installed new ram, pro is non responsive

[moxwell]

I bought a new macbook pro 13" a month ago, I went down to Compusa and bought some centon memory power pc3-8500 ddr3 1066 two sticks of 4gb.
Installed them and my pro went dead, it did not boot up, just a blank screen. I tried it in my mac mini as well seeing as they use the same ram. No dice, dead as well. I searched online and I read that apple products are a bit picky about what you put in them. I just want to ask the forum members here if this has been their experience as well. I'm going to go down to the store and return the ram and i'm wanting to know if I should change it out for something different and if so what brand do you all recommend. I went ahead and installed the original ram and pro kicks on like all is well.

 

[iBookG4user]

I'd get the RAM from macsales.com as I've never had any trouble from the RAM that I've ordered from them in the past.

 

[CC424]

I'm using 2 X 4gb Kingston without any problems

 

[AlphaDogg]

You can never go wrong with Crucial RAM. They are great!

 

[fortunecookie]

Try swapping it out for a gskill apple edition rams.

 

[revelated]

Try swapping it out for a gskill apple edition rams.

Do this and watch your kernel panic counts go through the roof.

 

[moxwell]

I think I'm going to end up buying crucial memory online, going to return the ram I bought at compusa in the morning. Is ram for apple different than that for pc? I also have an acer and a macbook that take the same ram, on a whim I switched them around. Macbook does not turn on, stays on a black screen, the acer started right up and shows the total memory I put in. From my basic experiment it appears to be so. When I bought the memory today, I specifically stated and asked that it work for my macbook pro, as I have seen some ram being sold as mac specific and that there may be a difference, guy behind the counter said I was good to go with what he gave me, obviously I wasn't. Thanks for the help. I appreciate everyones input. Hopefully I'll be able to return the favor one day.

 

[deeddawg]

Do this and watch your kernel panic counts go through the roof.

From what I've seen on other posts, only if you get bad sticks. There are plenty of reports of G.skill working fine.

 

[deeddawg]

Is ram for apple different than that for pc?

Shouldn't be if the various specs match what Apple needs.

I've been using this Crucial RAM for a few weeks with not one single issue: http://www.jr.com/crucial/pe/CRT_8G51264BCK

 

[P Mentior]

Do this and watch your kernel panic counts go through the roof.

I have been using g.skill ram in my MBP for 2 years now and I have never had a kernel panic.

 

[s1lv3r]

Is there any major difference between Crucial, Kingston, OCZ? There is any better? Or one that we shouldn't consider? I'm planning to get OCZ, should i sty with it or change?

 

[revelated]

From what I've seen on other posts, only if you get bad sticks. There are plenty of reports of G.skill working fine.

I have been using g.skill ram in my MBP for 2 years now and I have never had a kernel panic.

That's fine, but unfortunately there are a LOT more reports of G.Skills causing kernel panics than any other RAM. You get what you pay for, is all I'm saying. Are they ALL bad? No. But unfortunately one should not have to roll dice when they're paying $150-$200 for something.

 

[JamesGorman]

I just bought 2 sticks of Lexar ram to bring my total to 8GB. They have run flawlessly for the past week now. I have done a few memory tests and everything seems to be running great. You may have just gotten bad sticks.

 

[Mac.World]

Just happened to do a search on Newegg and

All 1x 4GB sticks of DDR3 1066 PC3 8500

GSkill = $41.99 (4 out of 5 eggs rating) 53 reviewers
Corsair = $44.99 (4 out of 5 eggs rating) 9 reviewers
Kingston = $48.99 (5 out of 5 eggs rating) 2 reviewers
Crucial = $49.99 (5 out of 5 eggs rating) 6 reviewers
Mushkin = $49.99 (4 out of 5 eggs rating) 23 reviewers

While Crucial has a perfect 5 out of 5 eggs, Gskill has a lot more reviewers. A lot of choices.
Here's the link to check and see which one might be best for you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...07609 600000445 600000399&IsNodeId=1&name=4GB

 

[stevegut78]

Is my memory bad?

oops

 

[revelated]

Just happened to do a search on Newegg and

All 1x 4GB sticks of DDR3 1066 PC3 8500

GSkill = $41.99 (4 out of 5 eggs rating) 53 reviewers
Corsair = $44.99 (4 out of 5 eggs rating) 9 reviewers
Kingston = $48.99 (5 out of 5 eggs rating) 2 reviewers
Crucial = $49.99 (5 out of 5 eggs rating) 6 reviewers
Mushkin = $49.99 (4 out of 5 eggs rating) 23 reviewers

While Crucial has a perfect 5 out of 5 eggs, Gskill has a lot more reviewers. A lot of choices.
Here's the link to check and see which one might be best for you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...07609 600000445 600000399&IsNodeId=1&name=4GB

Unfortunately, the review you cite is not the proper RAM for the MacBook, evident by the negative reviews on that one. Also, if you read through the positives, it appears to me like most of them are Windows notebook users, where the board isn't nearly as sensitive to the RAM as the Apple boards. The positive ones from MacBook owners are likely those who don't realize that the kernel panics are happening due to the RAM, but I assure you that it's a widespread issue. If I had to guess, I would say the CAS latency is off, but that's a theory. I didn't keep them in long enough to know for certain.

In fact, G.Skill themselves cite FA-8500CL7S-4GBSQ as the correct "Apple tested" RAM. It, of course, has no reviews to know whether it's true or not and Amazon doesn't even list it. That's shady business IMO.