Upgrading MacBook RAM

Conrad11 · 25 May 2009 at 17:05

I'm pretty sure I am right in saying but I just wanted to check to be sure.

If I upgrade my MacBook RAM I don't void any warranty I have with Apple do I? I've also remember reading that I should keep the original RAM in case I need to send it to Apple to get it fixed. Is that right too?

Is it easy to upgrade the RAM?

Can I use any RAM or is there specific RAM I should use/you recommend? Currently on 2GB and I want to upgrade to 4GB.

Thanks.

Wicksta · 25 May 2009 at 17:39

Which Macbook is it?

Conrad11 · 25 May 2009 at 17:53

Standard white MacBook bought about 2 months ago.

craaaaaig · 25 May 2009 at 20:02

I did this same thing to mine about 2 weeks after I bought it, there's instructions on how to do it in your documentation that came with the macbook. It's very simple you just need a really small screwdriver

Conrad11 · 25 May 2009 at 21:46

Can you recommend any particular type of RAM? (like a certain speed/type)

...also, I take it that speed and timings don't matter on a Mac as you can't adjust them anyways?

JAMAL · 25 May 2009 at 21:55

Have you got the full laptops specs?

Cpu etc..

Conrad11 · 25 May 2009 at 21:57

Did realise it made a difference....

Model: MB881B/A

Apple MacBook Notebook Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz 2048MB (2x1024MB) 120GB 13.3 inch TFT WXGA DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/ CD-RW LAN WLAN Bluetooth MacOS X (NVIDIA GeForce 9400M) - White

CPU is P7350 i believe.

JAMAL · 25 May 2009 at 22:09

Crucials webby comes up with this

Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 2GB per slot

Hope that helps

Conrad11 · 26 May 2009 at 19:35

So I take it that the speed of the RAM doesn't matter then (as long as its at least PC2-5300)? I swear the FSB on the CPU is 1066Mhz so I need faster RAM...or is my understanding flawed?

JAMAL · 26 May 2009 at 19:41

Using my limited knowledge..... 1066mhz is ddr 3 and you need ddr 2

Conrad11 · 26 May 2009 at 21:11

Thank you very much for your help, just ordered this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-143-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=936.

Hoping it will speed up Parallels a bit (having 1GB for it instead of 512MB).

Do I need to do a reinstall of the Mac operating system or will it be fine when I put in the new memory? (I remember with Windows you had to reinstall because of the page file or something like that)

yashiro · 26 May 2009 at 21:34

You don't need to re-install when you upgrade the ram. You don't need to do it on Windows either.

allosunshine · 28 May 2009 at 10:16

Sorry to hijack but obviously it seems that you don't need Apple specific RAM to upgrade so why do r/etailers sell Apple specific at a higher price to non Apple specific??

Conrad11 · 28 May 2009 at 19:03

yashiro said:
You don't need to re-install when you upgrade the ram. You don't need to do it on Windows either.

I always thought you did on windows (for optimum performance)....something to do with the size of the pagefile.

yashiro · 28 May 2009 at 19:11

No. Even if the system did not adjust the page file automatically (it does) or you set the page file size manually it would still never require a re-install. Or to be more clear. You don't need to re-install to set the page file to 'optimum' values.

You are probably thinking about some more obscure tweaks that change hidden settings specifically used for file servers and so on.
Again, you wouldn't need to re-install. You'd just correct the registry entries and carry on.