question about installing RAM?

is it true that you have to buy RAM in pairs e.g. if i had a macbook with 1gb of RAM and i wanted 2gb i would have to buy two 1gb sticks? so i have two 512mb ram sticks wasted?

You don't have to buy in pairs but it supposedly runs better when you have paired sticks.

its a bit of a mystery as to whether it actually runs better having paired or not

my advice is to get it paired just to be streamlined and stylish

i doubt it really matters either way....someone should prove me wrong though

surely having 1.5gb in a 1012mb stick and a 512mb stick is better than having one gig in paired sticks? How many RAM slots does the macbook have and is it easy to install them yourself?

the macbook has 2 ram slots and it is fairly easy to install them yourself

!) Turn off your MacBook and unplug the power cord (make sure it is completely off)

2) turn it over and use a coin to pop out the battery.

3) using a screwdriver to unscrew the three screws inside, using light force to pull out the metal piece.

4) push the leavers back to pop out the old ram and gently remove it. (do this to both slots)

5) insert the new ram in the correct and and flip the leavers back and apply lots of pressure pushing the ram in. It must be correctly in otherwise it wont work.

6) screw back on the metal bit and add the battery back in.

Keep the old ram incase the new ram gives you kernel panics or problems

NOTE: Installing new ram does NOT void your Apple Warranty.

*cough* rep *cough*

I would recommend a pair of 1GB sticks. That is what I did. You can go to Youtube and search for MacBook and it will lead you to RAM installation videos.

Heres a great link on how to install ram.

http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=44404

Plus there are videos all over youtube on how to do it.

thanks guys and what particular ram sticks do i need?

You want pairs. With PC's at least you want the same pairs so you can keep your memory running in "dual channel" mode. I do not know if this applies to Mac as well, but I am sure someone does.

know i mean like a particular brand?

srgthunder said:

know i mean like a particular brand?

Click to expand...

No he means that you if want to have 2gb, You want to buy two 1 gb. Not there is any other way to do it but it works better than having one 512 and a gig to make 1.5 gig. At least that is the rumor. I dont really know for sure since I haven't had to deal with it but I'm sure some people will disagree with.

As far as brands go, Crucial is always very respected. G. Skill as well as many others are also good. The only one that I have ever heard being bad are Patriot but once again I cannot confirm this.

I have another question about installing RAM. I recently received mine from Crucial, and am wondering if I should take off the two stickers (one on each side) that seem to be on top of each stick. One says "Removal will void warranty." Take them off or leave them?

Leave them on. If you take them it voids the warranty! They work perfect with them on.

As far as the pairing goes, it's a matter of dual channeling the RAM. I could explain it, but it's a little complicated if you're not familiar with computer architecture, data bandwidth, bottlenecks, etc.

Think optimization.