MacBook (Mid 2007) Ram Upgrade

[TehFalcon]

I Currently have 2gb of ram on my macbook running lion, its the 2ghz model. I Play minecraft and its a ram and VRAM hog along with Mac OS X Being one also, so it is kinda struggling. I Am trying to do this smart and buy the right amount of ram taking into account that Since this macbook has the GMA 950 it runs with 64mb of VRAM on the Single monitor (MacBook Built in) and 80mb of VRAM when a secondary monitor is hooked up though the Mini DVI, and lastly when playing minecraft on the single monitor uses up about 192mb of VRAM and playing Minecraft with a second monitor maxes out the allowed memory to the GMA 950 at 224mb of VRAM (Anything over 80mb the GMA 950 will take from the system ram.). Take that and add that Mac OS X Lion uses about 2.7gb of ram under full load with what I do (YouTube,Movies,web, Simple Mac App store games..) And add Minecraft on top of that and the whole system under full load with minecraft uses up to 3.5gb of ram, when playing minecraft without other apps open, about 3gb. So With the Ram cap on the macbook being 3gb but it being able to take 4gb but not "FULLY" utilizing the 4gb will it Utilize at least 3.7gb?? Or just 3.5gb? Would it be worth just getting 3gb of ram or getting the 4gb of ram that it won't "FULLY" utilized.

Total Ram Needed under Full load with game: 3.72mb ram (With VRAM)
Total Ram Needed under full load without game: 2.78gb ram (With 80mb VRAM)
Total Ram Needed idle: 1.7gb (With VRAM)

 

[kaydot]

You won't be saving much money by getting 3gigs vs. 4 gigs (maybe $10 or so). So you might as well get the 4 gigs in two 2 gig modules. I'm pretty sure OWC has posted benchmarks that the 4 gig configuration is mildly faster (a few %) than the 3 gig config. I know I have seen this on a vendor webpage somewhere and have seen it verified by other benchmark websites when I did my research years ago.

The system will use up to 3.2 gigs no matter how much you put in there. The largest modules it will accept is 2 gigs per slot. When my 07 MacBook first shipped, it had two 512 meg modules, which I then replaced with the 4 gig configuration. The change was immediately noticeable.

 

[session101]

just make sure that when you get 4GB that they are matching sticks... i didn't even try my mac with 2 GB, i bought 4GB and put them into the mac the day i got it, its only $30-40 for the 2 sticks

HD upgrade would your next bet also

 

[Lara F]

Bump - I'm also looking to finally upgrade my RAM (2.16 GHz mid 2007 MB) as well post Lion.

This would seem to be the correct RAM but would anyone have other vendor recommendations? This is certainly more than $40...

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other+World+Computing/53IM2DDR4GBK/

Also does RAM pretty much need to be purchased online or by chance might there be a store I could go to in the Philadelphia area?

I'm hoping this will make a nice difference from 2GB, I just want less beachballs overall.

 

[z7tjxd45]

Bump - I'm also looking to finally upgrade my RAM (2.16 GHz mid 2007 MB) as well post Lion.

This would seem to be the correct RAM but would anyone have other vendor recommendations? This is certainly more than $40...

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other+World+Computing/53IM2DDR4GBK/

Also does RAM pretty much need to be purchased online or by chance might there be a store I could go to in the Philadelphia area?

I'm hoping this will make a nice difference from 2GB, I just want less beachballs overall.

I was a little surprised when seeing $40 for 2x2GB sticks of ram. Considering I recently bought a 2x2GB and 2x4GB pair for less than $30 each (from crucial.com).

Then after looking for your specific. DDR2 200pin 667MHz on crucial.com the cheapest 2x4GB kit I saw was also around $40. I know they sell RAM in stores but from what I've discovered on here; the popular pick is Crucial, Kingston, OWC... Those of which you'll usually find cheapest online, alternatively amazon.

 

[Lara F]

Okay, I found this Crucial set on New Egg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-148-201

I guess this is as good as it gets? Next step will be researching how to actually open my MB and do the replacement.

 

[harrybalzac]

I bought 2 2gb sticks from owc and after installing it, it says I have 4gb when I go to "About this Mac" on the upper left.

 

[Lara F]

4GB RAM upgraded. I ended up going to MicroCenter, cost about $45 and they were nice enough to actually lend me the tools to do the switch right in the store. Really nice in case of DOA sticks! Plus I'd never done it before so it was good to have the security. I definitely feel like an idiot having been upgraded by Apple in the past.

The HD slot looks tempting now to replace lol. But I think I'll stick with the original. Lion definitely feels like it's breathing better now, of course the true test will come after it's been up for a while with multiple Safari tabs.

 

[Lara F]

Three days later, I think it's safe to say this upgrade has extended the life of my Macbook another year till all the Ivy Bridge refreshes come out. Very very happy with the difference it's made. Now all that's truly missing is full gesture support!