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Will the new Macbook take the 4GB of DDR3 Ram stick that is in the Macbook Pro's?

S

Samuelllll

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 9, 2008
8
0
As many people know, the new macbooks can support up to 6GB of ram althought it only says 4 on the apple website.

this is done by using one 2GB DDR3 stick and one 4GB DDR3 stick.

as the new macbook pros can take up to 8GB.. and there are only 2 ram channels, it will mean that they will use two 4GB sticks of ram.

would it be possible to buy one of these 4GB sticks.. combine it with a 2GB stick.. and allow my shiny new macbook to have 6GB of ram?!

Anyone know?!

Cheeeeeers :apple:
 
Samuelllll said:
As many people know, the new macbooks can support up to 6GB of ram althought it only says 4 on the apple website.

this is done by using one 2GB DDR3 stick and one 4GB DDR3 stick.

as the new macbook pros can take up to 8GB.. and there are only 2 ram channels, it will mean that they will use two 4GB sticks of ram.

would it be possible to buy one of these 4GB sticks.. combine it with a 2GB stick.. and allow my shiny new macbook to have 6GB of ram?!

Anyone know?!

Cheeeeeers :apple:
Click to expand...

You pretty much just answered your own question. You would need to have 1x2GB and 1x4GB to accomplish what you want.

The only MacBook that supports 8GB is the 17in Pro. The 15in does not.
 
yes you can use a 4GB stick and a 2GB stick to achieve 6 GB. the problem is that DDR3 4GB RAM sticks cost $500.
 
You could do this, but as I understand it in order for ram to run in dual channel mode both ram sticks need to be the same size. In other words If you install a 4 gig stick and a 2 gig stick, you may have 6 gig of ram but you will be running in single channel mode. This is why DDR [DDR2, and DDR3] are typically sold in pairs.

Whether you'd get better performance out of 6 gig of ram running in slower single channel mode, or or 4 gig of ram running in dual channel mode, . . . . no clue. Your best bet from a performance standpoint is to get two 4 gig sticks and live with having 2 gig of unrecognized ram.

Also, keep in mind Snow leopard will introduce 64 bit computing, which will increase maximum ram capacity enormously. Whether the hardware will be able to accomodate more than the current maximum tho . . . .
 
Mindinversion said:
You could do this, but as I understand it in order for ram to run in dual channel mode both ram sticks need to be the same size. In other words If you install a 4 gig stick and a 2 gig stick, you may have 6 gig of ram but you will be running in single channel mode. This is why DDR [DDR2, and DDR3] are typically sold in pairs.

Whether you'd get better performance out of 6 gig of ram running in slower single channel mode, or or 4 gig of ram running in dual channel mode, . . . . no clue. Your best bet from a performance standpoint is to get two 4 gig sticks and live with having 2 gig of unrecognized ram.

Also, keep in mind Snow leopard will introduce 64 bit computing, which will increase maximum ram capacity enormously. Whether the hardware will be able to accomodate more than the current maximum tho . . . .
Click to expand...

i'm sorry but that's bad advice. the macbooks "freak out" with 2x4GB. Don't know why, but don't do that. also, like i said, the 4GB sticks are expensive. the cheapest i've seen is $500 apiece. also, if you need to utilize 6GB of RAM or more, you should probably be using a Mac Pro.
 
Just to clarify, RAM being the same size won't accommodate dual channel. They need to be completely identical, which is the real reason they are sold in pairs. Even two sticks of RAM that are made by the same manufacturer can have enough discrepancy between them to make them incompatible for dual channel if they are not produced from the same batch.

It's just not cost effective and doesn't make sense performance wise to upgrade to anything above 4GB RAM at the moment. Just sit tight until it's actually officially supported by Apple before doing anything rash.
 
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