There is more to the late 2008 macbook RAM upgrade than meets the eye

http://blog.macsales.com/9102-secret-firmware-lets-late-08-macbooks-use-8gb

I read this and decided to upgrade the RAM on my macbook - late 2008 model -macbook 5,1.

I first searched for the correct RAM online and saw this:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3

This is memory it recommends:

8.0GB OWC Memory Upgrade

2 x 4.0GB PC8500 DDR3 1066MHz 204 Pin


Now, this costs $89.88. I hate buying stuff online and I want to see it for myself, so I went to the local bestbuy which was having a $55 promo offer on the 8GB RAM kit with the following specs:

PC3-10666 DDR3 RAM with both 1066 and 1333MHz support.

I was not sure whether this was compatible, so I went to geek squad and double checked that it was ok.

I opened my macbook and upgraded my RAM which was easy and saw huge amount of dust inside which I thoroughly cleaned...

Then, I booted up and my macbook now runs as fast as a new macbook!

I mean, this is 2X the speed it was, which even the SSD from Intel did not cause it to run this fast.

Not sure whether it is the RAM or the cleaning of the dust which was clogging the CPU fan...

The best part is, my macbook is able to run the RAM at its maximum speed, as it shows:


8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Wow! - remember the good old days when RAM was hundreds of thousands of dollars - and my macbook is such a great investment. It works fine since 2009 and apparently, in between it even became capable of using 8GB RAM.

I always noticed it was starved of RAM. I am super happy, to get such a cool upgrade at such a low price. Everything is faster now.


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