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8GB of ram question for macbook pro 5.1 (It works!)

S

Some Guy 555

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 26, 2009
194
0
I have had this system for a little over a year now. It has served me well. Unfortunately I have been encountering an inconvenient problem of running out of memory and thus having to use my SSD (the hard drive) for swap... I would really like to avoid unnecessary writes if I can avoid it).

Picked up Starcraft 2 the other day, runs great on the gaming PC but when I'm not there it still runs great on this laptop :D. Except for the part that after awhile it ends up using close to 2GB of ram JUST for the game.... the system ends up using almost all of the other remaining 2GB... resulting in swap usage.

I think its time I look into bumping the memory up to 8GB.

Here is my system:

Macbook Pro 15.4" 2.66ghz (core 2 duo).
Purchased in April 2009 (before they came out with the ones with the polymer battery).

This is the memory I am looking at grabbing:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231295

I am fairly confident that it would work. I know the memory in my macbook pro is:

DDR3 PC3 8500 (1066 mhz)

The one I am thinking of grabbing is:

DDR3 PC3 10666 (1333 mhz)

Obviously it would not run at 1333 mhz in my system, it would be clocked down to 1066. The only reason I am thinking of grabbing that ram is down the road (when the macbook pro's eventually come with 1333mhz ram, I will already be set for 8GB).

The questions I have are:

1. For those that have the macbook pro 5, 1 (the 15" 2.66ghz one), have you upgaded to 8gb of ram successfully?

2. I think thats a good price... thoughts?

Thanks!
 
Nde

Nde

macrumors 6502a
Feb 12, 2008
640
49
Los Angeles, CA
Seriously, as a gamer myself, upgrading from 4GB to 8GB will not make your SC2 any faster. I upgraded my MBP as well, the only benefit I saw was I can now open mutiple VMs fast. In terms of gaming, it is the same. Apple does not use memory like Windows so 4GB is plenty for gaming in MacOS.

Newegg is the way to go. I got all my stuff from Newegg.
 
S

Some Guy 555

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 26, 2009
194
0
After checking around for pricing, reviews, etc I decided to buy this:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231294

I was going to purchase an 8GB kit of DDR3 1333mhz ram (cas latency of 9) but decided against it (even though I had the potential to transfer it when I get a newer laptop). It would be downclocked to 1067mhz anyways (with the bad CL remaining).

Love the DDR3 8GB 1067mhz (CL 7) for $215.

On a side note, I am not buying this in hopes of "speeding up my SC2 performance". RAM does not make the system faster... it merely prevents it from taking a huge performance hit if you DO run out of it (which I regularly do).
 
panzer06

panzer06

macrumors 68040
Sep 23, 2006
3,282
229
Kilrath
OWC macsales.com has 8GB nuRam brand ram for $227. I'd trust them over gskill on a Mac.

Cheers,
 
C

crick3r

macrumors newbie
Feb 17, 2009
12
0
Please, let me know what happened with your upgrade. I also want to get 8gb but I am worried that Macbook Pro doesn't support it. I checked in Crucial and they way the max is 4gb. I don't want to buy a new computer when I only need more memory for my virtual machines...


DoFoT9 said:
Without doubt, my nuram 8gb is being shipped as we speak. Can't wait for it to arrive! I'm excited :D they come with a life time warranty, why wouldn't you go with it?!
Click to expand...
 
DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
crick3r said:
Please, let me know what happened with your upgrade. I also want to get 8gb but I am worried that Macbook Pro doesn't support it. I checked in Crucial and they way the max is 4gb. I don't want to buy a new computer when I only need more memory for my virtual machines...
Click to expand...

sure, ill let you know. the 2009/2010 MBPs do have a 8GB limit. check on macsales.com for "proper" notification - they know their stuff.

my computer is an iMac though, so you know... i wont exactly give you evidence - but i can let you know if the RAM works ;) (imacs and MBPs use the same RAM).
 
S

Some Guy 555

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 26, 2009
194
0
The modules finally arrived! Ordered last friday... arrived today (friday) so 1 week isn't too bad from newegg (their much faster shipping to the USA than to Canada).

Anyways, all in all it took about 5 minutes to crack the case, take out the old modules and insert the new ones. Very easy to do.

Starting the mbp up with the new modules in was very odd. I do have a SSD but my boot times after owning it for a year are around 18-24 seconds... usually 24 flat all the time.

It was literally 14 or 15 seconds to boot this time. Must be due to the fact that the Cas Latency is slightly lower than my previous modules (faster time transfering data to and from the SSD to RAM).

Just thought I would let everyone here know that you can install 8GB of ram in a March 2009 mbp (before Apple "officially" said that they support 8GB of ram in june).
 
DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
crick3r said:
Please, let me know what happened with your upgrade. I also want to get 8gb but I am worried that Macbook Pro doesn't support it. I checked in Crucial and they way the max is 4gb. I don't want to buy a new computer when I only need more memory for my virtual machines...
Click to expand...

just to follow up - 12GB is happily running on my iMac 2009 model. 2x4GB + 2x2GBs.

in the morning i will attempt to get 14GB, i have a spare 1x4GB stick lying around that i can swap the 1x2GB stick out for!
 
TZRaceR6

TZRaceR6

Guest
Jun 8, 2010
192
0
United Kingdom
Good thing you didn't buy 8 GB of DDR3 PC3 10666 (1333 mhz). Both chips installed wouldn't have worked.

1 x 4GB DDR3 PC3 8500 (1066 mhz) + 1 x 4GB DDR3 PC3 10666 (1333 mhz) chips would have, but as you said MBP would only run at 1067mhz.
 
LedCop

LedCop

macrumors regular
Apr 7, 2008
249
0
DoFoT9 said:
care to explain why it wouldnt run? i see no reason why it wouldnt run.
Click to expand...

I've heard about this too. I think the Mac won't recognize the memory timings at all and will choke then and there and refuse to boot. Whereas where there is at least one 1066 MHz module the Mac will have RAM it recognizes and apply the timings across all modules.
 
TZRaceR6

TZRaceR6

Guest
Jun 8, 2010
192
0
United Kingdom
LedCop said:
I've heard about this too. I think the Mac won't recognize the memory timings at all and will choke then and there and refuse to boot. Whereas where there is at least one 1066 MHz module the Mac will have RAM it recognizes and apply the timings across all modules.
Click to expand...

This is correct. I attempted to use the 1333 chips in pairing, but found the computer wouldn't boot into OSX. Hardware test does recognize them (knows they are there and module speed) and Boot Camp will run Windows 7 with them both in, but you can not run OSX. With a 1066 and 1333, everything works.

This is the reason why my sig shows 6GB of RAM, vice 8. Until I buy another 4GB PC3 8500 1066 chip that is.
 
DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
LedCop said:
I've heard about this too. I think the Mac won't recognize the memory timings at all and will choke then and there and refuse to boot. Whereas where there is at least one 1066 MHz module the Mac will have RAM it recognizes and apply the timings across all modules.

TZRaceR6 said:
This is correct. I attempted to use the 1333 chips in pairing, but found the computer wouldn't boot into OSX. Hardware test does recognize them (knows they are there and module speed) and Boot Camp will run Windows 7 with them both in, but you can not run OSX. With a 1066 and 1333, everything works.

This is the reason why my sig shows 6GB of RAM, vice 8. Until I buy another 4GB PC3 8500 1066 chip that is.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

thanks for the follow up guys! explains perfectly - OSX musnt have those measures in place to handle it (however i thought the EFI would handle all that).

for the record - im running off:
slot 1: 4GB NuRAM 1066
slot 2: 4GB NuRAM 1066
slot 3: 4GB Geil 1066
slot 4: 2GB Hynix (stock RAM).

its running great! :D 14GB RAM ftw!
 
LedCop

LedCop

macrumors regular
Apr 7, 2008
249
0
TZRaceR6 said:
This is correct. I attempted to use the 1333 chips in pairing, but found the computer wouldn't boot into OSX. Hardware test does recognize them (knows they are there and module speed) and Boot Camp will run Windows 7 with them both in, but you can not run OSX. With a 1066 and 1333, everything works.

This is the reason why my sig shows 6GB of RAM, vice 8. Until I buy another 4GB PC3 8500 1066 chip that is.
Click to expand...

Huh... like DoFoT9 I would have thought the problem, if anything, would lie with the EFI from the outset. I didn't think the Mac would recognize the module speeds let alone boot Windows! And I had no idea it was an OS X problem. :confused:

Btw, does the Mac run everything a CL 7 speeds in addition to 1066 MHz? Or does it fall back to CL 9?


DoFoT9, that odd 2GB module is triggering my OCD. ;)
 
DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
LedCop said:
Huh... like DoFoT9 I would have thought the problem, if anything, would lie with the EFI from the outset. I didn't think the Mac would recognize the module speeds let alone boot Windows! And I had no idea it was an OS X problem. :confused:
Click to expand...
it might actually be the EFI - given that the BIOS is emulated under windows - it might be able to detect and make changes even if it is an emulated BIOS. i am of course completely shooting in the dark here.

