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1333 Ram in Late 2012 Mac Mini i7 2.3ghz

A

avkdm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 14, 2012
160
42
Hi All,
I have done a search on these forums but come up with nothing.
I just purchased Late 2012 Mac Mini Quad Core 2.3 with 2x2gb 1600mb Ram.
I can source 2x8gb 1333 Sodimm (not low voltage) 1.5V fairly cheaply.
Anyone know if this will work and will the extra heat of the higher voltage ram cause potential issues?
I realise the type of ram maybe an issue but can any one categorically say lower speed sodimms@1.5V work in these Mac Minis?
FYI: Ram Type Kingston DDR3 1333 8GB KVR1333D3S9/8G
Both items are on the way so I will post and let you know of the outcome, however anyone willing to go out on a limb or actually knows if these type of sodimms will work in Late 2012 Mac Mini i7 2.3 Quad Core?
Thanks in Advance

Edit: Boots and ram is functioning OK so far. Ram reports as good in Yosemite. Will report when or if ( or I don't ) have any problems. Fingers crossed :)
 
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avkdm said:
No one game enough huh!
Anyhow found this thread
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1516840/
Click to expand...

Buy the correct RAM speeds. Don't ever go slower MHz or quicker MHz than what Apple said.

The reason is that different speeds have different voltages. Furthermore there are some issues with them running at different speeds. I've mixed-and-matched in the past (2x1333MHz & 2x1600MHz in 2011 iMac), or put quicker RAM in (1600MHz in 17" MBP, 2133MHz in 15" 2012 MBP), and each time it will either cause general system sluggishness, kernel panics, or it won't post at all.

Just do the factory speeds.
 
keysofanxiety said:
Buy the correct RAM speeds. Don't ever go slower MHz or quicker MHz than what Apple said.

The reason is that different speeds have different voltages. Furthermore there are some issues with them running at different speeds. I've mixed-and-matched in the past (2x1333MHz & 2x1600MHz in 2011 iMac), or put quicker RAM in (1600MHz in 17" MBP, 2133MHz in 15" 2012 MBP), and each time it will either cause general system sluggishness, kernel panics, or it won't post at all.

Just do the factory speeds.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why any of that would matter.... Sounds more like a bad memory chip in there.

avkdm said:
Hi All,
I have done a search on these forums but come up with nothing.
I just purchased Late 2012 Mac Mini Quad Core 2.3 with 2x2gb 1600mb Ram.
I can source 2x8gb 1333 Sodimm (not low voltage) 1.5V fairly cheaply.
Anyone know if this will work and will the extra heat of the higher voltage ram cause potential issues?
I realise the type of ram maybe an issue but can any one categorically say lower speed sodimms@1.5V work in these Mac Minis?
FYI: Ram Type Kingston DDR3 1333 8GB KVR1333D3S9/8G
Both items are on the way so I will post and let you know of the outcome, however anyone willing to go out on a limb or actually knows if these type of sodimms will work in Late 2012 Mac Mini i7 2.3 Quad Core?
Thanks in Advance
Click to expand...

Fact is OP, with the Core i Series, the memory controller is now on the CPU. The CPU is what determines everything. Intel states that Ivy Bridge can handle 1333mhz or 1600mhz and it doesn't matter if it is "Mac" Ram or "PC" RAM. It's all the same since it is the same controller and completely out of Apple's hands now.

I've used both 1333mhz and 1600mhz in my Ivy Bridge Mini's with no issue. I've never tried mixing and matching, but to be honest speed wise it shouldn't matter. You are only going to get a few percentage points lost in performance and then ONLY if the process you are running is dependent upon memory bandwidth. Fact is, the faster the DDR3 memory the greater the CAS Latency (generally speaking) so the difference is negligible.
 
paulrbeers said:
I'm not sure why any of that would matter.... Sounds more like a bad memory chip in there.



Fact is OP, with the Core i Series, the memory controller is now on the CPU. The CPU is what determines everything. Intel states that Ivy Bridge can handle 1333mhz or 1600mhz and it doesn't matter if it is "Mac" Ram or "PC" RAM. It's all the same since it is the same controller and completely out of Apple's hands now.

I've used both 1333mhz and 1600mhz in my Ivy Bridge Mini's with no issue. I've never tried mixing and matching, but to be honest speed wise it shouldn't matter. You are only going to get a few percentage points lost in performance and then ONLY if the process you are running is dependent upon memory bandwidth. Fact is, the faster the DDR3 memory the greater the CAS Latency (generally speaking) so the difference is negligible.
Click to expand...

I'm only going on my experience and my colleagues' experience. And I'm not talking about the odd upgrade with Komputerbay RAM. Out of hundreds of machines with Mac compatible Crucial RAM since 2011, we found that:

- Wrong RAM speed is a bad idea

And even though it 'works' on your Mac Mini, that's not to say that you're getting any benefit from it. Just because nothing bad happens doesn't mean to say that it's running better as a result. I doubt you're seeing any performance increase between 1600MHz and 1333MHz.

