Upgrade from DDR2 to DDR3

Question

Level 1

35 points

Upgrade from DDR2 to DDR3

I have a MBP that is using 2x 1GB DDR2 SDRAM. Can I upgrade to 2x 2GB DDR3 PC3-8500 204 Pin SODIMM? I was unable to determine how many pins are on my chips. If not, with which memory is the best to upgrade my MBP?
Thanks & Good Day

MacBook Pro 17" 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.8), 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 30" Cinema Display; 8 GB iPhone

Posted on Nov 6, 2010 4:18 AM

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Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 9

68,834 points

Nov 6, 2010 5:53 AM in response to DarrellSY

Sorry, wont work.

These are the RAM specs for your MBP:

http://www.datamemorysystems.com/apple_info/Apple_MacBook_Pro_Intel_Core_2_Duo_17_2.33GHz_Memory1407.asp

Yours uses 200-pin modules. The specs also point out that, although you can install two 2G modules, your version of the MBP will recognize only 3G.

That link is to one of my two trusted RAM vendors. The other is Other World Computing; their RAM list for your MBP is here:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/Pro/Core2/

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Answer 2

DarrellSY Author

Level 1

35 points

Nov 6, 2010 9:55 PM in response to Allan Jones

Brother, that's not what I wanted to hear. Thanks for your brain bites. The accessibility part doesn't make since. Y would it not be able to use all 4GBs? Does that mean that I should change out one of the chips for a 2GB chip or will it only use a maximum of 1.5 GB from each slot thus forcing me to buy two 2GB sticks? Does each chip need to be identical like some of the AMD processors needed to maximize the available memory? Or are there 1.5GB sticks? If there are, I assume they will be just as expensive as the 2GB sticks.
Thanks

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Answer 3

iVmichael

Level 6

13,740 points

Nov 7, 2010 4:07 AM in response to DarrellSY

The best you can do is replace 1GB with 2GB, that's all the RAM that model will see and use whatever you put in. It won't be matched pairs but that's a negligible loss overall.

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Answer 4

Nov 7, 2010 7:38 PM in response to DarrellSY

Unfortunately older Macbook Pro's were unable to use certain memory configurations it was a downfall of the logic boards at the time. If you were to install 4GB your machine will use 2GB from one slot and 1GB from the other. I would not recommend this since it's not supported at all by Apple. Your best bet is to upgrade one of your slots to a 2GB and have the other slot a 1GB.

Good Luck

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Answer 5

a brody

Level 10

82,991 points

Nov 9, 2010 5:26 AM in response to DarrellSY

It has to do with the CPU and the memory controller used at the time. You'll find the limitations clearly stated in Wikipedia's entry on MacBook Pros:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro

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