Will this ram work on my Macbook?

[Ramius]

I´m considering upgrading the ram on my Macbook Aluminum Unibody, first edition from october 2008.

OSX tells me it uses "2gb 1067 MHz DDR3" ram. So I need DDR3, but will this work:

Kingston DDR3 HyperX 1600MHz 8GB
Kit w/2X HyperX 4GB DDR3, CL9-9-9-27

Is this something I can put in my machine? Despite being 1600MHz? Or does it need to have the same ammount of MHz as the default ram that came with the Macbook?

There are only two slots for RAM right? So I need to take the old ones out anyway?

 

[CocoSS]

Check out this http://www.crucial.com/ . Select your model and you can see available upgrades.

 

[visim91]

Don't use 1600, use 1067.
I have the same computer as you: the 8GB upgrade made multi-tasking quite manageable.
I went with OWC.
Crucial works great too.

 

[Ramius]

Don't use 1600, use 1067.
I have the same computer as you: the 8GB upgrade made multi-tasking quite manageable.
I went with OWC.
Crucial works great too.

I just ordered one brick of 4gb from Corsair, and I decided to listen to Apple here, when they say my Macbook can only take 4gb. Not more.

Is this not true after all then?

 

[snaky69]

I just ordered one brick of 4gb from Corsair, and I decided to listen to Apple here, when they say my Macbook can only take 4gb. Not more.

Is this not true after all then?

Yes, but RAM is better in matching pairs as it allows you to use dual channel. You would've been better off with 2x2gb.

 

[Ramius]

Well just in theory, or is this something I will actually notice? 4gb is still better than 2 right? So I should be noticing improved performance.

I have Macbook unibody from late october 2008. I just learned that despite what Apple says, it can actually take 8gbs of ram. Is this true?

If so, I can just buy another 4gb chip and put in the machines second slot. Then it will be dual channel again?!

 

[snaky69]

Well just in theory, or is this something I will actually notice? 4gb is still better than 2 right? So I should be noticing improved performance.

I have Macbook unibody from late october 2008. I just learned that despite what Apple says, it can actually take 8gbs of ram. Is this true?

If so, I can just buy another 4gb chip and put in the machines second slot. Then it will be dual channel again?!

It does take 8Gb, I just checked for you. You can go ahead a buy a second one.

 

[Ramius]

It does take 8Gb, I just checked for you. You can go ahead a buy a second one.

Where did you check this?

And is there no silly problems with buying a second one, like the two not being "paired" or "made to work in pairs" or "meant to be together" or something?

Is it fine with two separatly sold, but identical RAM chips?

 

[snaky69]

Where did you check this?

And is there no silly problems with buying a second one, like the two not being "paired" or "made to work in pairs" or "meant to be together" or something?

Is it fine with two separatly sold, but identical RAM chips?

Macsales.com is a great place to check for RAM compatibility.

And no, you won't have any problems with individually bought but identical RAM modules.

 

[visim91]

I have the same exact notebook as you. Same one. 8GB is fine. They "fixed" it.

Paired (2x4gb) memory is what you need.
1067 speed.
DDR3.

Don't get creative, man.

 

[odin2free]

4gb x 2
that is what you can go with...
ive used this and it works perfectly for me
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139482

It will clock it down to what the logicboard prefers...
although i believe that intel systems like to have high frequency memory , which is weird that mac would have you locked at this frequency...

That kit works
oh and if you do get more memory dont get that made for apple memory from crucial and such, there is no performance difference between the apple branded (crucial apple line) with any other memory...it works and you will gain better performance from your notebook...

 

[Ramius]

I have the same exact notebook as you. Same one. 8GB is fine. They "fixed" it.

Paired (2x4gb) memory is what you need.
1067 speed.
DDR3.

Don't get creative, man.

When you say "paired" - are you contradicting what snaky said? Are you telling me I must get a set of two chips that are "meant to be together"? Or are your stating whats already been learned, that I just need two identical chips?

 

[BlakeBrattina]

Will the PIN matter at all when buying new RAM? What is the technical difference between 204 and 240?

 

[theSeb]

Will the PIN matter at all when buying new RAM? What is the technical difference between 204 and 240?

The difference is that one has 204 pins and the other 240 pins. Now imagine male and female plugs. The RAM is the male and the the slots in the mother board are the female. If your motherboard has 204 pins, it will be difficult to push in 240 pins.

Matching pins
| | | |
| | | |

Not-matching pins
| | | | |
||||||||

 

[Ccrew]

Will the PIN matter at all when buying new RAM? What is the technical difference between 204 and 240?

Number of pins on the DIMM edge. Not interchangeable.

 

[BlakeBrattina]

Makes perfect sense. Thanks gents!

 

[theSeb]

When you say "paired" - are you contradicting what snaky said? Are you telling me I must get a set of two chips that are "meant to be together"? Or are your stating whats already been learned, that I just need two identical chips?

Your 2008 MBP will take 8 GBs of memory. If you only want 4 GBs it's better to use "matched pairs", in other words 2x2 GB sticks. This will make the system run about 1-2% faster. It's also usually cheaper than 1x4GB.

To have 8 GBs you can purchase another 4 GB stick. Make sure the specs are the same and I would recommend to sticking to RAM from the same manufacturer.

 

[Ramius]

Guess what, I just upgraded to 8gb ram. And guess what, Safari is still slow. And guess what, I updated Safari to repair the memory issues and hanging. And guess what, Safari is still slow.

So Chrome for life now.

 

[srexy]

Guess what, I just upgraded to 8gb ram. And guess what, Safari is still slow. And guess what, I updated Safari to repair the memory issues and hanging. And guess what, Safari is still slow.

So Chrome for life now.

I had a late '08 15" MBP that I upgraded to 8gb ram and I hated using Safari on it. Not sure what the issue was but by the end of the day with multiple tabs open I'd have to close it down and then re-open it. I tried Chrome for a while and it was pretty speedy but I heard that the G-man was keeping tabs on everything I did with it so I switched to Opera for a while. Opera had some great features but would crash approx once a day so I nixed that also. Firefox was kind of creaky and would hog ram depending on how many tabs I had open.

Bottom line - I went back to Safari and just resigned myself to having to restart it every so often. I wish that I could just use Firefox for everything but I do a lot of web-app support and OWA so it's my "work browser".

Just picked up a late '11 13" MBP and Safari has a better time of it - go figure...

Best of luck with your quest for speed!

 

[Ramius]

I had a late '08 15" MBP that I upgraded to 8gb ram and I hated using Safari on it. Not sure what the issue was but by the end of the day with multiple tabs open I'd have to close it down and then re-open it. I tried Chrome for a while and it was pretty speedy but I heard that the G-man was keeping tabs on everything I did with it so I switched to Opera for a while. Opera had some great features but would crash approx once a day so I nixed that also. Firefox was kind of creaky and would hog ram depending on how many tabs I had open.

Bottom line - I went back to Safari and just resigned myself to having to restart it every so often. I wish that I could just use Firefox for everything but I do a lot of web-app support and OWA so it's my "work browser".

Just picked up a late '11 13" MBP and Safari has a better time of it - go figure...

Best of luck with your quest for speed!

Oh I´m happy with Chrome. Basically you´re saying that is the best too. And I´m not sure I buy into Google spying on Chrome users.

Chrome is like Safari three years ago. It almost looks the same, and is as fast as Safari was back then. A no-********-browser. A NBB.