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Macbook: Best RAM Brand?

RZetlin

RZetlin

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 9, 2007
146
0
Which RAM Brand name should I use if I decide to upgrade my future Macbook to from 1 GB to 2GB?

Company names like Corsair and Crucial seem to come up the most often.
 
I've always gone Crucial and never have I had any problems, even on an old eMac g4 haha, their prices have come down considerably over the years too
 
Patriot RAM 2GB (single module) on frys.com for $99. I just ordered it yesterday and it should be here today or tomorrow.
 
I have seen memory companies sell two types of RAM:

- Mac RAM
- Normal Notebook RAM.

When comparing the two types the Mac RAM seem to be more expensive.

Is there any reason why Mac RAM is more expensive than normal RAM?

Would normal typical notebook RAM work in a Macbook?
 
RZetlin said:
I have seen memory companies sell two types of RAM:

- Mac RAM
- Normal Notebook RAM.

When comparing the two types the Mac RAM seem to be more expensive. Is there any reason why Mac RAM is more expensive than normal RAM? Would normal typical notebook RAM work in a Macbook?
Click to expand...

Because they're likely trying to sucker you in. All current Apple notebooks, and the current model iMac's, use DDR2-667 SO-DIMMS. Which just happen to be the same sticks used in nearly all current notebooks as well. There is no such thing as "Mac specific RAM".

In terms of brands, any of the big brands are fine, but generic stuff is usually okay too. Corsair, Crucial, OCZ, Kingston & geil are my first picks, but in most cases you should be fine with anything.
 
That site (OWC) lists a 3gb upgrade kit for the macbook. Does this even work? is it recognized by the hardware/OS? Should I buy one 2g module now and have 2.5g?
 
whateverandever said:
It's the same RAM. Only difference is a guarantee... that doesn't mean anything.
Click to expand...
Guess I'll find out tonight. I bought 2 sticks today at lunch @$45/ea, and found out that the $20 rebate is only good for one stick, no matter how many you buy. Sneaky advertising, but not much you can do.
 
I can say without a doubt that in my PowerBook, MAC specific memory is the on kind that worked. I learned the hard way. I still didnt buy it from apple, newegg is my friend.

In my macbook i have GSklll. Never used them before, but it works great. no problems. I use Transcend in all my PC notebooks, i wanted to buy some for my macbook, but it was gone.

My buddy got a macbook about the same time i did, he got Mushkin. about a month later, he found out he has bad sticks....
 
I bought 2 GB of Corsair memory from Newegg for $87 with shipping for my wife's MacBook. So far I haven't seen any problems with the memory. I ran the AHT just to see if any problems came up with the RAM and it found nothing.
 
aphexacid said:
I can say without a doubt that in my PowerBook, MAC specific memory is the on kind that worked. I learned the hard way. I still didnt buy it from apple, newegg is my friend.

In my macbook i have GSklll. Never used them before, but it works great. no problems. I use Transcend in all my PC notebook
Click to expand...
While that was most definitely true for the older G3/G4/G5 systems, that no longer seems to hold true for the Intel versions. From what I have seen on here and other forums as long as you shy away from the cheap "value" lines you should be alright for MB/MBP.
 
thon said:
That site (OWC) lists a 3gb upgrade kit for the macbook. Does this even work? is it recognized by the hardware/OS? Should I buy one 2g module now and have 2.5g?
Click to expand...

You have to specify which MacBooks. The MacBook CoreDuo machine can only take 2 Gb total ( 2 x 1 Gb SODIMMs). The MacBook Core2Duos can take 2 Gb SODIMMs (1 x 1 Gb and 1 x 2 Gb for 3 Gb total). You can even put 2 x 2 Gb SODIMMs in one, they will be recognized, but only 3.3 Gb of the potential 4 Gb RAM will be available to the OS, because of hardware limitations of the hardware chipset in those motherboards.
 
docc said:
Patriot RAM 2GB (single module) on frys.com for $99. I just ordered it yesterday and it should be here today or tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Just got my 2Gb RAM. Installed it and its working fine so far. Installation was painless and hardly took 5 minutes. Activity monitor shows that i have a total of 2.5GB RAM with almost 1.7GB free :) Haven't noticed a very significant change in speed yet but i did notice that applications launch quicker (less number oof bounces!).

Patriot gets my vote! $99 for a single 2GB module is just fantastic!
 
danny_w said:
Guess I'll find out tonight. I bought 2 sticks today at lunch @$45/ea, and found out that the $20 rebate is only good for one stick, no matter how many you buy. Sneaky advertising, but not much you can do.
Click to expand...
Well, I finally got around to installing the ram, and it works flawlessly! I had read how installing it could be a pain, but nothing could be easier; they just popped right in. Now I have 2GB and can finally run VMWare decently.
 
CanadaRAM said:
You have to specify which MacBooks. The MacBook CoreDuo machine can only take 2 Gb total ( 2 x 1 Gb SODIMMs). The MacBook Core2Duos can take 2 Gb SODIMMs (1 x 1 Gb and 1 x 2 Gb for 3 Gb total). You can even put 2 x 2 Gb SODIMMs in one, they will be recognized, but only 3.3 Gb of the potential 4 Gb RAM will be available to the OS, because of hardware limitations of the hardware chipset in those motherboards.
Click to expand...

So I could buy 1g and 2g and have 3g and it will work fine in a Blackbook C2D 2ghz? Just want to make sure im hearing you right
 
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