New Macbook Ram Matching?
Hey there,
I just got the new $1500 macbook in black. Its quite the machine as compared to my powerbook 1.67. I do have a question about the ram.
I have a 1 gig stick of apple ddr2 5300 ready from my intel mac mini. I want to put it into my current machine. I would replace one of the 256 chips and hopefully have 1.5 gigs.
I have however heard that you need to have 2 of the same sized ram modules. Will I blow up my new computer if I install it? Will it not work at all? Should I just go get another 1 gig stick?
Thanks!
Ryan Flynn
I just got the new $1500 macbook in black. Its quite the machine as compared to my powerbook 1.67. I do have a question about the ram.
I have a 1 gig stick of apple ddr2 5300 ready from my intel mac mini. I want to put it into my current machine. I would replace one of the 256 chips and hopefully have 1.5 gigs.
I have however heard that you need to have 2 of the same sized ram modules. Will I blow up my new computer if I install it? Will it not work at all? Should I just go get another 1 gig stick?
Thanks!
Ryan Flynn
Comments
Originally posted by DrFlynn
Hey there,
I just got the new $1500 macbook in black. Its quite the machine as compared to my powerbook 1.67. I do have a question about the ram.
I have a 1 gig stick of apple ddr2 5300 ready from my intel mac mini. I want to put it into my current machine. I would replace one of the 256 chips and hopefully have 1.5 gigs.
I have however heard that you need to have 2 of the same sized ram modules. Will I blow up my new computer if I install it? Will it not work at all? Should I just go get another 1 gig stick?
Thanks!
Ryan Flynn
Well, first of all, 256MB plus 1GB equals 1.25GB, not 1.5. And yes, you should get another 1GB stick. The reason for matching pairs is that the memory then works in dual channel mode, effectively doubling the bandwidth. This is actually useful in any Intel Mac with GMA950 graphics. No, the computer won't "blow up" if you use an un-matched pair, it just cuts the effective memory throughput in half. Plus, you'll be much happier with a full 2GB of RAM in that baby.
Would I be better to stick with the 256 + 256
or go with the 1gb +256 until my other 1 gig arrives.
Yours,
Ryan
Originally posted by DrFlynn
Yes yes it does equal 1.25. pardon the brain fart.
Would I be better to stick with the 256 + 256
or go with the 1gb +256 until my other 1 gig arrives.
Yours,
Ryan
try it out, see what it does. ram is an easy install under the battery. run a few apps both ways and see what you like.
Originally posted by sandau
try it out, see what it does. ram is an easy install under the battery. run a few apps both ways and see what you like.
I concur. A RAM swap is a 3 minute operation assuming you have a teeny-tiny PC screwdriver.
Be sure to report back.
Well I guess I need to upgrade. 512 is really not nearly enough to take advantage of the 2ghz core due. I have found that running safari, ichat and some widgets will leave you with about 50 megs of breathing room and that is probably being eaten up by the gpu.
Any deals on ram that you guys are aware of?
Ryan
Originally posted by DrFlynn
Well I did it. And I had no luck getting the computer to boot. It appears the form factor of this ram cannot fit into the macbook or maybe there is another problem. The sleep light just blinks when I tried to power up. It worked just fine with the intel imac and mini.
Well I guess I need to upgrade. 512 is really not nearly enough to take advantage of the 2ghz core due. I have found that running safari, ichat and some widgets will leave you with about 50 megs of breathing room and that is probably being eaten up by the gpu.
Any deals on ram that you guys are aware of?
Ryan
I bought some from newegg, ~$89 per gig. I based my purchase decision on the reviews from other intel Mac owners that said it worked.... but I have less confidence in this purchase than the crucial ram I bought for the iMac, which was a crazy $149 or more per gig. (which works flawlessly, btw)
Try reseating the ram, in the iMac you have to push a little harder than you want to or would like to, and I'd expect the MacBook to be the same. It has a goofy/crappy ram holder, poor design imho.
Originally posted by DrFlynn
Well I did it. And I had no luck getting the computer to boot. It appears the form factor of this ram cannot fit into the macbook or maybe there is another problem. The sleep light just blinks when I tried to power up. It worked just fine with the intel imac and mini.
Well I guess I need to upgrade. 512 is really not nearly enough to take advantage of the 2ghz core due. I have found that running safari, ichat and some widgets will leave you with about 50 megs of breathing room and that is probably being eaten up by the gpu.
Any deals on ram that you guys are aware of?
Ryan
That is strange as I confirmed at Apple today that the parts are identical.
This Time I pressed a little harder and the ram in. Everything seems to be functioning just fine. I did take noticeably longer to boot up this time. I am going to buy another 1 gig stick just so I know its running to its full potential.
At this point running a 1 gig chip along with the 256 is just fine. As I recall, I had an ibook with a built in 256. I believe it was a 1.25 GHZ g4. It had a shared video card and ran with uneven ram without a problem. Maybe I am just misinformed.
Yours,
Ryan
I put my order in for another 1 gig stick. I am excited to see how it performs.
Yours,
Ryan
Ryan
Even with matched sticks, you're not running at maximum bandwidth all the time... just sometimes. It doesn't work like quaite like striping on RAID 0 disk arrays.
I tested my ram with the following configurations:
dual 256= installed photoshop fine
1 gig and a 256= freezes every time and the kernel crashes resulting in restart
dual 1 gig = installed photoshop and runs fine
This is one black macbook owner's test results
Yours,
Ryan