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8GB RAM for Mac mini

M

macmini27

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 5, 2012
16
0
I know there are countless thread for ram in mac mini and i very well know the latest mac mini model (2012) supports 16 GB ram. So i have

2.3 Ghz quad core i7 with 6MB L3 cache
4GB (two 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory

I want to upgrade to 8 GB ram, as for now i can afford this. So which RAM will be best. I first tried with crucial but they dont ship to my country so only suggest Corsair, Gskill or Kingston
 
philipma1957

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Apr 13, 2010
6,367
251
Howell, New Jersey
the best ram is this.

http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KHX1600C9S3P1K2_8G.pdf

or this

http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KHX16LS9P1K2_8.pdf


kodeman53 happens to be wrong if he means the maker as the kingston is best. if he means the seller anyone that sells the kingston in my link will do


if speed and reliability are how you pick it.

by best it is the fastest and very reliable. as for price well that is a different story.

BTW what country are you in?



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Y4XAAK USA link


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-Hy...72001490&sr=8-2&keywords=kingston+plug+n+play UK link
 
Last edited:
M

macmini27

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 5, 2012
16
0
philipma1957 said:
the best ram is this.

http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KHX1600C9S3P1K2_8G.pdf

or this

http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KHX16LS9P1K2_8.pdf


kodeman53 happens to be wrong if he means the maker as the kingston is best. if he means the seller anyone that sells the kingston in my link will do


if speed and reliability are how you pick it.

by best it is the fastest and very reliable. as for price well that is a different story.

BTW what country are you in?



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Y4XAAK USA link


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-Hy...72001490&sr=8-2&keywords=kingston+plug+n+play UK link
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, i am from india. The price points of Kingston and Corsair are same, by the way which model you have. How is the performance in terms of boot, opening multiple apps etc?
 
philipma1957

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Apr 13, 2010
6,367
251
Howell, New Jersey
macmini27 said:
Thanks for the link, i am from india. The price points of Kingston and Corsair are same, by the way which model you have. How is the performance in terms of boot, opening multiple apps etc?
Click to expand...

I have used both I prefer the kingston plug n play over all other companies for my 2011 and 2012 mac minis.

They have fastest timings and they are very reliable.

The difference in speed is small but real.

If it was a car think 100KPH vs 95-96KPH . But it is very reliable . It is a rarity that the fastest piece of gear is also very reliable. Corsair is reliable but not as much as kingston. Kingston is close to 99 % and I have used 50 or 60 pairs of it 1 bad stick, corsair was about 14 of 18 sticks.. Smaller sample but over the years more people on this site have had corsair issues then kingston.
 
K

kodeman53

macrumors 65816
May 4, 2012
1,091
1
philipma1957

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Apr 13, 2010
6,367
251
Howell, New Jersey
kodeman53 said:
Saying Kingston is the best is simply your opinion. Nothing more and nothing less. Anyone who thinks they can see speed differences between memory chips is imagining it or engaging in 'the specifications say it's faster therefore I can see it" hallucinating.
Click to expand...

There has been more then one test that shows the fastest ram is kingston pnp ram and that for certain users it pays off.

As for the op I have no idea if he needs the kingston, but it is the fastest on the market.

btw I was very polite when I said you were wrong I gave you an out and basically you are not being very polite to me.
I have not dropped a hit of lsd since the early 80's and no longer hallucinate for recreational purposes.
 
M

macmini27

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 5, 2012
16
0
kodeman53 said:
Saying Kingston is the best is simply your opinion. Nothing more and nothing less. Anyone who thinks they can see speed differences between memory chips is imagining it or engaging in 'the specifications say it's faster therefore I can see it" hallucinating.
Click to expand...

Well kodeman53, there is nothing wrong in knowing someone's opinion, you have told about OWC, how's your experience with it and what model you are using. I am from india and i dont know how will i get OWC ram here, those international shipping charges and custom duty will make me mad

----------
philipma1957 said:
There has been more then one test that shows the fastest ram is kingston pnp ram and that for certain users it pays off.

As for the op I have no idea if he needs the kingston, but it is the fastest on the market.

btw I was very polite when I said you were wrong I gave you an out and basically you are not being very polite to me.
I have not dropped a hit of lsd since the early 80's and no longer hallucinate for recreational purposes.
Click to expand...

Do you have any links that kingston RAM is faster than others, or is it your experience of purchasing kingston, do you have mac mini or imac?
 
K

kodeman53

macrumors 65816
May 4, 2012
1,091
1
macmini27 said:
Well kodeman53, there is nothing wrong in knowing someone's opinion, you have told about OWC, how's your experience with it and what model you are using. I am from india and i dont know how will i get OWC ram here, those international shipping charges and custom duty will make me mad
Click to expand...
I have used Crucial, OWC and HP memory for various PCs, laptops, Macs, iMacs, Mac Minis, Dell, etc. No discernible difference in real world performance. Plug it in and it works.
 
Mr. Retrofire

Mr. Retrofire

macrumors 603
Mar 2, 2010
5,064
518
www.emiliana.cl/en
kodeman53 said:
Saying Kingston is the best is simply your opinion.
Click to expand...
No, my experience. If Kingston is overpriced in my country or not available in some months, i choose Crucial (manufactured by Micron) (like in March 2013).

----------
philipma1957 said:
I have not dropped a hit of lsd since the early 80's and no longer hallucinate for recreational purposes.
Click to expand...
Good to know. ;)
 
R

RichardC300

macrumors 65816
Sep 27, 2012
1,240
103
I like Corsair, because it has a boat on it. I've installed 8 GB in my MBP, and it's been working fine for 6+ months.
 
cmanderson

cmanderson

macrumors regular
May 20, 2013
161
0
Mr. Retrofire said:
In theory, yes:
Mac mini (Late 2012) 2.5 GHz
Intel® Core™ i5-3210M Processor
http://ark.intel.com/products/67355/

Mac mini (Late 2012) 2.3 GHz
Intel® Core™ i7-3615QM Processor
http://ark.intel.com/products/64900

Mac mini (Late 2012) 2.6 GHz
Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM Processor
http://ark.intel.com/products/64891
Click to expand...

In theory, but as there are only 2 SODIMM slots...

"Unfortunately the Mac Mini motherboard uses the BGA type processor package (not the rPGA socket) and only has two slots for RAM (one DIMM per channel), so you are limited to 16GB total RAM." - http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/107846/What+is+the+maximum+RAM+possible
 
satcomer

satcomer

Suspended
Feb 19, 2008
9,115
1,973
The Finger Lakes Region
macmini27 said:
I know there are countless thread for ram in mac mini and i very well know the latest mac mini model (2012) supports 16 GB ram. So i have

2.3 Ghz quad core i7 with 6MB L3 cache
4GB (two 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory

I want to upgrade to 8 GB ram, as for now i can afford this. So which RAM will be best. I first tried with crucial but they dont ship to my country so only suggest Corsair, Gskill or Kingston
Click to expand...

You should have checked for the cheapest prices for the 2012 Mac Mini at RAMSeeker.
 
S

SuperPolli

macrumors regular
Apr 20, 2013
111
0
New Jersey
I Prefer OWC

I've used both 8 GB and currently 16 GB of OWC RAM in my 2011 Mac Mini. Crucial and Kingston are both good, but I've seen incredible performance from OWC Memory.
 
M

macmini27

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 5, 2012
16
0
Thank you all for the reply

With your help i am able to narrow down the options of different RAM available in market

Seriously, getting a RAM from OWC and crucil is difficult because of international shipping and custom duty prices. I have one more question

The mac mini 2012 version has already 2*2 GB DDR3 RAM, i am thinking to replace one of them with 8GB DDR3 RAM. So there will be 10 GB ram

1. Will there be any performance issues, i mean i dont know the detailed specification of RAM which is currently installed like clock speed and latency.

2. Any method to find out the detailed specification, windows has an application CPU-Z which gives a detailed analysis of your system, anything like this mac

Does anyone of you have replaced one RAM stick, give me your opinion...
 
dmk1974

dmk1974

macrumors 68020
Sep 16, 2008
2,389
464
SuperPolli said:
I've used both 8 GB and currently 16 GB of OWC RAM in my 2011 Mac Mini. Crucial and Kingston are both good, but I've seen incredible performance from OWC Memory.
Click to expand...

Did you see any actual performance boost when going from 8 GB to 16 GB? I am sure the bump from the stock 4 GB is noticeable, but curious if 16 GB is really needed or just cool to have.
 
I

ivnj

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2006
1,466
97
Speaking of ram I have a mini mid 2011. Apple hardware test says I have bad ram. I get no errors if I use only 1 stick in the bottom (either stick is fine). I have 2 4gb sticks. And I don't remember where I put the original sticks. So just to rule out the slots can I install a ram in the top slot only and leave the bottom blank. Or does the bottom always have to be filled first.
 
I

ivnj

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2006
1,466
97
I just went to best buy and got one 8gb pny 12800 ddr 3. Works great and no issues found with hardware test.

Funny thing is the top slot is not dead because it works with the other chips either is fine. No issues found. So its just 1 at a time. Not together but 1 at a time. But at least the 1 8gb works. Good enough for now. And if I need more than I can get another 8gb for slot 2. But 1 is good enough for now. *gb is good for now.
 
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