Switching out RAM

Hey guys I have a quick question, my cousin is selling me his 2008 Macbook Pro and I was curious since he has an extra 8gb RAM card laying around from his iMac if that would be compatable to put into the Macbook? I know its probably a stupid question but i thought it would be worth a shot to see. Thanks!

benjames1285 said:

Hey guys I have a quick question, my cousin is selling me his 2008 Macbook Pro and I was curious since he has an extra 8gb RAM card laying around from his iMac if that would be compatable to put into the Macbook? I know its probably a stupid question but i thought it would be worth a shot to see. Thanks!

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Need a lot more information...such as:

- What MacBook model are we talking about?
- What ram type was removed from the iMac or what iMac model was it?

* Nick

Sure, it is the 2008 Macbook Pro with a 2.4ghz core 2 duo and 4gb of RAM. And the iMac is from 2010. Need more information?

MacBook (Early 2008 and Late 2008) - Technical Specifications

I dont know if this link will help you or not.

benjames1285 said:

Sure, it is the 2008 Macbook Pro with a 2.4ghz core 2 duo and 4gb of RAM. And the iMac is from 2010. Need more information?

Click to expand...

benjames1285 said:

MacBook (Early 2008 and Late 2008) - Technical Specifications

I dont know if this link will help you or not.

Click to expand...

You need to decide which laptop you are talking about. You listed a MacBook Pro and a MacBook. They are different computers.

Just in case...do you know the cpu type & cpu speed of the iMac?

- Nick

AHHHH I apologize!! I thought I had typed in the pro! lol The 15inch would be the one I am talking about, I just iMessaged my cousin a few minutes ago to find about the exact specs of the iMac and the Pro as well! Again sorry lol

MacBook Pro (Early 2008 and Late 2008) - Technical Specifications

benjames1285 said:

AHHHH I apologize!! I thought I had typed in the pro! lol The 15inch would be the one I am talking about, I just iMessaged my cousin a few minutes ago to find about the exact specs of the iMac and the Pro as well! Again sorry lol

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No problems...thanks for clearing it up.

Until we get the exact iMac specs...I'm going to tentatively say that the 2008 MacBook Pro cannot use the ram from a 2010 iMac. The MBP used PC2-5300 ram...and the iMac uses PC3-10600 ram.

A second (and just as important reason)...max. ram for the 2008 MBP is 6gig the has two ram slots. This pretty much means that each slot in the MBP (maximum) can hold a 4gig ram card.

Thus a single 8gig ram card won't work for three reasons:

- the 2008 MBP max. ram is 6gig...so an 8gig card won't work
- the iMac PC3-10600 ram won't work in a computer that uses PC2-5300 ram
- each ram slot in a 2008 MBP cannot use a ram card larger than 4gig

HTH,

- Nick