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Macbook Pro RAM Advice

R

radoja

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 1, 2010
12
0
Hi -
I've got a Macbook pro laptop and looking to upgrade from 4GB to 8GB RAM.
I was wondering if anyone knows what the max. amount of RAM this macbook can efficiently operate with and what brand(s) of RAM you would recommend I look into (i.e I hear "Mushkin" RAM is the best?)

Here are my Mac Specs, I believe it's a 2010 model:

Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 4.8 GT/s
Boot ROM Version: MBP61.0057.B0C
Type: DDR3
Speed: 1067 MHz

Here were 3 auctions I currently am considering bidding on, Any advice would be very much appreciated guys thanks =)

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Ram-memory-8...moryRAM_JN&hash=item46043cff11#ht_4310wt_1141

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Ram-memory-8...moryRAM_JN&hash=item46043cc4df#ht_1665wt_1348

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Crucial-8GB-...Memory_RAM_&hash=item41677cd4fb#ht_2955wt_908
 
thanks!

cool thx for the info....anyone else have recommendations on which brand they would purchase? I'm currently thinking between Crucial or Samsung...
 
Avoid getting RAM with heatsinks (i.e. Corsair Vengeance) as they really do nothing but block airflow in laptops, where space is already crammed. As for brand, anything works really, and I have a set of 2x8GB Mushkin RAM that has worked perfectly in my 2012 MBP. No issues or hiccups since day one.
 
nitromac said:
Avoid getting RAM with heatsinks (i.e. Corsair Vengeance) as they really do nothing but block airflow in laptops, where space is already crammed. As for brand, anything works really, and I have a set of 2x8GB Mushkin RAM that has worked perfectly in my 2012 MBP. No issues or hiccups since day one.
Click to expand...

What's the voltage for your RAM?
 
Update: I should have mentioned on a 2010 MBP as the OP has. 2011 and 2012 can make actual use of Low Voltage RAM.
I also tried 1.35V.
1.35 doesn't work it actually runs at 1.5V.
Don't pay up if there is a cost difference.
Compatibility is no problem it will just run at 1.5V.

Just get any 1333 or 1600 standard voltage. Corsair Value Select, Kingston Value RAM and such stuff.
Don't pay for Mac RAM. Those only cost more for no difference. It is the same RAM.
 
Last edited:
It is better to install 1.35v ram instead of 1.5v ram?

If you buy 1600mhz ram will a late 2011 cMBP downgrade it to 1333mhz?
 
dusk007 said:
i also tried 1.35v.
1.35 doesn't work it actually runs at 1.5v.
Don't pay up if there is a cost difference.
Compatibility is no problem it will just run at 1.5v.

Just get any 1333 or 1600 standard voltage. Corsair value select, kingston value ram and such stuff.
Don't pay for mac ram. Those only cost more for no difference. It is the same ram.
Click to expand...

amen!
 
Iphone4sinwhite said:
It is better to install 1.35v ram instead of 1.5v ram?

If you buy 1600mhz ram will a late 2011 cMBP downgrade it to 1333mhz?
Click to expand...

1600MHz will be utilised at the full speed by the early and late 15" 2011 MBPs.

The 1.35v RAM can only, I believe, be utilised by the 2012MBPs since the RAM that apple provides is 1.35v.

Hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong about the 2011s being unable to use 1.35v RAM at that voltage.
 
theBostonian said:
1600MHz will be utilised at the full speed by the early and late 15" 2011 MBPs.

The 1.35v RAM can only, I believe, be utilised by the 2012MBPs since the RAM that apple provides is 1.35v.

Hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong about the 2011s being unable to use 1.35v RAM at that voltage.
Click to expand...

Not sure about the volts on 2011, I believe its 1.5 but yes all 2011 15" and 17" models can run at 1600MHz.
 
cheers

thanks for the help fellas. Just wondering what happens if I try to run more than 8GB RAM on my 2010 macbook pro? I'm not sure I understand why there are max amounts of RAM set
 
theBostonian said:
1600MHz will be utilised at the full speed by the early and late 15" 2011 MBPs.

The 1.35v RAM can only, I believe, be utilised by the 2012MBPs since the RAM that apple provides is 1.35v.

Hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong about the 2011s being unable to use 1.35v RAM at that voltage.
Click to expand...

Crucial sells only 1.35v ram for the 2011 macbook pros and guarantees it to work. Sandy Bridge supports 1.35v ram. Overall 1.35v ram at equivalent clock speeds is a bit more expensive to build. I wouldn't count such a thing as a negative.
 
radoja said:
thanks for the help fellas. Just wondering what happens if I try to run more than 8GB RAM on my 2010 macbook pro? I'm not sure I understand why there are max amounts of RAM set
Click to expand...

Chipsets are set to read only X amount of ram. If you add more than the supported amount, it simply won't read it and you will have wasted money.
 
When I close the lid of my MBP I wait for the front LED to start blinking before moving it. I'm assuming that the wait is for the computer to write a page file to the hard drive of all the contents of the RAM. Once the light starts blinking I assume the hard drive is no longer in use and it's ok to carry the laptop. ( this may be a bit excessive but I've had two prior non-Mac hard drives fail due to movement).

Anyway, does increasing the RAM ( from 4 to 16gb in my case) increase the amount of time it takes to write the page file due to the greater amount that needs to be written?
 
nitromac said:
Avoid getting RAM with heatsinks (i.e. Corsair Vengeance) as they really do nothing but block airflow in laptops, where space is already crammed. As for brand, anything works really, and I have a set of 2x8GB Mushkin RAM that has worked perfectly in my 2012 MBP. No issues or hiccups since day one.
Click to expand...

Someone pointed out to me in another thread that the Vengeance doesn't have heatsinks, they're just identification stickers. I didn't pay that close of attention when I installed it in my MBP last weekend but looking closer at the images of the memory on Newegg I see they were right.
 
I just updated my post.
dusk007 said:
Update: I should have mentioned on a 2010 MBP as the OP has. 2011 and 2012 can make actual use of Low Voltage RAM.
Click to expand...
When I bought my RAM nobody knew if 2010 worked but people with 2011 confirmed 1.35V RAM to be running at some 1.25V so a bit below specs even.
Sandybridge can handle it. Arrendale (2010) can also on Desktop mainboards but the Macs apparently cannot.

When I close the lid of my MBP I wait for the front LED to start blinking before moving it. I'm assuming that the wait is for the computer to write a page file to the hard drive of all the contents of the RAM. Once the light starts blinking I assume the hard drive is no longer in use and it's ok to carry the laptop. ( this may be a bit excessive but I've had two prior non-Mac hard drives fail due to movement).
Click to expand...
Yes just disable that hibernation file. It is useless for most people. You really only need it if you often leave your MBP unplugged for days without saving any files until the battery runs down to 0%.
If that doesn't happen or so very rarely it is a total waste of time to wait all those seconds to write a 4-8GB hibernation file. Needs space and if you just after closing figure out there was still something you need to check in calendar without hibernation you just open again an 1 second later it is here. With hibernation it first needs to finish the whole process before it can wake up again.
On notebooks with built in batteries it is a useless time consuming feature that should be disabled by default IMHO.
It is good if you often take out a removable battery it sits loose or you are dealing with a desktop that can loose power because of power outage.
 
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