Differences in RAM Speed

[ahdickter]

I've been thinking up upgrading to 16GB of RAM in my 2011 15" MacBook Pro (I like screwing with Windows using VM Ware too much). Does it matter whether I purchase 1333mhz or 1600mhz RAM? I know the logic board will accept both, but will the faster clocked memory improve performance noticeably?

 

[Intell]

I'm not sure, but I believe 1600mhz doesn't go much faster then 1%-2%. The current limitation is the CPU.

 

[Hellhammer]

The performance difference is negligible. Unless 1600MHz is only a few bucks more expensive, go with the 1333MHz.

 

[ml.sail1]

As stated above, the performance gain is minimal, however it is to my understanding that the one thing that will benefit from the increased speed is the iGPU, since is uses shared memory.

 

[theSeb]

As stated above, the performance gain is minimal, however it is to my understanding that the one thing that will benefit from the increased speed is the iGPU, since is uses shared memory.

Correct, but the difference in the real world is about 1 fps extra when using OpenGL.

I've done some benchmarks to compare

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1293809/