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New Macbook Pro, Which is the best RAM company?

A

Adamx

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 11, 2011
40
2
Hello,
i bought a new 2011 Macbook Pro 15" ($2199 model) and now i wanna upgrade the RAM to 8gb by myself. I used the search but i'm still not sure about what brand choose.

Wich choice is the best for you? If you have some different suggestion feel free to shoot (And check please if all my options are the right ones for the macbook pro, i'm still not sure about the compatibility)
Ps: Sorry for my bad english :) !
Thank you very much!

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/1333DDR3S08S/

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...na&AID=10521304&PID=4169666&SID=131e0x0l037lg

or

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-DDR3-Laptop-Memory-CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9/dp/B002YUF8ZG/ref=pd_cp_e_1

Ps: To open the macbook pro this is the correct screwdriver?

http://www.amazon.com/E-flite-Screw...ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1299896689&sr=1-4
 
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well a quick search of the forum would render some info, as there are like 3 on the front page. Just pick one and be done. I have G-Skill in mine now, had crucial in my Penryn MBP. No problems with both. People like OWC and Kingston, as well a Mushkin (or whatnot). Its' RAM. Apple uses Hynix stock..my point being anything that newegg sells will be fine
 
So the G.SKILL and the Corsair are the same?
Thank you very much.
 
So, I am kind of frustrated right now over some of the corsair ram I've bought for my new 2011 MBP.

I purchased this:

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-DDR3-...F8ZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299902756&sr=8-1

The first round of memory continually was crashing in bootcamp, and would occasionally lock up in OS X. I figured I got a bad stick, and ran memtest in bootcamp - failed. Ran in OS X - Failed. Exchanged for a second set - Now I'm getting BSOD in bootcamp, and GSOD in OS X....So frustrating. Time to put the stock 4gb stuff back in until I can find something else that works.
 
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buy the cheapest one. or the second cheapest, if the cheapest worries you.
 
So there is no differences? $5 more or less don't change really nothing, Crucial sounds the better choice so?
Thank you.
 
I have stuck to Crucial with my last few Macs and have never had an issue. There was one time that I tried from a Mac-specific company (I want to say macsales.com). However, one of the sticks was bad and kept locking up my computer, even after it was replaced. I ended up replacing them with Crucial.
 
I've always bought Crucial with good success. The prices are usually close enough and I figure I'd rather buy direct from the folks who actually make it.
 
Does anybody know the difference between a cl9 and a cl7 ram upgrade and which is the best cl7 ram?
 
I was just doing some light reading up on this before my purchase. I could be wrong about it since I'm relatively new to self upgrades but in a nutshell, it appears CAS Latency 7 RAM is theoretically processes things faster but if the timing doesn't match your motherboard's timing, it'll actually run slower than appropriately timed RAM thanks to missed cycles. CAS latency appears to go up as the RAM gets clocked higher suggesting the clocked speed is more important than CAS latency and I haven't actually seen any 1333 204 pin Cas latency 7 SODIMMs.

Currently I'm using 8gb of G.Skill RAM myself because there was a great deal a couple weeks ago that marked $15 off of the price. It appears to be working and since it seems all compatible RAM has the same specs, it should all theoretically function the same.

However but I feel the only way to see which RAM is truly best, especially since they've all got approximately the same list value is to check via benchmarks. I'll attach my memory only Xbench results for the G.Skill RAM here. I'd include the stock 4GB of RAM too, except I forgot to check before installing the new stuff and don't want to go through all the bother of disassembling/reassembling my mac unless somebody's interested enough in the results to ask. Esp. since it's in a (*)speck case right now. However it should be useful if somebody else with a similarly configured MBP cares to do a check against it.

My configuration is a 17" 2011 MBP with a B.T.O Apple 128gb SSD and 2.3 GHZ processor.

P.S: I used one of these screwdrivers. The bits fit the screwdriver a little loosely and tend to fall out easily, unless I've been doing something wrong but having multiple bits on hand ensures you have the proper fit and Torx is useful if you want to upgrade your SSD later on, say if prices drop, then need to fit mounting screws onto the new drive.
 

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G.Skill is what I'm using now; it works great.
Any major brands will work fine.
G.Skill, Crucial, Kingston, Mushkin, etc.
Just stay away from eBay mystery RAM.

[sent from my android]
 
Tonepoet said:
P.S: I used one of these screwdrivers. The bits fit the screwdriver a little loosely and tend to fall out easily, unless I've been doing something wrong but having multiple bits on hand ensures you have the proper fit and Torx is useful if you want to upgrade your SSD later on, say if prices drop, then need to fit mounting screws onto the new drive.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I was just looking for a set and the Torx tip helps. I had an even cheaper set of 'precision' screwdrivers (if you can believe that) I got on clearance a while ago and striped the tip on the Mac's screws - probably because the exact size wasn't in the set. Besides the bits fitting loose they worked OK for you?

Regarding the memory - I'd recommend at least buying from somewhere with easy returns - I RMA'd to Crucial yesterday and so far they've been good. I never experienced a bad stick of memory before and it happened a day later so it was a bit of a challenge trying to figure out what was going on. It won't boot and just beeps three times in case anyone's curious -> http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1547
 
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nikhsub1 said:
FWIW my week old MBP came with Hynix memory... I just put 8GB of Mushkin in it from the egg, $82.99 with free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226027
Click to expand...

Mine came w/Hynix as well. I ended up going with Crucial (only 8GB kit in stock when I placed my order) ->

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148345

FWIW, I used G-Skill in my C2D. Get quality RAM that fits the spec and you should be good to go. Lots of options out there.
 
Tonepoet said:
I was just doing some light reading up on this before my purchase. I could be wrong about it since I'm relatively new to self upgrades but in a nutshell, it appears CAS Latency 7 RAM is theoretically processes things faster but if the timing doesn't match your motherboard's timing...
Click to expand...
I made this mistake too, the 1333Mhz DDR3 does not come in CAS 7, only 9. If you are looking at CAS 7 RAM, it is 1066Mhz.
 
Crucial usually gets the most positive votes around here. You can't go wrong with them.
 
Help with a MacBook Pro ´13inch Late 2011

HELLO EVERYONE!

I just need someone that could talk me the best possible brand and model of ram for my MacBook PRO 13 inch late 2011

Processor 2.4 Ghz intel gore i5
Graphics intel HD Graphics 3000. (384 MB)

right now i have 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

i don't really care about the price i just want the best performance for the mac and i don't want it to like overheat.

thx everyone! :D
 
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