I've solved my ram problem. Turns out the 4 sticks of ram cannot work with each other, although all 4 are Kingston, DDR3, 1333MHz. In fact, 3 sticks are similar while the 4th which is also Kingston, but has a different hologram sticker. And if you say that's the odd one causing problem, well no. This is what I did:-

First two sticks coupled with another brand new set Corsair 2x2GB = it works, total 8GB shows up in bios and in activity monitor.

Second two sticks with the different hologram coupled with Corsair = it works too, 8GB in total.

But if you put all 4 sticks of Kingston together = it does not work, only 4GB ram.

Any one knows why? I sure don't.

I see that you all mention the Momentus XT a lot here, do you know where I can get my hands one retail in Malaysia? I went to check Digital Mall last weekend and couldn't find a store which carries it.

I'm sorry, I have edited my post. Thank you for correcting my mistake.

I have look at the beginning of the thread, and it seems that there are different opinions on what kind of RAM is the best for upgrading.

The same goes with the HDD, I read that HDD with higher RPM can function better but will consume more power thus less battery usage. Does the battery usage differences so significant with the increase of RPM? Is it worth to trade one for another?

And about differences between this brand and that brand and so on, I know nothing. For me, it is as though all RAMs and all HDDs are same.

Therefore i admit, i'm a noob in this IT-thingy. That's why I'm asking for the expert's opinion here. Pardon me if I have not done enough research.

I think I have provided with a thorough information about my macbook and my usage trend, please inform me whatever more information you need to know in order to help me.

you are correct: RAMs and HDDs (of the same spec) from different brands are supposed to be the same. but here's what we have collectively found out so far in this forum

RAM - a few users has been reporting incompatibility issues for kingston, and fewer for mushkin. corsair seems to be a safe bet. OWC and crucial is supposed to be the best, but they're not available locally.

note: u dont need 'certified for Macs' RAMs. they're normally standard overpriced RAMs.

HDD - before, our favourite here was the 500gb western digital scorpio blue, but a small number of forumers (including myself) has experience poor performance. seems like a good choice would be hitachi travelstar 5k500 or 7k500. if u have the money, seagate momentus xt is pretty fast. got even more money, splurge on an intel x25-m SSD

for ur usage, RAM is more important. try to google on how to determine if ur RAM is enough by using Activity Monitor (keep track of Page Out). also, make sure ur hdd isnt almost full...having about 30% free space should be fine to maintain the performance

but of course, upgrading RAM n HDD can only give so much performance. best way is of course to get a better machine

i mean, they are basically the same thing. the difference is they are actually tested on a mac, thus it's the best bet

feins is selling a 2x2gb KTA for rm460. i got my non-certified corsair 2x2gb for rm370. so it's really up to what rm90 means to a person. better assurance, or a nice tshirt lol

So whatever DDR2 667MHz ram will do?

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Added on July 31, 2010, 10:21 amAfter i insert the RAM, anything else i need to do for my software? Or just let it be like usual?

People usually get confused with the screws. I think if they are really lazy to know what screws to buy, mayb som1 can post the correct general name for that particular screw along with a clear picture. Solves the case of 10000000 question of how to open it up??? a link to youtube with credits to the owner of the video for showing how to open the damn thing.

For screw driver set, you can get in Thye Huat either in Perai (opposite Giant Perai) or Bukit Jambul area.. Price just RM21.50 per set.. That day I bought 2 sets from Perai, left just one.. Got 30+ precision screws - all you need to open macbook or any type of handphone.. Really worth it.. 

Can i use 2gb ram instead of 2 x 1gb ram if i want 2gb ram for my macbook?

Why not...?

Kingston website is listing KTA-MB1333/4G for iMacs 2010....

And mind you, Mac Pro 2009 uses 1066 modules, not 1333...

upgraded my macbook to 4GB kingston for SC II, lol~
got it from pc fair at RM268   now running flawlessly.
Was in dilemma to get from Apple store or ciplak Kingston, luckily it works, save 60% of price.

aaaaa~~ someone help me please im still having problems with momentus xt. i had the same problem before (i brought it up here) but even after getting a replacement unit, i still get the same problem

basically, i cloned my system to the drive and it boots flawlessly over an external USB connection. after i swap it inside my macbook pro 5,1 it wont boot (? folder image). i tried a fresh OSX install, but somewhere about 10 mins during the installation i got an error (the report was very long, cant recall anything).

my 500gb momentus xt came with the SD23 firmware. i tried updating it to SD24 using the bootable ISO, but i got the error which goes something like model matched, but firmware not match or something like that. i tried the 'force install' method (typing some code at the DOS prompt, found it somewhere in macrumours) but it still didnt work

im on EFI 1.8. some reports suggests that downgrading to 1.6 would solve it but at a slight loss of speed. i just tried downgrading, but the Aluminum_MacBook_Pro_Recovery.dmg file probably only works to downgrade 1.7 to 1.6 but not 1.8 to 1.6 (i cant find anyyone mentioning it works for 1.8, only 1.7). after restoring the dmg to my flash drive, my mac could not boot the flash drive (gotten the circle with a slash icon)

since this is my 2nd unit i doubt that this is the drives's fault. any help?

for macbook air u need miniDisplayPort to *something*. *something* depends on the projector, but mostly use VGA
i used superduper.

i dont think there's any problem with my dvd and dvd drive. even if it does, it wont cause the cloned drive not to work, right?

good to know yours worked fine. which firmware? sd23 or sd24?

i guess ill give it a try thx

happy new year to you too

did u upgrade the firmware using the bootable ISO or the windows app?