Macbook 5,1 RAM question PLEASE HELP!

[rgibson57]

I purchased the unibody aluminum Macbook with the identifier Macbook 5,1 in the Summer of 2009 right before the 7 hour batteries were released. I have 4g of RAM in there now and have not seen this question actually "answered" yet. I know I can put 6g in there but is 8g possible without any problems?
Please HELP!

 

[GfulDedFan]

To my knowledge, 6GB is the max on our machines. This is from looking at the offerings presented by macsales.com who test RAM for all of the Mac products. If 8GB would work, I'm sure they'd offer it. I have 4GB installed also.

 

[Blondie :)]

Lame sauce...why is it that the older version of the MacBook can have 6GB of ram, but the newer ones are still stuck with 4? What is this!?!? lol

 

[GfulDedFan]

Lame sauce...why is it that the older version of the MacBook can have 6GB of ram, but the newer ones are still stuck with 4? What is this!?!? lol

On the contrary, the white unibody MacBook can except and use 8GB of RAM. The price for it is a little saucy though.

 

[AlphaDogg]

On the contrary, the white unibody MacBook can except and use 8GB of RAM.

First of all, it is spelled "accept," not "except." Second, no, the white unibody MacBook can only support 4GB of ram.

 

[blackburn]

too bad mine has 8GB and works fine check owc they test each mac for max ram they can handle, but pretty sure that the unibody with removable battery can only handle 6gb without problems

 

[GfulDedFan]

First of all, it is spelled "accept," not "except." Second, no, the white unibody MacBook can only support 4GB of ram.

Sorry about the grammar error.

 

[rgibson57]

So does anyone have 8g of RAM in their 5,1 macbook?

 

[redbotsoftware]

So does anyone have 8g of RAM in their 5,1 macbook?

No, 8gb of ram will not work. I have the same 5,1. To get a huge boost I went with a SSD instead, and it's so easy to instal in these ones! OWC has a really nice SSD!

 

[cyman83]

No, 8gb of ram will not work. I have the same 5,1. To get a huge boost I went with a SSD instead, and it's so easy to instal in these ones! OWC has a really nice SSD!

are you sure? i have 8gb in my 5,1 unibody macbook..

 

[Xenophon]

Many recent reports on this site from people running it on SL 10.6.4 with 8Gb of RAM. Apparently the EFI-update was quietly implemented and the limitation of 4Gb doesn't hold anymore. I'll give it a shot in october, can't get RAM at acceptable prices where I am now.

 

[unixperience]

it can work. heres this thread with many sucesses, https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/713456/ but the most useful part is where people tell what kidn fo memory they bought. it seems almost unanimous that the crucial kit: CT1226789 8GB Kit (4GBx2), 204-pin SODIMM
works well. I myself have the same model as you and would liek to try 8gb, but right now I have no use, and no money. one thing to note is th OWC 8gb modules WON'T work, there is some problem with the way the index the ram or something to that effect. So to answer your question, you can put 8gb of ram in you just have to be picky about the brand (or lucky)

*EDIT* if you were planning on using the ram so you can run a virtual machine I would advise against it. I have the 2.4ghz ic2d and i threw win7 on there, it made my mac run really hot and used more processor than i thought was necessary so I uninstalled it and stuck with bootcamp. just my 2 cents

 

[Blondie :)]

On the contrary, the white unibody MacBook can except and use 8GB of RAM. The price for it is a little saucy though.

Well, according to Apple at least you can only have 4GB. But yes, right after posting this I actually read a post of a MB user putting 8GB of RAM in. He, however, had to pay for a program to change the bus speed from 1333MHz to 1067MHz. But hey, it still works

 

[blackburn]

Nope I didn't pay a cent used linux with eeprog a bit advanced but it worked for free

The 1333Mhz ram works but the macbook heats up more and I like it cool

 

[TOYSTER17]

I only have 2GB. Where's a good place to buy some ram?

 

[celticpride678]

I only have 2GB. Where's a good place to buy some ram?

Crucial.com or OWC

 

[msmezher]

8GB works MacBook 5,1 (Late 2008) 2.0Ghz C2D

I can verify that 8GB RAM will work in a MacBook5,1 Aluminum Unibody Intel C2D 2.0Ghz running Snow Leopard 10.6.6. I just installed 2x4GB of Crucial DDR3 PC3-8500 204-Pin SODIMM RAM and have tested it by opening every program on my computer utilizing over 4GB of the RAM. I'll update later when I run some benchmarks on the RAM itself to use closer to 8GB. About this Mac, Activity Monitor, and iStat Pro show either 8GB or 7.75GB (due to the NVIDIA 9400m having 256MB shared RAM with the system).
If necessary I can provide screen shots, etc. Also, I got the RAM for 80$ off NewEgg (it was actually cheaper to buy 2 individual 4GB sticks from Crucial than to buy the identical sticks in a 2 pack).
8GB RAM + SSD is awesome. My computer feels faster and more responsive than my brother's Late 2010 13.3" MacBook Pro (OSx10.6.6 2.4 Ghz Intel C2D, 4GB DDR3 1066 RAM, NVIDIA 330m w/256MB Memory).