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clyde2801

macrumors 601
There have been times where I put in a faster clocked ram in a system with a lower clocked motherboard, FSB, etc. (I.E. put in pc 2700 ram in a machine originally build for pc 2100.) The rule was that the computer would recognize the new ram, and throttle it back to the maximum speed supported by the system. My pc 2700 ram would be throttled back to pc 2100 speeds.

It wouldn't hurt anything to put in the higher speed ram, it just didn't perform any faster.
 

relativist

macrumors regular
Jan 13, 2009
179
0
There have been times where I put in a faster clocked ram in a system with a lower clocked motherboard, FSB, etc. (I.E. put in pc 2700 ram in a machine originally build for pc 2100.) The rule was that the computer would recognize the new ram, and throttle it back to the maximum speed supported by the system. My pc 2700 ram would be throttled back to pc 2100 speeds.

It wouldn't hurt anything to put in the higher speed ram, it just didn't perform any faster.

This does not seem to be the case here. The FSB is at 1066, so having 800 ram isn't a problem. The fact that About This Mac shows my ram as 800MHz and I'm getting a big difference in certain xbench scores hints that 800MHz ram is worth getting. Besides the cost difference between 800 and 667 ram isn't much.
 

smadder

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 28, 2006
67
0
Has anyone tried DDR3 RAM in the white Macbook? Since it uses the Nvidia 9400M chipset, which is what the Aluminum models use, is there not a reasonable chance that it'll work with DDR3?

No. It won't even fit. The slots are for DDR2, not DDR3. You can check out the chipset specs on the Nvidia website: the 9400M set can be configured for DDR3 slots or DDR2 slots, but not both. DDR2 slots are 200 pin and DDR3 are 204. They are physically incompatible.
 

smadder

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 28, 2006
67
0
Not that it would work or anything, but has anyone tried 8Gb on one of these white nvidia macbooks?

At $150+ per chip, I know I'm not going to try anytime soon.

The Nvidia site doesn't specify any RAM maximum for the 9400M chipset. The chipset is the same throughout the MacBook/MacBook Pro line, but Apple only lists the 17" as being able to support a full 8GB. I've read that people have been getting 6GB recognized on the 15", but haven't read anything beyond 4GB being recognized on the Nvidia MacBooks.

And holy S%@T is it expensive.
 

tayloralmond

macrumors 6502
Mar 26, 2009
446
8
Michigan, USA
At $150+ per chip, I know I'm not going to try anytime soon.

The Nvidia site doesn't specify any RAM maximum for the 9400M chipset. The chipset is the same throughout the MacBook/MacBook Pro line, but Apple only lists the 17" as being able to support a full 8GB. I've read that people have been getting 6GB recognized on the 15", but haven't read anything beyond 4GB being recognized on the Nvidia MacBooks.

And holy S%@T is it expensive.

I'm excited enough to know that I can go up to 6GBs of RAM once 4GB SODIMMs go down in price. Although I'd prefer to go to 8GB so I'd have a crazy amount of RAM and dual channel :D
 

relativist

macrumors regular
Jan 13, 2009
179
0
I checked the nVidia 9400m RAM support document, and it does list a 4GB DDR2 800MHz ram stick as compatible, so it's possible. I'm surprised no one has tried it yet... no one? I think your right though, for the cost of one of these 8GB sets you could buy an OCZ Vertex SSD hard drive.
 

SloopJohnB

macrumors newbie
Jan 18, 2009
29
0
So, this means the white macbook with 9400M supports 800mhz ddr2 ram (or maybe higher)? What about the older whitebooks with intel chipset, do they support 800mhz ddr2 too?
 

relativist

macrumors regular
Jan 13, 2009
179
0
No word officially from Apple that I've seen, but on the nVidia white Macbook DDR2 800MHz runs at 800MHz as shown by OSX. From other's posts DDR2 800MHz Ram will run at 667MHz on the previous Intel based Macbooks. The thing no one has yet reported, is how the nVidia Macbook would handle 8GB DDR2 800MHz.
 

SloopJohnB

macrumors newbie
Jan 18, 2009
29
0
8GB of ddr2 800mhz memory??? That would be sweet. It would mean a huge difference between the nvidia whitebook and the intel ones.
 

relativist

macrumors regular
Jan 13, 2009
179
0
Yes it would be nice, but it's a total unknown. I just feel lucky that they are letting 800MHz work, especially because the RAM is also the VRAM.
 

relativist

macrumors regular
Jan 13, 2009
179
0
I have not yet found a reliable source of inexpensive DDR2 that's 1066MHz, so I haven't tried it. In my opinion if the memory upgrade is around $400 it's better to get an OCZ Vertex 120GB drive instead. $20 for 4GB of DDR2 at 800MHz after MIR is hard to beat.
 

thai.son.dang

macrumors newbie
May 29, 2009
1
0
4 Gb 800 Mhz DDR2 Ram works in my Nvidia white macbook

DDR2 800 mhz works in Nvidia White Macbook (Late 2009). I popped the two ram sticks in, Mac OS X booted up fine and about this mac shows 4 gb 800 mhz ddr2 sdram, xbench shows increased bandwidth. This was kind of an iffy upgrade because apple officially says this laptop only supports 667 mhz ram. So if you were on the fence with an nvidia white macbook, go ahead and upgrade to 800 mhz ddr2, it works. Used el cheapo ram from newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159024
 

andalusia

macrumors 68030
Apr 10, 2009
2,945
8
Manchester, UK
DDR2 800 mhz works in Nvidia White Macbook (Late 2009). I popped the two ram sticks in, Mac OS X booted up fine and about this mac shows 4 gb 800 mhz ddr2 sdram, xbench shows increased bandwidth. This was kind of an iffy upgrade because apple officially says this laptop only supports 667 mhz ram. So if you were on the fence with an nvidia white macbook, go ahead and upgrade to 800 mhz ddr2, it works. Used el cheapo ram from newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159024

+1
Worked for me too. Posted some links to Crucial in another thread too... US and UK...
 

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,599
33
Has anyone tried DDR3 RAM in the white Macbook? Since it uses the Nvidia 9400M chipset, which is what the Aluminum models use, is there not a reasonable chance that it'll work with DDR3?

No, it won't work, The ram slots run at a different voltage on DDR2 slots than DDR3. The 9400M chipset has different variations. The memory controller on the northbridge takes both, but the slots themselves would have to be changed for it to work. Also, there is very little if any difference in performance difference between ddr2 800mhz and ddr3 1066mhz and it will only show in certain memory benchmarks. Also, the front side bus is the botteneck in memory performance on the macbooks and not the memory so don't buy the aluminum Macbook only because your afraid the ddr2 is going to be much slower than the ddr3. The base level white macbook is faster than the base level aluminum one.
 
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