09-12-2009, 04:59 PM

I am hoping someone can clear this up for me.

I have an 07 macbook with 2.16ghz core 2 duo with 2gb ram.

Everything I've read says that 2gb ram is max, but some folks say you can get this model to use 3gb of ram, but it won't take four.

I have a quick question. If I upgrade to snow leopard, will I be able to use more ram? Or is this a factor of the hardware not being able to use it.

Also, I have also heard that running 1 2bg stick and one 1gb stick is actually slower than running 2 2gb sticks even though either way I will still only be able to use 3gb.

I do quite a bit of video editing that eats up nearly all my ram, so I need to upgrade either way. So should I get two 2gb stick and upgrade to snow leopard, or just one 2gb stick and keep my OS the same and use 3gb.

Thanks to all who can help.

09-12-2009, 05:21 PM

Assuming you are using MacBook2,1 with the 2.16 C2D, Apple has 2GB listed as a max but it has been reported that it can handle 3GB. While an OS can limit the amount of RAM you can use, the 3GB limit here is hardware related. Leopard, for instance, was more than able to handle 4GB.

While SL can handle much more RAM than it even conceivable right now, those RAM limits won't be reached until hardware catches up. For instance, this page states that, "64-bit computing shatters that barrier by enabling applications to address a theoretical 16 billion gigabytes of memory, or 16 exabytes." If you find a computer that can handle that much memory, you've discovered time travel.

09-12-2009, 05:32 PM

Ok, thanks for clearing that up.

So if I can actually use 3gb of ram, and I currently have 2gb, is there any difference if I upgrade just one stick to 2gb, or upgrade them both to 2gb?

I have heard that if they are unmatched, it can actually hurt performance. Is there any truth to this?

Basically, out of these options, which will be the fastest set-up?:

a) 1GB +1GB

b) 2GB + 1GB

c) 2GB + 2GB

Cost isn't and issue because ram is cheeep, I just need to squeeze the most juice out of this thing that I can.

Thanks again.

09-13-2009, 08:13 AM

That would be setup C

You'll just have to make sure the speed matches, I believe your RAM operates at a 667 MHz or 800 MHz speed.

So, 2GB 667MHz + 2GB 667 MHz = 4GB 667 MHz (obviously)
But 2 GB 667 MHz + 2GB 800 MHz = still 4GB 667 MHz

So make sure that they are both the same speed or ugrade them both to 800 MHz.

Hope this helps

09-13-2009, 08:34 AM

Heard it said by many (primarily on forums) that by using 2 x 2GB sticks the system would maintain dual channel mode. Have no clue if that is accurate or not and never found testing done by any of the reputable sites to know what kind of difference it would make.

The techie that I am, I did put 2x2 GB of CAS4 in my MBP. It will recognize that 4 GB are installed, but you'll only have actual use of 3 GB worth. Did not do any testing myself either. Bought it anyway, so it's staying in there.

09-13-2009, 01:31 PM

That helps tremendously, thank you my friends!