Black macbook RAM situation.

[mizquierdo31]

I know this has most likely been posted before but I just want to be sure before I go ahead and order something. I apologize for repeating stuff. I have a 2008 black macbook (macbook 4,1). 6GB RAM max capacity. I'd like to max it out, but in order to do so, I'd have to put in 4GB+2GB. This is obviously not matching which I hear increases performance if they are matching.

I'd like to just hear some thoughts about what you guys think about this. Is it worth it to go with 4+2? Is it better to just go 2+2 since its matching? Will the matching performance of the 2+2 be better than the mismatched 4+2? Although it is only possible for a maximum of 6GB on this system, is it possible to have 4+4 which would satisfy the matching criteria and still provide atleast 6GB of RAM?

Any insight would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[seveej]

I know this has most likely been posted before but I just want to be sure before I go ahead and order something. I apologize for repeating stuff. I have a 2008 black macbook (macbook 4,1). 6GB RAM max capacity. I'd like to max it out, but in order to do so, I'd have to put in 4GB+2GB. This is obviously not matching which I hear increases performance if they are matching.

I'd like to just hear some thoughts about what you guys think about this. Is it worth it to go with 4+2? Is it better to just go 2+2 since its matching? Will the matching performance of the 2+2 be better than the mismatched 4+2? Although it is only possible for a maximum of 6GB on this system, is it possible to have 4+4 which would satisfy the matching criteria and still provide atleast 6GB of RAM?

Any insight would be appreciated! Thanks!

Greetings,

Firstly, (just to make sure) not all "blackbooks" support 6 gigs (see http://www.everymac.com/systems/by_capability/actual-maximum-ram-capacity-of-macs.html), but I'm assuming you have one of the later models...

Whether you get any increase in performance from 4->6 gigs is largely dependent on whether (and how often) your current 4 gigs are used up.

I recommend you familiarize yourself with the activity monitor's "memory" tab and how to study it. But to say it short: If 4 gigs is not enough (and 6 gigs would be better), the performance increase you could get from adding RAM outweighs any slowdown from "mismatching".

RGDS,

P.S. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2329132?start=0&tstart=0