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8GB kit not working in my MBP 2011 13". Any idea why?

P

Philflow

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 7, 2008
1,276
3
I bought this memory for cheap:
GeIL GS38GB1066C7DC
PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066)
DDR3 (SODIMM)
CAS Latency 7

I was assuming it would work in my MBP 2011 13" but it doesn't. When I boot there are some frequent short beeps played. Nothing else happens.

Any ideas?

I put the standard memory back and that works fine.
 
Philflow said:
I bought this memory for cheap:
GeIL GS38GB1066C7DC
PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066)
DDR3 (SODIMM)
CAS Latency 7

I was assuming it would work in my MBP 2011 13" but it doesn't. When I boot there are some frequent short beeps played. Nothing else happens.

Any ideas?

I put the standard memory back and that works fine.
Click to expand...


Maybe it is just defective? It happens. Have you tried one stick at a time? That might help you determine if one stick is bad or if both of them are bad.


-P
 
Philflow said:
I bought this memory for cheap:
GeIL GS38GB1066C7DC
PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066)
DDR3 (SODIMM)
CAS Latency 7

I was assuming it would work in my MBP 2011 13" but it doesn't. When I boot there are some frequent short beeps played. Nothing else happens.

Any ideas?

I put the standard memory back and that works fine.
Click to expand...

You may have the wrong type of memory - the MB P uses PC3-10600 DDR3 1333 MHz - the PC3-8500 may be too slow to work in the 2011 MBP. I'm not sure you can put a slower speed memory without having issues.
 
One stick seems to be defective. The other one works fine.

I guess I'll have to return it.

jlc1978 said:
You may have the wrong type of memory - the MB P uses PC3-10600 DDR3 1333 MHz - the PC3-8500 may be too slow to work in the 2011 MBP.
Click to expand...

Can anyone confirm this?
 
Philflow said:
One stick seems to be defective. The other one works fine.

I guess I'll have to return it.



Can anyone confirm this?
Click to expand...

My numbers came from Apple's support site - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1270

It could be just defective or it may be that the Mac is sensitive to memory speed / timing issues and one works while one doesn't - even though it's not "defective." I've used faster, but not slower, memory in my Macs so I really don't have any anecdotal experiences, other than Macs can be real sensitive to memory issues.

It would be interesting to see if slower memory works fine and if there is any speed hit.
 
No

I have one stick of 1066 (4 gb) and on 1333 (2 gb) and it automatically down clocked it to 1066

macfan74318
 
Either bad RAM sticks or your 2011 doesn't like 1066 MHz - the 2011 models use 1333 MHz, so return the RAM and order the correct speed.

If you look in the manual that came with your MBP, it gives the correct RAM spec as 1333 MHz. While 1066 MHz RAM MAY work, it's not what is specified.
 
I think the above people are right that you shouldn't use slower memory than 1333 Mhz on an 2011 MBP.
I'd also get another kit with 1333 Mhz, if you take cas9 instead the price will be the same.
 
It might technically 'work' but it might also slow the whole bus speed. It's been a while since I've tinkered and might be a different case now, but in my overclocking days if you upped the fsb it would affect the cpu and ram, so reducing the fsb might also slow the cpu.

So while you get more ram using what you have, you might not get the benefit of it as everything else is running slower. I'd return it and get the correct spec'd memory.
 
Update: RAM has been sent back to seller. I'll stick with 4GB for now.
 
In the future consider buying RAM from a reputable source. There are examples of bad RAM from any retailer, but in my experience the lowest-priced RAM sources have more problems.

For example, I was recently enticed by RAM prices at Newegg.com. I have purchased a number of items from Newegg without a problem, but I haven't bought RAM.

I perused the customer reviews for the RAM modules that are compatible with my new 13" MBP and I was struck by the number of reviews that stated that the RAM was DOA or incompatible for some reason...

The last time that I purchased RAM from a company with some of the lowest prices listed on RAM Websites (1-800-4MEMORY) both the initial RAM and its replacement were defective. That was the last time that I did business with that company...

In the end I purchased RAM from my old standby source, Other World Computing. When I order from OWC I know that the RAM is compatible with my Mac and that the company will quickly replace bad RAM (which has never happened to me).

OWC is not the cheapest source, but it is certainly competitively-priced when comparing RAM from other reputable companies. I may have gotten the RAM cheaper from Newegg and probably would not have had a problem, but my time is valuable to me and the difference in cost isn't worth the hassle of disassembling my MBP multiple times, returning the RAM and waiting for delivery of the replacement modules.
 
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