Early Gen Uni-Body MacBook Pro Ram Upgrade

TrippinBimmer · Oct 10, 2009

Well,

I just updated to Snow Leopard 10.6 OSX. It's the Early Uni-Body MacBook Pro 15.4 with 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB 1067MHz DDR3 and Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT 512MB. I am wanting to upgrade to 8GB 1067MHz DDR3 like the new Unibody. Is this possible? or 6GB 1067MHz DDR3 is the max?

Reasons for Upgrade: I mostly use Apple Final Cut Studio 3 and Adobe CS4 Master Collection. Most of the time I am laggin

I have the Istat Pro for Monitoring the Temps and Memory Stats. The SMCFanControl on 4000 RPM to keep Cool.

Thanks,
-TrippinBimmer

cwa107 · Oct 10, 2009

If you go to Crucial.com and use their memory selector tool, it will tell you exactly how much RAM you can add and suggest the right type. That's all there is to it.

TrippinBimmer · Oct 13, 2009

I did said max of 4gb of ram and I know that is not right. Cause I have a Friend with 6gb.

-Anthony

cwa107 · Oct 13, 2009

TrippinBimmer said:
I did said max of 4gb of ram and I know that is not right. Cause I have a Friend with 6gb.

-Anthony

Is it the exact same model? Even if they look similar, it doesn't mean they use the same chipsets. You can determine the model by looking on the bottom of the machine, it should be silk-screened, near the FCC licensing info.

TrippinBimmer · Oct 13, 2009

cwa107 said:
Is it the exact same model? Even if they look similar, it doesn't mean they use the same chipsets. You can determine the model by looking on the bottom of the machine, it should be silk-screened, near the FCC licensing info.

Yes, they are the same model...Both of us got it at the beginning of the year at the same time.

-TrippinBimmer

cwa107 · Oct 13, 2009

TrippinBimmer said:
Yes, they are the same model...Both of us got it at the beginning of the year at the same time.

-TrippinBimmer

It might just be that Crucial doesn't carry 4GB modules in that size. Check Performance Upgrades; FireWire USB SATA Storage; Memory, more at OWC

TrippinBimmer · Oct 13, 2009

Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro DDR3 Memory Upgrades and Hard Drive Upgrades - Up to 8.0GB of DDR3 and 500GB SATA Hard Drives for new Unibody models

Their it said 6b tested and verified....

Wish it will bump up to 8gb..

cwa107 · Oct 13, 2009

Glad you mentioned that. I thought my machine was limited to 4GB as well, but it appears that I can go to 6 if need be. Not that I ever even come close to using the 4GB I have now, LOL...

TrippinBimmer · Oct 13, 2009

But the Timing is reduced from 340.29 (4gb) to 299.47 (6gb) testing with CS3. This test measures the time (in seconds) it takes to execute a custom action script comprising 47 commonly-used, memory-intensive processes on a 21 megapixel image, using Adobe Photoshop CS3. Lower times are better.

-TrippinBimmer

cwa107 · Oct 13, 2009

TrippinBimmer said:
But the Timing is reduced from 340.29 (4gb) to 299.47 (6gb) testing with CS3. This test measures the time (in seconds) it takes to execute a custom action script comprising 47 commonly-used, memory-intensive processes on a 21 megapixel image, using Adobe Photoshop CS3. Lower times are better.

-TrippinBimmer

Interesting. PS is a 32-bit app and can't actually address more than 4GB of RAM, but I suppose with the added 2GB buffer, more of that memory is available.

TrippinBimmer · Oct 13, 2009

I am pretty new to the Mac Scene. Do we have Bio's Updates? I wonder what is the Difference from the Mid/Late 2009 and Late 2008/Mid2009 MB. I know they have SD card Slots and missing more ports. I wonder the architecture still the same?

cwa107 · Oct 13, 2009

TrippinBimmer said:
I am pretty new to the Mac Scene. Do we have Bio's Updates? I wonder what is the Difference from the Mid/Late 2009 and Late 2008/Mid2009 MB. I know they have SD card Slots and missing more ports. I wonder the architecture still the same?

Macs don't use BIOS. They use a next generation technology called EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) that Intel has been trying to get PC makers to adopt since 2005 or so.

Any EFI updates that your machine may need will be pushed automatically by Software Update just as any other update would be deployed.

They revamped the entire model lineup in early summer. In addition to renaming the 13" Aluminum MacBook to the 13" MacBook Pro, they also upgraded the screen, added an SD card slot and FW800. The changes were more subtle on the 15" models, which now lose their ExpressCard slot in favor of an SD slot. I can't imagine the chipset is all that different, but it's hard to say.

TrippinBimmer · Oct 13, 2009

cwa107 said:
Macs don't use BIOS. They use a next generation technology called EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) that Intel has been trying to get PC makers to adopt since 2005 or so.

Any EFI updates that your machine may need will be pushed automatically by Software Update just as any other update would be deployed.

They revamped the entire model lineup in early summer. In addition to renaming the 13" Aluminum MacBook to the 13" MacBook Pro, they also upgraded the screen, added an SD card slot and FW800. The changes were more subtle on the 15" models, which now lose their ExpressCard slot in favor of an SD slot. I can't imagine the chipset is all that different, but it's hard to say.

Very nice on the EFI. All we can hope that Intel will release a Update that will use 8gb and able to use the full potential of 64-bit side

-TrippinBimmer

Corato · Oct 20, 2009

I have a late 08 early 09 2.53 MBP 5,1 and I tried multiple 6GB memory kits from OWC that was manufactured by Hynix and got random kernel panics. OWC was very helpful and stood behind their warranty. They finally shipped me Micron RAM and the 6GB has been stable for over a week now. I should note that I use the dedicated 9600 for video not the energy saver one; there seems to be some issue with that and over 4GB as the Hynix memory would cause immediate panics with it. I am almost afraid to test the 9400 with the 9600 since it is running great.

TrippinBimmer · Nov 13, 2009

Good to hear....I will be order some more ram later...I really want 8gb

-TrippinBimmer

appledrogba · Nov 19, 2009

Add a RS-MMC or External Sata Hard Disk to your mac. If you want to add card reader,you'd better install multi ]hdd dock with card reader[/URL]. You know,it's a little big and not convenient for carring. So various expresscards are really fit with mac.such as, and other expresscard adapters.

besdayz · Nov 20, 2009

Corato said:
I have a late 08 early 09 2.53 MBP 5,1 and I tried multiple 6GB memory kits from OWC that was manufactured by Hynix and got random kernel panics. OWC was very helpful and stood behind their warranty. They finally shipped me Micron RAM and the 6GB has been stable for over a week now. I should note that I use the dedicated 9600 for video not the energy saver one; there seems to be some issue with that and over 4GB as the Hynix memory would cause immediate panics with it. I am almost afraid to test the 9400 with the 9600 since it is running great.

i've had the same experience wiht owc...after install of 6 gb ram, the mbp would start up and then go into kernel panic in a few secs to minutes.....has this to do with owc ram or any mismatched pair on this late 08 unibody?

does anyone know if crucial, ramjet, kingston, or others make ram in a 6gb kit that have no stability issues on the late 08/early 09 mbp?