Btw, does the Mac run everything a CL 7 speeds in addition to 1066 MHz? Or does it fall back to CL 9?
Click to expand...
i thought that it would want everything to be identical - you cant have mixed speeds for RAM. so the latency timings should also "go back"

DoFoT9, that odd 2GB module is triggering my OCD. ;)
Click to expand...
sorry man, mine too! its a long story - and foolishness on my part! i had the 2x2stock, and wanted to go to 8GB - so i purhcased a 1x4GB stick and put it into slot 3&4. this obviously didnt work as both paired slots need something in them to work and i got constant freezes. i was under the impression that the RAM was not compatible with my computer (it passed Memtests), so i ordered 2x4GB sticks. etc.
 
TZRaceR6

TZRaceR6

Guest
Jun 8, 2010
192
0
United Kingdom
LedCop said:
Huh... like DoFoT9 I would have thought the problem, if anything, would lie with the EFI from the outset. I didn't think the Mac would recognize the module speeds let alone boot Windows! And I had no idea it was an OS X problem. :confused:

Btw, does the Mac run everything a CL 7 speeds in addition to 1066 MHz? Or does it fall back to CL 9?


DoFoT9, that odd 2GB module is triggering my OCD. ;)
Click to expand...

Not sure about the latency figures, as I can't remember. But, I found it interesting that when doing the hardware test, the 2 chips were recognized (as in my MacBook knew what they were). So the computer knows what they are, but OSX is preventing bootup with both installed.
After install of both 4GB chips and no luck with booting OSX, I rebooted and went to the Windows Boot Camp side (32 bit) and sure enough it loaded. Windows also recognized both chips, but obviously since it was 32bit, only takes advantage of approx 3GB's of memory.

Another note: Looking at hardware configuration, the Apple 2GB chip gives a serial number, however the G-Skill 4GB chip has a serial number of 0000000000000.
 
I

Isamtron

macrumors newbie
Jul 24, 2010
12
0
Hello,

I have the latest MBP with 4 GB of RAM. Can I buy the memory from newegg and have 12 GB in total?

Thanks.
 
G

goMac

Contributor
Apr 15, 2004
7,662
1,694
Isamtron said:
Hello,

I have the latest MBP with 4 GB of RAM. Can I buy the memory from newegg and have 12 GB in total?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Your Macbook Pro has two RAM slots, so it can only support 8 gigs of RAM max. You'd have to take out your current 4 gigs to put in the 8 gigs.
 
B

boredsadist

macrumors newbie
Aug 14, 2010
11
0
I have the 2010 17in MacBook Pro with the Intel Core i7 with 4GB DDR3 RAM 1066Mhz. I was going to upgrade to 8GB 1333Mhz (2x4GB) because I use Windows 7 in Parallels daily. Am I hearing correctly that 2x4GB 1333Mhz will keep the new 2010 Intel Core i7 MacBook Pro models from starting?
 
DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
boredsadist said:
I have the 2010 17in MacBook Pro with the Intel Core i7 with 4GB DDR3 RAM 1066Mhz. I was going to upgrade to 8GB 1333Mhz (2x4GB) because I use Windows 7 in Parallels daily. Am I hearing correctly that 2x4GB 1333Mhz will keep the new 2010 Intel Core i7 MacBook Pro models from starting?
Click to expand...

depends on what type of memory - grab the CL9 and you should be ok, the CL7 appears to be working fine as well.

it should run at 1333Mhz.
 
LedCop

LedCop

macrumors regular
Apr 7, 2008
249
0
DoFoT9 said:
depends on what type of memory - grab the CL9 and you should be ok, the CL7 appears to be working fine as well.

it should run at 1333Mhz.
Click to expand...

:confused:

TZRaceR6 said:
This is correct. I attempted to use the 1333 chips in pairing, but found the computer wouldn't boot into OSX. Hardware test does recognize them (knows they are there and module speed) and Boot Camp will run Windows 7 with them both in, but you can not run OSX. With a 1066 and 1333, everything works.

This is the reason why my sig shows 6GB of RAM, vice 8. Until I buy another 4GB PC3 8500 1066 chip that is.
Click to expand...
 
B

boredsadist

macrumors newbie
Aug 14, 2010
11
0
Keep in mind in this forum we seem to talking about two different breeds of MBP. While the 2009 Intel Core 2 Duo and the 2010 Intel Core i5/i7 models look the same, both being unibody and all, (don't argue with me, I just built a Core i7 desktop) they are TWO radically different machines in the way they handle RAM.

I'm aware in the 2009 unibody Core 2 Duo models that they wouldn't play nice with the 1333Mhz RAM, but the Intel Core i7 chipsets use a different chipset so I'm wondering how the 2010 Intel Core i7 models would handle 8GB 1333Mhz RAM.
 
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