Upgrading RAM

[jkim3691]

I have a 2008 Black Macbook that my parents are using that is slower than dirt and they don't even realize. They don't do anything besides browse the web so I figured I could just replace the RAM to speed things up and make things a little smoother. I'd like to buy them a Mac Mini to begin with, but seeing as they don't come standard with SSD's, I can't justify that purchase just yet. Anyways, I've never done this before and I'd like to know what kind of RAM I should get. I don't even know the stock amount on the Macbook, I'm guessing it's 2gigs. Is there a maximum I can upgrade to? The thing is still running on Leopard I believe. As long as it can browse the web, we're okay. I'm guessing a 4-8 gig upgrade would be efficient as long as there's no maximum capacity limit. According to Apple's website it looks like the maximum is 4 gigs...

 

[Bruno09]

Hi,

from late 2007 model to late 2008 models, the maximum RAM is 6 GB.
(See Mactracker for more infos...)

Here is what you need :
Maximum Memory 6.0 GB (Actual) 4.0 GB (Apple)
Memory Slots 2 - 200-pin PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMM

What I would do with this model is :

- upgrading the RAM to 4 GB (6 GB might be much more expensive)
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=C7911955A5CA7304

- upgrading the OS to Snow Leopard :
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

This model with Snow Leopard and 4 GB of RAM will run fine.

Of course, installing a SSD would be great.
If your parents do not need much storage, you could install a 120 GB SSD for ~$70 :
http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT120M500SSD1

 

[jkim3691]

Hi,

from late 2007 model to late 2008 models, the maximum RAM is 6 GB.
(See Mactracker for more infos...)

Here is what you need :
Maximum Memory 6.0 GB (Actual) 4.0 GB (Apple)
Memory Slots 2 - 200-pin PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMM

What I would do with this model is :

- upgrading the RAM to 4 GB (6 GB might be much more expensive)
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=C7911955A5CA7304

- upgrading the OS to Snow Leopard :
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

This model with Snow Leopard and 4 GB of RAM will run fine.

Of course, installing a SSD would be great.
If your parents do not need much storage, you could install a 120 GB SSD for ~$70 :
http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT120M500SSD1

Very interesting, I'm sure all of this would help a tremendous amount for a small fee. Sounds great. Thank you for the help.