Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

*UPDATED* 16GB RAM in Core iX MBP? Should be possible!

Hellhammer

Hellhammer

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
22,164
582
Finland
Been doing some research about this and I've found out that the Core iX MBPs should support up to 16GB of RAM unless Apple has limited it in the firmware. How? Few days ago I was browsing in Eurocom's site and found their latest laptop, X8100 Leopard. As you can see in the link, they offer up to 2x8GB of RAM though the price isn't nice, 1754$. Since then, I have sent them couple emails about this and they did confirm that the 16GB fully works and that their laptops use regular Intel chipsets, just like Core iX MBPs do. There are also some others offering 16GB but those are usually 4x4GB. However, he wasn't able to talk about other manufacturers so he could not confirm that it works in MBP for example.

I've sent an email to Intel about this but haven't got an answer yet. So, anybody want to be out guinea pig? :p
 
jclardy

jclardy

macrumors 601
Oct 6, 2008
4,161
4,373
I just upgraded to 8GB which more than suits what I use the machine for. Considering the price difference of $185 for 8GB from Newegg vs $1700 for 16GB I don't see anyone really wanting to make the jump, especially considering you could get 8GB with a large SSD for that kind of money.

I bet it will probably work, but I don't know anyone who would make the leap. But if you want to try feel free to let us know :D
 
Hellhammer

Hellhammer

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
22,164
582
Finland
jclardy said:
I just upgraded to 8GB which more than suits what I use the machine for. Considering the price difference of $185 for 8GB from Newegg vs $1700 for 16GB I don't see anyone really wanting to make the jump, especially considering you could get 8GB with a large SSD for that kind of money.
Click to expand...

People used to say that about 8GB. Before that, they said the same about 4GB and before that, 2GB. May not be worth it now but future software is just RAM hungrier than old so in few years, that 16GB may be worth it
 
alphaod

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
If NewEgg sells them I'd be inclined to try them out.

That's only if they come with free shipping.
 
Hellhammer

Hellhammer

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
22,164
582
Finland
UPDATE: Got a response from Intel saying that the memory controller which is integrated into the CPU does not support more than 8GB. 16GB may be installed but only 8GB of that would be utilized. I did sent an email to Eurocom asking that is that 16GB fully recognized.

At least for now, this doesn't sound too good
 
D

dnenciu

macrumors member
Oct 4, 2007
79
0
Hellhammer said:
UPDATE: Got a response from Intel saying that the memory controller which is integrated into the CPU does not support more than 8GB. 16GB may be installed but only 8GB of that would be utilized. I did sent an email to Eurocom asking that is that 16GB fully recognized.

At least for now, this doesn't sound too good
Click to expand...

Ok let me clarify it for you. :)

There are two intel cpu lines the dual core arrandale and the quad core Clarksfield. Both cary the i7 name but with diff codes (dual core is 6xxM and quad is xxxQ). They have diff chipsets, the dual core has only two ram slots that can go up to 2x4GB = 8Gb, the quad cores have 4 memory slots that go up to 4x4Gb = 16Gb.

i7 quad use more power and get hot and can't be used in a slim laptop like the mbp just read any of the forum posts related to hp envy.

The eurocom would support 16Gb with the xxxQ quad core cpu and 8Gb max with the 6xxM dual core line if they say otherwise they don't know what they are talking about.

Hope this clarifies it for you. :)
 
Hellhammer

Hellhammer

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
22,164
582
Finland
dnenciu said:
Ok let me clarify it for you. :)

There are two intel cpu lines the dual core arrandale and the quad core Clarksfield. Both cary the i7 name but with diff codes (dual core is 6xxM and quad is xxxQ). They have diff chipsets, the dual core has only two ram slots that can go up to 2x4GB = 8Gb, the quad cores have 4 memory slots that go up to 4x4Gb = 16Gb.

i7 quad use more power and get hot and can't be used in a slim laptop like the mbp just read any of the forum posts related to hp envy.

