Memoy question?

I have tried to research this myself, but there seems to be a lot of conflicting information.

I have one of the first unibody Macbook pro's with the 2.53 GHz processor in it. Will the machine take 8GB of RAM and be stable?

Thanks.

Why do you even need 8GB of RAM in the first place? 4GB is more than enough for everyday computing.

Even the early core2 held 8 Gigs or RAM, so yes, it will. You can check it out for yourself at RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com

Thanks for the opinion, the reason is because i process a lot of RAW files from a Nikon DSLR and would like more speed.

Ram does not give you speed....

DaFlake said:

Even the early core2 held 8 Gigs or RAM, so yes, it will. You can check it out for yourself at RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com

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I did check Crucial but it said that 4GB is the max. However a google search suggested that this was true when they first came out but with Snow Leopard and the new EFI version 8GB was possible. That's why i asked the question here for a definitive answer.

What model is your MBP? Is it a Core2 Duo? When I looked at Crucial it at the lowest model of your processor speed it said 8Gigs.

Oh, I take that back, the earliest model will only support 4Gigs, not 8. If that is your model then that is all it will support.

It's a 2008 Macbook pro unibody with a core 2 Duo 2.53ghz..

4Gigs Max....

DaFlake said:

Oh, I take that back, the earliest model will only support 4Gigs, not 8. If that is your model then that is all it will support.

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This is the problem, "officially" it only supports 4GB according to apple. But the mid 2009 with the identical motherboard "officially" supports 8GB.

Google and forum searches don't seem to be definitive in answering the question. Some say 4GB is the actual max and it cannot support more some say it will support 6GB and others say with the new EFI version and snow leopard 8GB is supported

I guess the only way i'll get a definitive answer is if someone who has one of the first 2008 unibody MBP's has tried it and can answer.

Different model number means that something changed and I doubt that it is an identical motherboard in that case. So, I'm going to have to suppor the "official" stand on this. However, there is nothing stopping you from giving more a try. That being said, I doubt it will do much from you on the processing side. I process RAW files all the time on my MB with 4 Gigs and never come close to usnig it. Biggest batch I did was about 100 files with a conversion/copy to JPG. I doubt that extra RAM is going to do a thing for you.

DaFlake said:

Different model number means that something changed and I doubt that it is an identical motherboard in that case. So, I'm going to have to suppor the "official" stand on this. However, there is nothing stopping you from giving more a try. That being said, I doubt it will do much from you on the processing side. I process RAW files all the time on my MB with 4 Gigs and never come close to usnig it. Biggest batch I did was about 100 files with a conversion/copy to JPG. I doubt that extra RAM is going to do a thing for you.

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Thanks for the advice. Maybe the money would be better spent on an SSD.

Well, what I would do (if you are already maxed) is get a program like istat menu and watch to see how much memory you are using. Mac is not like Windows with mem usage so if you watch teh bar and it never maxes out then yes, save the coin for a new SSD. If it does max out then you need to investigate further what is happening. There is no need to waste your money on something you may never use.

iStat Menus, a Mac app by Bjango

newbimac said:

I have one of the first unibody Macbook pro's with the 2.53 GHz processor in it. Will the machine take 8GB of RAM and be stable?

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If this is the first generation 15" Macbook Pro with a 2.53ghz cpu...then the accurate answer to the max ram for this computer is 6 gig of ram. This notebook has a model ID of "MacBookPro 5,1".

If it's the 2nd generation 15" Macbook Pro with a 2.53ghz cpu...then the accurate answer to the max ram for this computer is 8 gig of ram. This notebook has a model ID of "MacBookPro5,4".

This model ID info can be found by going to:

- Apple menu
- About this Mac
- click on "More Info"
- Look in the "hardware overview"

HTH,

- Nick

It's a 5,1 thanks for your help.

newbimac said:

It's a 5,1 thanks for your help.

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You got it...no problem! Your Macbook Pro has a 6gig max ram limit (4gig + 2 gig sticks of ram).

- Nick