Max RAM for late 2008 MBP?

wicky

play thing
Just signing up for Adobe CC but my late '08 MacBook Pro 2.4Ghz feels a bit old. It meets min req's, but I know it will struggle. I'm planning to replace it with a desktop for the extra power – either a Mac-Mini i7 quad, or an iMac 21'5" i5. I'm not sure which yet.

The MBP is not ready for retirement yet, so I want to spend a small amount of money to increase performance and keep portability.

Visiting the crucial site I found RAM & SSD upgrades for less than $300:
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=D1E1C988A5CA7304
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=70D0AE92A5CA7304

I have questions though:
I've read conflicting reports about max RAM capacity for the late '08 2.4 MBP. Will my machine take 8gb?
Any thoughts on Crucial: reputation; pros/cons?
Any info on Crucial M500 240GB?

Forgive me if this is old ground. I've read lots of reviews online but each seems to be an advertorial.... I'd really appreciate a less-biased opinion.

Thanks
 
The RAM depends on which MBPro you have.
I'm guessing you have the 15-inch, Late 2008 (Model identifier MacBookPro5,1)
That has a max of 8GB (2 x 4GB), PC3-8500 SO-DIMMs
Apple says the max is 4GB - but OWC says 8GB. I trust that OWC info is correct. I also rely on Mactracker, which also says 8GB max.

Crucial has been selling RAM for a long time, and I don't recall reading serious complaints, but I respect their good service and tech support.
I have similar respect for OWC: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3

Crucial M500 240GB info: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148694

anandtech has a review/test of that SSD.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6884/crucial-micron-m500-review-960gb-480gb-240gb-120gb
 
Thanks. Any recommendations for a better SSD?

Better than what? The Crucial will be better than any spinning hard drive - considerably better.

If, on the other hand, you are actually asking for other recommendations - try the OWC site.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/SSD/Mercury_Electra_3G_Solid_State

Look at what some other sites have available. There's a large variety of SSDs available.
Look at Newegg.com
Look at Amazon - there's quite a few there: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p...116011&ie=UTF8&qid=1371163091&rnid=5057182011
Many of those have customer reviews that you can check out.
 
Opps. Apologies for any confusion.

I meant better that the Crucial M500. The anandtech review article you posted a link to didn't seem blown away by the M500, and given that the article was written way back in April (#fastMovingWorldOfComputing) I wondered if there was a specific SSD that I should be considering?

I guess what I should be asking is... Will any SSD work with my old MBP, or are there compatibility issues that I need to be aware of when comparing prices?
 
I think that if you want to be "blown away" by the performance of an SSD, then it's time to update your other hardware, too.
The current MBPro will give you 6 Gbps SATA. Your 5-year-old system is stuck with 3 Gbps - fast enough, but not state-of-the-art.
An SSD will be limited by the hardware that you choose to keep!
That being said - any SSD will be very noticeable increase in performance.
Your slower SATA bus will limit that increase, but it will still be very fast.
 
It's not that I want to be blown away, it's that the guy writing the article wasn't. I'm pretty easy about it... just want the best ROI.

Thanks for the advice though. Appreciated!
 
Back
Top