Hope this clarifies it for you. :)
Click to expand...

According to Intel, even Clarksfield supports only 8GB of RAM. However, it supports 1333MHz DDR3 while Arrandale supports only 1066MHz. They both use the same chipsets though. You can have 4 RAM slots with both CPUs but again, only 8GB will be recognized according to Intel

BTW, I got reply from Eurocom saying that they haven't tested 16GB yet as they haven't got any 8GB modules. When they get them, the guy promised to let me know how it works
 
M

MrFlynn

macrumors member
Jul 13, 2010
59
0
Hellhammer said:
According to Intel, even Clarksfield supports only 8GB of RAM. However, it supports 1333MHz DDR3 while Arrandale supports only 1066MHz. They both use the same chipsets though. You can have 4 RAM slots with both CPUs but again, only 8GB will be recognized according to Intel

BTW, I got reply from Eurocom saying that they haven't tested 16GB yet as they haven't got any 8GB modules. When they get them, the guy promised to let me know how it works
Click to expand...

This would be very impressive news. It would also mean that current gen iMacs could handle 32gb of ram.

Imagine a 16 gig i7 MBP with SSD...sheesh.
 
Hellhammer

Hellhammer

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
22,164
582
Finland
MrFlynn said:
It would also mean that current gen iMacs could handle 32gb of ram.
Click to expand...

As far as I've read, only i7-9xx and Xeons support more than 16GB. There are few LGA 1156 mobos with 6 memory slots but even they support only 16GB. I'm not sure has anyone tried more than 16GB but at least it looks like it's the maximum.
 
alphaod

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
Hellhammer said:
BTW, I got reply from Eurocom saying that they haven't tested 16GB yet as they haven't got any 8GB modules. When they get them, the guy promised to let me know how it works
Click to expand...

Excellent: they're selling a configuration they can't build nor do they do if it works? :eek:
 
Hellhammer

Hellhammer

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
22,164
582
Finland
alphaod said:
Excellent: they're selling a configuration they can't build nor do they do if it works? :eek:
Click to expand...

Looks like they are lol. It works but only half of it can be used :p I'm not trusting Intel support too much on this though, I doubt they actually know more than is said in their site. I guess most of the questions they get are like "my CPU is 2.66GHz, what model is it and what can I upgrade it to?" :D
 
alphaod

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
Hellhammer said:
Looks like they are lol. It works but only half of it can be used :p I'm not trusting Intel support too much on this though, I doubt they actually know more than is said in their site. I guess most of the questions they get are like "my CPU is 2.66GHz, what model is it and what can I upgrade it to?" :D
Click to expand...

Did you email their support or product pre-sales support? I did the latter and they forwarded my question an engineer who gave me a good answer :D Of course my question wasn't about the RAM, but about their SSDS—it's always worth a try.
 
Hellhammer

Hellhammer

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
22,164
582
Finland
alphaod said:
Did you email their support or product pre-sales support? I did the latter and they forwarded my question an engineer who gave me a good answer :D Of course my question wasn't about the RAM, but about their SSDS—it's always worth a try.
Click to expand...

I just emailed their normal support and got links to their product pages and they just said "see, it's 8GB there, why can't you believe it?" :D I even included few sources about 16GB, for example the Eurocom lappy. Good point in the pre-sales support, you have a link or email address that you could share?
 
D

dnenciu

macrumors member
Oct 4, 2007
79
0
Hellhammer said:
According to Intel, even Clarksfield supports only 8GB of RAM. However, it supports 1333MHz DDR3 while Arrandale supports only 1066MHz. They both use the same chipsets though. You can have 4 RAM slots with both CPUs but again, only 8GB will be recognized according to Intel

BTW, I got reply from Eurocom saying that they haven't tested 16GB yet as they haven't got any 8GB modules. When they get them, the guy promised to let me know how it works
Click to expand...

You are right I did some further research you are right:
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43125&processor=i7-840QM&spec-codes=SLBMP

It says max memory supported 8Gb.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom