Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Pao|o · Sep 17, 2007, 03:12 PM

With 2GB SODIMMs being popular these days can you run a "Napa" 1.83GHz MBP Core Duo with 4GB of RAM? I read somewhere that a Sanata Rosa-based notebooks from Dell & HP can accomodate 8GB of RAM so long as you're using a 64-bit OS.

tinkered · Sep 17, 2007, 03:47 PM

Short answer: No
Long answer: Yes, you can put 4GB in but the system cannot address the full 4 GB, only 3 GB. This is not an 32/64 bit OS issue, this is a platform issue that was resolved in the Santa Rosa series. There is, in theory a marginal benefit to matched pairs, even in the Napa platform, but it hardly seems worth the cost. Possibly worth more to MB users who get the benefit of the integrated GPU being able to address both sticks.

You can however max out at 3 GB with 1x 1GB and 1x2GB. I choose to do exactly this because I found that when I was working full boar I would run out of free RAM at 2 GB with my old PB 1.25. Yes I am a RAM junkie.

bballe336 · Sep 17, 2007, 04:40 PM

I don't think the core duo MBP's will recognize anything more than 2gb's. If they could though I would buy more ram for mine.

mduell · Sep 17, 2007, 04:42 PM

It's Calistoga not Napa; Napa requires Intel wifi, which the MBPs don't have.

945PM supports 4GB RAM in hardware, but can only address about 3.1GB of it. IIRC the Core Duo MBPs had an additional firmware issue crippling them to 2GB max.

Pao|o · 07:36 PM

Would my hardware go bad if I were to stick a 2GB SODIMM into my Calistoga MBP?

Segue a bit from the topic but are the the current MBP and iMac using "Santa Rosa" or just part of the Centrino Duo platform?

tinkered · Sep 17, 2007, 08:08 PM

Nice double post:
http://forums.macnn.com/58/imac-emac...7-imac-beyond/

Ok, not exactly the same but very close.

Pao|o · Sep 17, 2007, 10:49 PM

a double post that isnt exactly the same but very close. hmmmm. *rubs chin*

could it be they aren't identical and yet similar? hmmm

This says I an bump up RAM to 8GB after the 4GB SODIMMs are validated on the Santa Rosa-based Centrino Pro.
http://www.intel.com/business/casest...s_fujifilm.pdf

PaperNotes · Sep 18, 2007, 01:14 AM

MBP 1.83-2.16Ghz Core Duo - 2GB RAM limit
MBP 2.16-2.33Ghz Core 2 Duo - 3GB RAM limit
MBP 2.2-2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo (Santa Rosa) - 4GB RAM or more (unconfirmed)

Simon · Sep 18, 2007, 02:23 AM

Originally Posted by Pao|o

Segue a bit from the topic but are the the current MBP and iMac using "Santa Rosa" or just part of the Centrino Duo platform?

The latter. The "Mid 2007" iMacs and MBPs are not part of the Santa Rosa/Centrino platform because they don't use Intel's Kedron WiFi adapter. Apple does use the Crestline chipset though. Crestline is the chipset required for the Santa Rosa platform and that's why so many started referring to the new iMacs and MBPs as Santa Rosa even though it's technically not correct. Apple refers to them as "Mid 2007" which is technically correct and unambiguous. The platform/chipset monikers have caused nothing but confusion (as in the Napa/Calistoga issue).

There was some discussion about the issue in this thread too.

Simon · Sep 18, 2007, 02:35 AM

Originally Posted by PaperNotes

MBP 2.2-2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo (Santa Rosa) - 4GB RAM or more (unconfirmed)

Actually Intel's PM965 chipset can only support 4 GB RAM (page 12). So that will be the RAM limit for the Mid 2007 iMacs and MBPs.

mduell · Sep 18, 2007, 06:28 AM

Originally Posted by Pao|o

Would my hardware go bad if I were to stick a 2GB SODIMM into my Calistoga MBP?

Segue a bit from the topic but are the the current MBP and iMac using "Santa Rosa" or just part of the Centrino Duo platform?

It would be a waste of money.

No Intel Mac is a member of any Centrino platform.

Originally Posted by Pao|o

This says I an bump up RAM to 8GB after the 4GB SODIMMs are validated on the Santa Rosa-based Centrino Pro.
http://www.intel.com/business/casest...s_fujifilm.pdf

Interesting. Now why did they have to bury that in some case study instead of putting it in the official spec?

Originally Posted by Simon

Actually Intel's PM965 chipset can only support 4 GB RAM (page 12). So that will be the RAM limit for the Mid 2007 iMacs and MBPs.

See Pao|o's post above. Could be like 945PM, where originally it supported 2GB/667Mhz or 4GB/533Mhz and was later updated to support 4GB/667Mhz (physically).