Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Can I put 8 GB of RAM in a 2008 Mac Book Pro?

C

Chris7

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 8, 2008
396
0
Lost in Thought
Can I put 8 GB of RAM in an early 2008 Mac Book Pro 15"?

The answer should be no, according to the early 2008 MBP spec sheet, and Apple tech support.
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP4
The reason I'm asking here is that the 2006 Mac Pro, for example, can handle much more RAM than its tech specs suggest, simply because the size of RAM modules has increased since the time of its release (specs say 16 GB, and it can easily handle 32 GB, even more with some care).
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP30
So I wonder if this is the case with the Mac Book Pro.

Thanks for your time,
Chris
 
I can't recall the source, but a website did a test to see how much RAM could fit in the late '08 models, and they said they could get 6 gigs in. :apple::apple:
 
Early 2008 15"

guydude193 said:
I can't recall the source, but a website did a test to see how much RAM could fit in the late '08 models, and they said they could get 6 gigs in. :apple::apple:
Click to expand...
iLog.Genius said:
Nope. 4GB official limit (as stated by Apple), 6GB unofficial limit.
Click to expand...
Thanks. What's the difference between an official and an unofficial limit?
ButtUglyJeff said:
Which model do you have?
Click to expand...
Early 2008 15". Not sure what other specifics would help. Just let me know.
-Chris
 
How can 6GB be the limit when the apple online store allows you to upgrade even the MBP 13 to up to 8GB. Of course the upgrade from 4GB to 8GB will cost $900 but it's possible.

However, this doesn't mean you can necessarily buy the MBP and upgrade it to 8GB yourself because the mobo needs to support it. Part of the $900 cost may go into upgrading your mobo. But even if the mobo supported it, you do realize that 8GB DDR3 Ram will cost you at least $500 on a really good deal.

I am not a mac expert but most pc makers are very evasive about what mobo they use so you'll need to somehow get that information to figure out if your mbp can be upgraded to 8gb or not.
 
kuchu said:
How can 6GB be the limit when the apple online store allows you to upgrade even the MBP 13 to up to 8GB. Of course the upgrade from 4GB to 8GB will cost $900 but it's possible.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:
Those are the new '09 models. Those are upgradable to the 8GB, but we're talking about last year's models.
 
Thanks. What's the difference between an official and an unofficial limit?
Click to expand...

Official limit would be the limit officially supported by Apple. While the Early 2008 MBPs has always been capable of addressing 6GB of RAM, at the time, 4GB modules were very expensive and not as accessible. The 2009 MP Quad is similar in this respect. Apple's official limit is 8GB (4x2GB), but the machine will easily accept 16GB or more with larger (albeit much more expensive) modules.

Plus, using a 2GB+4GB configuration on an Early 2008 MBP eliminates dual-channel operation (it requires matched pairs), which could be another possible reason why 6GB is the unofficial limit.
 
CaptainChunk said:
Official limit would be the limit officially supported by Apple. While the Early 2008 MBPs has always been capable of addressing 6GB of RAM, at the time, 4GB modules were very expensive and not as accessible... Plus, using a 2GB+4GB configuration on an Early 2008 MBP eliminates dual-channel operation (it requires matched pairs), which could be another possible reason why 6GB is the unofficial limit.
Click to expand...
Thanks Captain,

Wanting to max out the RAM to use HD footage w/ After Effects CS4. Apparently AE uses up to 3.5 GB/core. I have not tinkered with computers in this way before (pushing manufactures' rec's), but, if it requires matched pairs, seems like 2GB+4GB would not be a good idea.

Anything wrong with 4 GB x 2, even if the MBP will not necessarily accesses all of the memory? Would the RAM fit? Would this give a significant performance boost over 4 GB?
 
Chris7 said:
Anything wrong with 4 GB x 2, even if the MBP will not necessarily accesses all of the memory? Would the RAM fit?
Click to expand...
I was about to ask this. With 2x4GB, surely you'll still have that dual thing that makes it work nicer. Sure, you'll have paid a bit too much (an extra 2gb than what you need), but as far as I know, you can't get 3GB sticks.......
Just FYI, I have a MBP 4,1.
Peace
 
Someone was doing some testing but kind of did it halfway so the answer was semi-definitive.

But basically you can use up to 8gigs or ram on 2008 alu MBP with SL if you're using the 64 bit kernel.

I'm sure someone else could elaborate on that more, I didn't follow the topic extensively. (I'm honestly having a hard time filling up 4gigs with OSX. There's virtually no memory leak and everything is so clean!)
 
ajdb9 said:
I was about to ask this. With 2x4GB, surely you'll still have that dual thing that makes it work nicer. Sure, you'll have paid a bit too much (an extra 2gb than what you need), but as far as I know, you can't get 3GB sticks.......
Just FYI, I have a MBP 4,1.
Peace
Click to expand...

Barefeats.com and other have tested this. The problem is that the computer tries to use all 8GB of RAM. Once it starts using more than 6GB, however, things go wrong...

http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp11.html

This was the case with Leopard. The jury is out on Snow Leopard; I don't know what the latest update is there.
 
Thiol said:
Barefeats.com and other have tested this. The problem is that the computer tries to use all 8GB of RAM. Once it starts using more than 6GB, however, things go wrong...
Click to expand...

Adjb9, Meever, and Thiol,

Thanks for pulling this thread back up. Been on vacation so couldn’t respond. I found this link:
http://guides.macrumors.com/Understanding_Intel_Mac_RAM
Looks like my early 2008 MBP can handle 6 GB, but will crash at 8 GB on Leopard (like Thiol said).

I’m no computer expert, so I'm a little weary of using more than 4 GB, but would like the extra for Photoshop and After Effects. So if anyone here has successfully (or unsuccessfully) used 6 GB on an early 2008 MBP, your post would be much appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Meever said:
Someone was doing some testing but kind of did it halfway so the answer was semi-definitive.

But basically you can use up to 8gigs or ram on 2008 alu MBP with SL if you're using the 64 bit kernel.

I'm sure someone else could elaborate on that more, I didn't follow the topic extensively. (I'm honestly having a hard time filling up 4gigs with OSX. There's virtually no memory leak and everything is so clean!)
Click to expand...

I wish that was definitive, Id upgrade mine if that were so. I fill up ram easily. Especially with a VM. But i can do it easily w/o running a VM as well.
 
With 8GB installed, if you use more than 4GB of RAM, your computer would become very slow and the only way to alleviate it would be to reboot the machine.
 
alphaod said:
With 8GB installed, if you use more than 4GB of RAM, your computer would become very slow and the only way to alleviate it would be to reboot the machine.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:
Did you just make that up?

As another poster mentioned above, 8GB may work fine in SL using 64-Bit mode. According to OWC 6GB works just fine in all recent MBP models.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back