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8Gb Memory upgrade for 2011 MBP

S

SgtP3pp3r

macrumors member
Original poster
I was hoping to get some insight as to what brand memory i should get.

I'm on an early 2011 15" MBP 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, wanting to go from 4Gb to 8Gb

I want to make sure I receive Lion with open arms when i actually do the upgrade.
 
I love OWC's products (www.macsales.com). 8 GB with shipping is around $90, which is probably $20 or $30 more than something on sale at NewEgg, but the quality of their stuff has been top notch for me.

SgtP3pp3r said:
I was hoping to get some insight as to what brand memory i should get.

I'm on an early 2011 15" MBP 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, wanting to go from 4Gb to 8Gb

I want to make sure I receive Lion with open arms when i actually do the upgrade.
Click to expand...
 
I have the 2011 2.0 ghz 15", and before I booted it up for the first time i installed 8 GB of G Skill DDR3 1333 mhz 10600 from newegg.com. Laptop read it perfectly.
 
I've always gone with Crucial memory, zero problems. Fast shipping, quality products, the individual chips were also of the same brand as the OEM.

After using my MBP with 8GB, I'd never consider using one at 4GB.
 
There is no quality between OWC and newegg ram. The only difference and newegg offers this ram for 15-40$ cheaper then OWC is that its "Mac Certified" which is a scam in my opinion.

All of the non "mac certified" ddr 3 ram which is 30-40$ cheaper then OWC will work in your MBP.
 
It's highly unlikely that you'll notice a difference between any of the most popular options (Crucial, G.Skill, OWC) once you put it in your Mac. IMO just go with the cheapest option as it will serve you just as well.

I got the G.Skill set from NewEgg about a week and a half ago when it was on sale for $50. I've had a set of G.Skill DDR desktop RAM in my PC that I built 5 and a half years ago that is still going strong and has never had any issues. It's even overclocked as well, so I can vouch for G.Skill in terms of quality. Many people may not have heard of the brand and thus are susceptible to thinking that it is not good quality, but it's actually quite popular amongst the PC gaming world. You're probably just as likely to have as many (or few) problems with any other brand of RAM so I wouldn't fuss over the price.
 
lindstedt56 said:
There is no quality between OWC and newegg ram. The only difference and newegg offers this ram for 15-40$ cheaper then OWC is that its "Mac Certified" which is a scam in my opinion.

All of the non "mac certified" ddr 3 ram which is 30-40$ cheaper then OWC will work in your MBP.
Click to expand...

OWC does offer an advance replacement service, so they ship new RAM to you and then you ship the bad RAM back--fairly quick. So it's not like they don't offer anything, though I agree they are a bit pricey.
 
Well when it comes to my MBP, price is no object.

I really couldn't fuss on an additional $40 for doubling the RAM on a machine i payed $2200 for (Specially when u consider the reason i payed $2200 was to make sure i was getting a quality product).

I really appreciate all the insight, and tho i'm tempted to go with the Crucial, i'll try the OWC. Call me a fool, but i feel that "Mac Certified" label just might be worth the extra cash.

Thanks to all 😀
 
SgtP3pp3r said:
Well when it comes to my MBP, price is no object.

I really couldn't fuss on an additional $40 for doubling the RAM on a machine i payed $2200 for (Specially when u consider the reason i payed $2200 was to make sure i was getting a quality product).

I really appreciate all the insight, and tho i'm tempted to go with the Crucial, i'll try the OWC. Call me a fool, but i feel that "Mac Certified" label just might be worth the extra cash.

Thanks to all 😀
Click to expand...

I've used Crucial's 8GB ram, which has been great thus far (with both SL and L). 8GB is much faster for me for both OS's
 
lindstedt56 said:
There is no quality between OWC and newegg ram. The only difference and newegg offers this ram for 15-40$ cheaper then OWC is that its "Mac Certified" which is a scam in my opinion.

All of the non "mac certified" ddr 3 ram which is 30-40$ cheaper then OWC will work in your MBP.
Click to expand...

+1 Paying a mac tax to anyone other than Apple is wasting your money...
 
just ordered MBP 15" today.. was looking at upgrading the memory right off the bat to 8GB.. saw this thread.. they have same mem on amazon for free ship with prime.. so either newegg or amazon.. i prob go with newegg. 🙂
 
has anyone experienced a drop in battery life?

I think when I was on the stock 4GB, i had twice as much battery life as I do now when I'm on 8GB corsair
 
SgtP3pp3r said:
Well when it comes to my MBP, price is no object.

I really couldn't fuss on an additional $40 for doubling the RAM on a machine i payed $2200 for (Specially when u consider the reason i payed $2200 was to make sure i was getting a quality product).

I really appreciate all the insight, and tho i'm tempted to go with the Crucial, i'll try the OWC. Call me a fool, but i feel that "Mac Certified" label just might be worth the extra cash.

Thanks to all 😀
Click to expand...

But you're paying an extra $40 for ZERO benefit. If you're going to do that, at least mail me the check 😀 G.Skill is one of the absolute best brands for RAM and tons of people have it in their MBPs with no problems whatsoever. It's one of the only compatible kits that have a FULL 5 "Eggs" on Newegg with over 200 reviews.
 
If anyone wants to buy their G.skill/Kingston or whatever, I'm willing to Mac Certify it for $30. That's still $10 less that OWC.
 
dsio said:
If anyone wants to buy their G.skill/Kingston or whatever, I'm willing to Mac Certify it for $30. That's still $10 less that OWC.
Click to expand...

$25 from me. Sorry dsio, rules of capitalism 😀

Reminds me of this:
lostipodtouch50.jpg
 
khadgar2k1 said:
has anyone experienced a drop in battery life?

I think when I was on the stock 4GB, i had twice as much battery life as I do now when I'm on 8GB corsair
Click to expand...

I think you're remembering incorrectly. I don't see how the addition of memory, even doubling it, would result in a 50% decrease in battery life.
 
I just went with Crucial memory last week. I installed it today and it seems to work fine after a few memory tests. I feel better about running virtual machines with 8GB instead of 4. With 4, I was pushing the boundaries a bit. Hope that helps in your decision-making process.
 
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