Anyone tried 16GB 1600s on 4.1 Mini's (2010)?

[dr.joolz]

Hi I am eyeing some 16GBs for my mac mini 2010 (4.1) and came across some Crucial 1600s (PC3-12800)? I read here that the 4.1s should support 16GB 1333/1066 even tho apple says 8GB. I wonder if anyone's tried 1600s on Yosemite, I've installed all the updates on apple and the EFI is the latest MM41.0042.B03:

Model Name: Mac mini
Model Identifier: Macmini4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MM41.0042.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.65f2

Thanks!

 

[chrfr]

Hi I am eyeing some 16GBs for my mac mini 2010 (4.1) and came across some Crucial 1600s (PC3-12800)? I read here that the 4.1s should support 16GB 1333/1066 even tho apple says 8GB.

PC3-12800 RAM will not work at 16GB in the 2010 Mini.
More detail is here: http://blog.macsales.com/16302-some-2010-mac-owners-can-get-more-ram-than-they-thought

Basically, you must use only PC3-8500 if you want to use 16GB. Faster RAM simply won't boot.

 

[Joelburman]

I couldn't even get 4gb 1333mhz ram to work with my 2010 mini.

 

[Gjwilly]

You can always go with faster RAM in one of the slots as long as you have the correct RAM in the other slot.
There's no speed advantage because both slots will run at the slower speed but if you're trying to recycle unused sticks this is the way to do it.
Putting faster RAM in both slots will simply give you a RAM error and the machine will not boot.

 

[powerbook911]

Interestingly, the 2011 mini server accepts 1866 mhz ram and displays it as running as such. Bookmarks even show it is the slightest bit faster.

I ran it for 3 years, but my every January ram and hard drive test returned a funny ram result, so Kingston is replacing my 1866 with 1600 to try something different. The machine was spec for 1333.

Sorry, I realize this is a 2010 thread, but it was interesting 2011 was one-off year when they didn't seem to get a proper cap on the memory speed, 2012 was limited to 1600.

 

[dr.joolz]

Thanks all for the comments! I'm now instead eyeing a 2012 i7 on refurb and put 16GB on it, hopefully I'll get better speeds out of it! My 2010 is slow as I'm running a win server VM (3GB ram) on it as well as other stuff (total 8GB) and it always shows <200MB RAM left when the VM is open...

I wanted to see if I can get 1600s so that later if I upgrade to 2012 I wont have to buy the RAMs again, as it seems 1066s are actually more expensive than 1600s and not very future proof! Anyway will wait for a 2012 i7 to pop up!

 

[Undecided]

Hi I am eyeing some 16GBs for my mac mini 2010 (4.1) and came across some Crucial 1600s (PC3-12800)? I read here that the 4.1s should support 16GB 1333/1066 even tho apple says 8GB. I wonder if anyone's tried 1600s on Yosemite, I've installed all the updates on apple and the EFI is the latest MM41.0042.B03:

Model Name: Mac mini
Model Identifier: Macmini4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MM41.0042.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.65f2

Thanks!

I have 16GB in my 2010 Mac mini server. I bought it from macsales.com (OWC) to make sure it would work. In retrospect, 16 was way overkill. I should have bought an SSD instead.

 

[dr.joolz]

So would you recommend keeping my 2010 and put an SSD in instead of going to 16GB or getting A 2012?

 

[powerbook911]

So would you recommend keeping my 2010 and put an SSD in instead of going to 16GB or getting A 2012?

You will notice a SSD much more than 8GB to 16GB of RAM. However, make sure you feel comfortable doing the upgrade.

Sure, a 2012 machine with ssd is even better, but depending on what you use it for, the 2010 might still work for you until there is something else that really calls your name.

I have even considered upgrading my 2011 to a 2012, but with more and more retina Macs, I'm thinking I may eventually get the itch for a machine that can drive or has built in that type of display. Therefore, for the time being I have put a SSD in my 2011 and enjoying it.

I have been tempted by 16GB RAM, but for my uses, I don't think I'd benefit.