Macbook Pro RAM question?

*Tripper*

Hey,

I've a 15' Macbook Pro 2.2GHz with 2gb ram pre-installed. I want to put in more RAM and have two small questions.

It says on the apple website that I can only install 3gb in total, 2gb and 1gb. Is this actually the case as you can get 4gb factory installed can't you?

If so I would really want to put 4gb into my MBP, as I have 2gb installed already would that be in a 1gb + 1gb or just one 2gb with one free slot for another 1gb or 2gb RAM?

Cheers!

leeroybrown

Does your MBP have a Santa Rosa chipset or is it an earlier model? The Santa Rosa chipset allows the use of 4Gb of RAM. With earlier chipsets some operating system specific memory regions are mapped in between 3Gb and 4Gb rendering the extra memory unusable by applications. You can put 4Gb in but only 3Gb will be usable. This isn't just a Mac thing - it affects all older Intel x86 chipsets.

Your current 2Gb will be 1Gb + 1Gb for performance reasons.

K.O.Kiki

*Tripper* wrote: »

Hey,

I've a 15' Macbook Pro 2.2GHz with 2gb ram pre-installed. I want to put in more RAM and have two small questions.

It says on the apple website that I can only install 3gb in total, 2gb and 1gb. Is this actually the case as you can get 4gb factory installed can't you?

If so I would really want to put 4gb into my MBP, as I have 2gb installed already would that be in a 1gb + 1gb or just one 2gb with one free slot for another 1gb or 2gb RAM?

Cheers!

According to Crucial, your MBP can handle 4Gb.
If you click the Apple logo in the top-left, then About this Mac >> More Info >> Memory you'll see how the RAM is installed -- usually it's 2x1Gb.

In this case, look for PC2-5300 (DDR667) SO-DIMM memory at Crucial, Dabs, Komplett & Shop4Memory; etc.

*Tripper*

Cheers, yes it says I have 1gb + 1gb. Its a MBP from round august I think. I just remember reading a thread about someone saying it can take and recognize 4gb but will only use 3gb?
Would I be able to pick up that RAM in PC World or anywhere like that do you think?

*Tripper*

Anyone know how to check if I have Santa Rosa, bought that MBP in August 2007.

ZENER

As Leeroybrown above said, newer chipset MB and MBP computers can take and use 4GB total RAM. Older ones will take it but won't use anything above 3.3GB I think.

As for where to buy it, Macs are fussy about RAM brands and timings. Go to komplett.ie or crucial.com and use their RAM configurators to source the correct RAM for your machine.

PCWorld know nothing about Macs, they just want to sell you something with a 3 century extended warranty !!

ZEN

*Tripper*

Cheers Zener, yea I didn't plan on asking anyone in PC World anything just if they had it it would be handy!

ZENER

*Tripper* wrote: »

Anyone know how to check if I have Santa Rosa, bought that MBP in August 2007.

August 07 was 2 months after SantaRosa was put into MBPs so I'm guessing you should be fine. Go to About This Mac from the Apple menu and click More Info. On the first window that appears (Hardware) check the bus speed. AFAIK if it's 800MHz then it's SantaRosa and will take up to 4GB and use it.

ZEN

*Tripper*

Cool yea its running at 800MHz, now just to order the RAM, woo!

K.O.Kiki

What I don't understand is why the FSB is 800Mhz but the RAM runs at 667Mhz...

Eh. 4Gb DDR2-800 is €120+, vs €80 for DDR2-667

Skyuser

Just curious as to why you need 4Gb Ram, Im about to order a Macbook Pro. I'm just gonna get 2Gb cause I dont really know what difference it makes.

ZENER

It really depends on what you use the computer for. Apps like Aperture, Photoshop, FinalCut and Logic all benefit from more RAM. These apps will run in 2GB of course but will use the much slower hard disk swap file for virtual memory which will really slow them down on large projects.

If your bag is just web browsing and iApps then you may get away with 2GB. If that is the case then maybe a Macbook would serve you better ?

/edit: just as an aside here. Don't order the RAM from Apple, it's much much cheaper to buy it at komplett or crucial online.

ZEN

Type 17

ZENER wrote: »

It really depends on what you use the computer for. Apps like Aperture, Photoshop, FinalCut and Logic all benefit from more RAM. These apps will run in 2GB of course but will use the much slower hard disk swap file for virtual memory which will really slow them down on large projects.

If your bag is just web browsing and iApps then you may get away with 2GB. If that is the case then maybe a Macbook would serve you better ?

/edit: just as an aside here. Don't order the RAM from Apple, it's much much cheaper to buy it at komplett or crucial online.

ZEN

+1 for that - I found that my 2.4 GHz iMac wasn't really working well on 2 GB when using Aperture and Photoshop as well as Camino, iChat, Mail & a few other small apps. Upgrading to 4 GB has made a huge difference.

Keep an eye on your Page Ins/Page Outs after doing your normal stuff on your Mac (figures shown in Activity Monitor / iStat Pro widget / Menumeters) - if Pageouts are around equal to Pageins you definitely need more RAM. If Pageouts are less than 20%(ish) of Pageins, or are zero, you have enough RAM.

Apple Article on RAM usage

WUSBDesign

I use multi-user switching heavily without quitting programmes in each account, and the additional RAM does help significantly.

Besides, with prices at all time low, it is time to max out your machine's memory capacity!