Can someone help me with installing used RAM on a MacBook Pro?

[dukexx]

I have two 1GB RAM cards I took out of my old Gateway laptop after it crashed and I was wondering if I'll be able to use them in my MacBook Pro.

But I have absolutely no clue what kind they are so if anyone can give me input as to how to tell the difference between DDR2 and DDR3 is then that would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.


**EDIT**
I already understand that RAM can't be used by a computer that doesn't accept a certain type of DDR and frequency so if someone can stay focused as to what I'm asking and let me know how I can tell the difference so I can figure out if it's compatible or not.

 

[geoffreak]

RAM can't be used by another computer unless it is the same DDR type and the exact same frequency (some chipsets can accept a few frequencies).
As a general rule of thumb, no, it will not work.

 

[Makosuke]

DDR2 and DDR3 laptop RAM have the same number of pins, but the key notch is in a different location. You could easily enough Google up a picture of each and see which one looks exactly like your RAM.

That won't tell you if it's of a high enough speed rating even if it is the right type, though, so a better bet would be to Google the part number on the RAM, which will hopefully point you to a page that tells you exactly what its specs are. This is assuming that the label doesn't explicitly say something like "DDR3-800" or "PC3-6400" on it.

Does it? Or is there no label at all? (If not, fall back on the image search, though if it is the correct type the only way to tell if it's fast enough is to try and see if it works--the wrong speed but right format won't hurt anything, though stuffing the wrong format into the wrong slot will break one or both of the devices involved.)

 

[Dan73]

First of all I'm wondering why would you want to put your old laptop's ram into your new one? The MacBook only has 2 RAM slots and you already have 2x 1GB sticks in there so even if you could it would be pointless to swap it out.

Also I'm 99% sure that your old RAM is DDR2.