Ram upgrade Macbook 5,2 early 2009

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook 5,2
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MB52.0088.B05
SMC Version (System): 1.38f5
Serial Number: W8915F934R1
Hardware UUUID: 86402231-7C6A-578E-A7D8-00ABABE4F83C
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

OSX 10.10.X (Yosemite)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I friend of mine has the above Mac and is running slow. She would like to continue using this device, as she really use it to surf the net and pay online bills. She is a fairly light user. I would like to increase the memory to either 6 or 8 GB. There seem to be some confusion as to what the maximum allowable memory capability is for this machine. Is it 6 or 8 GB? Let us assume it is 6 GB, should I purchase 4 GB of RAMS and use the existing 2GB? What memory would you guys suggest for this Mac and could you provide a direct link for the additional 4 GB or 6 GB?

Are there other things we could do to make the Mac more responsive? We obviously do not want to spend to much on this much older Mac (<$150.00), but she likes the machine and would like to continue using it for as long as possible.

BTW, would increasing the hard drive help with the response time of this Mac (from current to say 500 gb)? I'm a PC guy and know very little about Macs!

Again, she is a light user. Thanks for reading this post and giving me some pointers.

DaveSin said:

I would like to increase the memory to either 6 or 8 GB. There seem to be some confusion as to what the maximum allowable memory capability is for this machine. Is it 6 or 8 GB? Let us assume it is 6 GB, should I purchase 4 GB of RAMS and use the existing 2GB? What memory would you guys suggest for this MAC and could you provide a direct link for the additional 4 GB or 6 GB?

Click to expand...

Max RAM for this MacBook is 6gig. Two place's we recommend frequently are:

- www.crucial.com
- www.macsales.com

DaveSin said:

Are there other things we could do to make the MAC more responsive? We obviously do not want to spend to much on this much older MAC (<$150.00), but she likes the machine and would like to continue using it for as long as possible.

Click to expand...

Install an SSD. Between the RAM & SSD...most likely will use up all (or more) of that $150 budget).

DaveSin said:

BTW, would increasing the hard drive help with the response time of this MAC (from current to say 500 gb)? I'm a PC guy and know very little about MACs!

Click to expand...

Yes...kind of figured this. lol

The term "MAC" was used multiple times. "MAC" is an acronym that means many things (not Apple computer related). The proper term is "Mac".

- Nick

The 2gb ram already in the MB are probably 2 - 1gb sticks. So you could pick up 2-2gb sticks for 4gb, or 1-4gb & 1-2gb sticks for 6gb. You didn't specify how big the drive is, but a 240gb SSD would definitely make it much more responsive.

I still have the two original Apple 2gb memory sticks from my mid 2011 MBP 15". If someone could advise whether they would fit, I'd be happy to post FOC.

A 2009 MB requires PC2-5200 so alas no joy Sue for Dave.