Yes, the chip does support both 1600 and 1333. But there's something about the Logic Boards that just don't like the other speeds. Again, I believe that's because of the different voltages. We're talking about 1.35V vs 1.5V.

16GB of RAM when Apple suggests 8GB max? That's fine. Just make sure it's the right speed.

Again, I appreciate that you haven't had any bad experiences. However a lot of other people have. Always recommend the right speeds.
 
avkdm said:
1333 Ram in Late 2012 Mac Mini i7 2.3ghz
Click to expand...
I use the same Mac mini and I use this RAM in the Mac mini.


Memtest86+ result

memtest86_v501_mm_2012_zpssandzqqm.jpg~original
 
keysofanxiety said:
I'm only going on my experience and my colleagues' experience. And I'm not talking about the odd upgrade with Komputerbay RAM. Out of hundreds of machines with Mac compatible Crucial RAM since 2011, we found that:

- Wrong RAM speed is a bad idea

And even though it 'works' on your Mac Mini, that's not to say that you're getting any benefit from it. Just because nothing bad happens doesn't mean to say that it's running better as a result. I doubt you're seeing any performance increase between 1600MHz and 1333MHz.

Yes, the chip does support both 1600 and 1333. But there's something about the Logic Boards that just don't like the other speeds. Again, I believe that's because of the different voltages. We're talking about 1.35V vs 1.5V.

16GB of RAM when Apple suggests 8GB max? That's fine. Just make sure it's the right speed.

Again, I appreciate that you haven't had any bad experiences. However a lot of other people have. Always recommend the right speeds.
Click to expand...

Doesn't the 2012 Mac Mini ship with 1.5v ram?
Also I am going down in speed not up.
There is nowhere on the apple website that states you should use lower voltage ram.
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT202593

----------
paulrbeers said:
I'm not sure why any of that would matter.... Sounds more like a bad memory chip in there.



Fact is OP, with the Core i Series, the memory controller is now on the CPU. The CPU is what determines everything. Intel states that Ivy Bridge can handle 1333mhz or 1600mhz and it doesn't matter if it is "Mac" Ram or "PC" RAM. It's all the same since it is the same controller and completely out of Apple's hands now.

I've used both 1333mhz and 1600mhz in my Ivy Bridge Mini's with no issue. I've never tried mixing and matching, but to be honest speed wise it shouldn't matter. You are only going to get a few percentage points lost in performance and then ONLY if the process you are running is dependent upon memory bandwidth. Fact is, the faster the DDR3 memory the greater the CAS Latency (generally speaking) so the difference is negligible.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info - seems to make the most sense so far. I will try it and report back.
 
avkdm said:
Doesn't the 2012 Mac Mini ship with 1.5v ram?
Also I am going down in speed not up.
There is nowhere on the apple website that states you should use lower voltage ram.
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT202593

----------



Thanks for the info - seems to make the most sense so far. I will try it and report back.
Click to expand...

I'm only going on what I've experienced. I work for a computer company. Different RAM speeds on Mac cause a lot of problems down the line, in my experience. I'm talking countless RAM upgrades.

I'm not going to argue the toss, I'm just telling you what I've seen and encountered.

Anyway, enough of this. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do.
 
keysofanxiety said:
I'm only going on what I've experienced. I work for a computer company. Different RAM speeds on Mac cause a lot of problems down the line, in my experience. I'm talking countless RAM upgrades.

I'm not going to argue the toss, I'm just telling you what I've seen and encountered.

Anyway, enough of this. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your advice, will let you know how I go.
 
Mr. Retrofire said:
Yeah. Even the memory slots have a marker which says "1.5 V". The Intel processor data sheet shows that the Ivy Bridge processor in the Mac mini Late-2012 supports DDR3L-1600 RAM-which is 1.35 V RAM. For example:
http://www.crucial.com/csrusa/en/bls2k8g3n169es4
Click to expand...

Ivy bridge officially supports 1333/1600 ram so it pains me to believe Apple would purposely try and mess with this somehow and possibly make the system unstable.
The Ram is coming today, what Im hoping is if it boots up and tests OK I should be good to go. As for the system degrading over time I find that hard to believe.
All I asked in this forum had anyone got 1333 to work and most of the replies were following Apple mantra and not based on actual user experience. Causing problems down the road is not a valid answer either as anything could happen in between days to other parts/software installed on the PC.
"I told you not to install that RAM" (because it was not recommended by Apple) when a user has a problem with their Mac six months later smacks off arrogance. Just my 2 bobs worth.

Update: booted fine with 1333 ram(2x8gb - unmatched pair - Kingston KVR1333D3S9/8G) @1.5v, reports good in OSX. Opened multiple apps and no spinning beach balls. Happy so far.
 
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