,CL7. The SPD interface on the CPU-Z can be checked. Free user support. Reminder: Be sure to use your product as directed.

ebay.us

 

[DCBassman]

Per everymac, the late 2009 white macbook can go up to 8gb ram. I have a number of 2008 and 09 macbook and macbookpros with 8gb memory which I think the upgrade to 8 (with an ssd) is definitely a good idea if it can be done affordably. *not my auction* Check out this auction - Crucial 8gb kit for 22.50 shipped ... so closer to around $24.50 after sales tax.

Crucial 8GB KIT 2X 4GB DDR3 1066MHz PC3 8500S Laptop 204Pin SODIMM Memory Ram | eBay

DDR3 1066MHZ=PC3-8500,CL7. The SPD interface on the CPU-Z can be checked. Free user support. Capacity per Module4 GB. Total Capacity8 GB.

ebay.us

That's pretty affordable in my book. My wife spends more than that in a couple weeks on Starbucks coffee

Oh neat, here's another Crucial DDR3 ebay auction for 20.50 shipped.

Crucial 8GB(2x 4GB) KIT DDR3 1066MHz PC3-8500 204-Pin 2Rx8 SODIMM Memory Ram | eBay

Ddr3 1066MHZ=PC3-8500,CL7. The SPD interface on the CPU-Z can be checked. Free user support. Reminder: Be sure to use your product as directed.

ebay.us

Ah but that's the *unibody* white Macbook. The A1181 whitebook takes DDR2 RAM, and 4GB sticks are pretty pricy.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Ah but that's the *unibody* white Macbook. The A1181 whitebook takes DDR2 RAM, and 4GB sticks are pretty pricy.

Ahh very good catch! I always forget they offered both a1181 & a1342 in 2009. You’re right, new is crazy expensive lol for 4gb sticks (50-70$usd). I did find this guy selling used working 4gb sticks for around 22$ + $8 shipping.

Crucial Micron Hynix GSkill Addon Black Diamond 4GB PC2 5300S/6400S SODIMM RAM | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Crucial Micron Hynix GSkill Addon Black Diamond 4GB PC2 5300S/6400S SODIMM RAM at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

ebay.us

Not my auction. Again, great catch @DCBassman. Thanks

 

[Anonymous Freak]

It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to do things that were current when it was new, 4 GB is plenty other than some extreme examples.

If you want to use it with modern uses, well, Lion is going to make that difficult enough. If you want to use OCLP to load something newer, more RAM would help. But CPU and GPU slowness would be more problematic.


And this all assumes you’ve already replaced the hard drive with an SSD. That will be the biggest speed boost.

 

[DouglasCarroll]

It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to do things that were current when it was new, 4 GB is plenty other than some extreme examples.

If you want to use it with modern uses, well, Lion is going to make that difficult enough. If you want to use OCLP to load something newer, more RAM would help. But CPU and GPU slowness would be more problematic.


And this all assumes you’ve already replaced the hard drive with an SSD. That will be the biggest speed boost.

That's what I pretty much figured. It doesn't seem like anyone who has read this can point to any real world example where having 6GB vs 4GB on this MacBook running Lion will make any difference at all (nobody has claimed "yeah man, after I blew the $50 my web browsing speed doubled"). I've already swapped out the hard drive for an SSD so I think that was the big "Wow man, you're really going to see a difference" change.

I guess I'll keep the 4GB AND the $50 in my pocket.

Thanks for all the input everyone, I appreciate it.