Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

hints for a ram upgrade of a MBP 8,2

R

robbetto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 27, 2013
3
0
Florence - Italy
Hi everybody,

i own an MBP 8,2 [15" - late 2011] and I would like to upgrade its ram. After reading some similar post in this forum, the "Understanding Intel Mac RAM" and the "Buying RAM" guides I still have some doubts.

- What is the max amount of RAM that I can install?
If I listen to the guide, the max amount of RAM that my MBP can handle is 16GB, but someone says that after a firmware update the situation could change. My cpu is this one here
robbetto$ sysctl -n machdep.cpu.brand_string
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2675QM CPU @ 2.20GHz​

- What is the best ram that I can buy?
After some search i've restricted the list to 3 candidate:
  1. Crucial 16Gb kit
  2. Corsair Vengance
  3. Corsair MacKit 16Gb [2x8]

I'm oriented to the third one, but i'm open to other suggestions: it's not a matter of price if they not cost 200 bucks, I just want to pick the best...
 
Out of the probably dozen or so kits of RAM I've installed in Macs over the years, the only brands that have given trouble have been Komputerbay (cheap garbage sold by Amazon) and Corsair. Crucial has always been rock solid. I have another set of Crucial sticks on the way and expect similar results.
 
Exact same MBP ~ I have 16GB in mine..

I have the exact same MBP 8,2 as you, and have 2x 8GB of Mushkin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) RAM, and it has worked GREAT for a year.. However, as I type this I see CRUCIAL has the same spec for Much Cheaper than any other brand at Newegg here in Canada, only $86.99 ~ ~ Memory Prices are way up lately, so DO shop around to make sure you get a decent price!!
 
I have an Early 2011 model, and I've been on Crucial 16GB 1600Mhz for a week and it's like night and day for me. No stability issues at all, only gigantic speed boosts with photo editing, VM, gaming, etc.

Plus this one is dirt cheap compared to the other ones :)
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Thank you for the suggestions!

I still miss a couple of bits.

Using the links suggested by GGJstudios, i've found that my cpu model (i7-2675QM) supports up to 1333MHz and 16GB RAM as reported in the "Buying RAM" guide. Bobcan and Prodo123 instead report that they are using RAM at 1600Mhz. What does this mean? Can i buy a faster RAM and let it work at 1333MHz or you have a different CPU?

Questions apart, the choice is reduced between the first one (Crucial) and the third one (corsair).

The first one is the one that you all suggest but the Corsair has the best tRas (24 vs 27) but has a worst CL (11 vs 9 of the Crucial).
Does 3 point of tras really count or i can go with the Crucial?


PS
Prodo123 I would like to buy cheapest ram, but in Italy you can find them only on internet and at an high price: The best price for Criucial and Corsair is
approximately 120€, something like 150USD... Damn ocean! :)
 
robbetto said:
Thank you for the suggestions!

I still miss a couple of bits.

Using the links suggested by GGJstudios, i've found that my cpu model (i7-2675QM) supports up to 1333MHz and 16GB RAM as reported in the "Buying RAM" guide. Bobcan and Prodo123 instead report that they are using RAM at 1600Mhz. What does this mean? Can i buy a faster RAM and let it work at 1333MHz or you have a different CPU?
Click to expand...

2011 MBPs can use 1600 MHz RAM, but you'll only really see a noticeable performance difference in synthetic benchmarks. I've seen some tests where performance actually decreased with the faster RAM, which comes down to 1600 MHz's higher latency versus its 1333 MHz counterparts (CL 11 and 9, respectively).

Unless the 1600 MHz stuff is actually cheaper than the stock 1333 in your neck of the woods, there's no reason not to go with the memory that your Mac is officially rated for.
 
robbetto said:
Thank you for the suggestions!

I still miss a couple of bits.

Using the links suggested by GGJstudios, i've found that my cpu model (i7-2675QM) supports up to 1333MHz and 16GB RAM as reported in the "Buying RAM" guide. Bobcan and Prodo123 instead report that they are using RAM at 1600Mhz. What does this mean? Can i buy a faster RAM and let it work at 1333MHz or you have a different CPU?

Questions apart, the choice is reduced between the first one (Crucial) and the third one (corsair).

The first one is the one that you all suggest but the Corsair has the best tRas (24 vs 27) but has a worst CL (11 vs 9 of the Crucial).
Does 3 point of tras really count or i can go with the Crucial?
Click to expand...

Take a look at the comparison of clock speed and timing. As you may find there are no appreciable difference between such a small difference in performance.

But also keep in mind your MBP does support 1600Mhz; even if it doesn't, the RAM will downclock itself to the maximum clock speed of your computer. I stress that 2011 MBPs does support 1600Mhz and you should take advantage of it.

My CPU is the i7-2720QM; it should have negligible architectural difference between your CPU.

As long as the RAM brand is reputable (e.g. Corsair, Crucial, Patriot, G.Skill, Samsung), you will have no reliability problems; if you do get them, they have great warranty that will solve your problem 99% of the time.

PS
Prodo123 I would like to buy cheapest ram, but in Italy you can find them only on internet and at an high price: The best price for Criucial and Corsair is
approximately 120€, something like 150USD... Damn ocean! :)
Click to expand...
I feel you man, anything from America costs around three times as much in Korea :)
 
Prodo123 said:
Take a look at the comparison of clock speed and timing. My CPU is the i7-2720QM; it should have negligible architectural difference between your CPU.
Click to expand...

That's a big difference! Take a Look at Buying RAM guide: they report that my CPU can't support 1600Mhz RAM while your can.

That's why i'll going to buy the crucial's at 1333Mhz: i'm not so brave to bet on my mac:)

Thank you all for your suggestions!!!
 
Awesome read. I have been working on expanding my Mac knowledge and better understanding the intricacies of my machine. I only realized the other day that I screwed myself on RAM win I purchased my 2011 MBP. Its a 8,2 with 2 GHz i7 Quad core(not sure of specific model - 256k, 6MB) but only 4 GB of RAM. Now wonder I some times have video lag or pixels when pushing a lot of video. I am not tech savvy now and sure was not then. I am Looking to upgrade in the next 30 days when I can purchase my own internet. I will google a video in the next couple of weeks. I am in Afghanistan on my employers internet and video is blocked. Any tips or words of wisdom for not frying my MBP during instillation?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back