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Ram For 2011 Macbook Pro

W

Wanderer509

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2007
100
0
Hi there,

I have a 2.2ghz i7 mbp and am looking to upgrade ram. What kind of ram would i be looking at?

besides DDR3 PC3-10600 1333mhz, is there anything else i should be paying attention to?

for example, would these be a good fit for the mbp?

http://cgi.ebay.com/8GB-2X4GB-DDR3-...ultDomain_0&hash=item20b682b7b9#ht_1558wt_907

any specific brand i should be looking at? or just anything that works?

thanks for any help.
 
edifyingGerbil said:
the kingston has a slightly lower cas latency than the patriot so it's a little better, but i guess that mainly matters if you game or not.
Click to expand...

I got the Kingston but the benchmarks for both showed a similar performance increase over 1333MHz.
 
edifyingGerbil said:
the kingston has a slightly lower cas latency than the patriot so it's a little better, but i guess that mainly matters if you game or not.
Click to expand...

thanks for the rapid response. what is this cas latency? i dont know much about ram so if u could explain that would be great. also the ram is clocked higher than the ones that come stock, would the mbp be able to utilize the higher clockspeed?

another thread recommended this:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=59571&vpn=976647A&manufacture=Mushkin Enhanced

(i am in canada) how does that fair?

for the price, the kingston hyperX looks awesome (with higher clock speed to boot) but i am just looking to understand it more at this point
 
Wanderer509 said:
thanks for the rapid response. what is this cas latency? i dont know much about ram so if u could explain that would be great. also the ram is clocked higher than the ones that come stock, would the mbp be able to utilize the higher clockspeed?
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAS_latency

basically the lower the latency the less time it takes for the computer to access a memory module on a system but a few points here and there won't make too much of a difference.

the 2.2GHz and 2.3GHz MBP configurations are both able to utilise the higher memory bandwidth.

kingston is a reputable brand and i just bought some kingston 1600GHz RAM but unfortunately it was delivered today while i was out which kind of blows... kingston, and i think most ram dealers, come with lifetime warranties.

i think you can get the kingston one from the US for around the same price in USD... but i could be wrong.
 
Wanderer509 said:
Hi there,

I have a 2.2ghz i7 mbp and am looking to upgrade ram. What kind of ram would i be looking at?

besides DDR3 PC3-10600 1333mhz, is there anything else i should be paying attention to?

for example, would these be a good fit for the mbp?

http://cgi.ebay.com/8GB-2X4GB-DDR3-...ultDomain_0&hash=item20b682b7b9#ht_1558wt_907

any specific brand i should be looking at? or just anything that works?

thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Amazon has the HyperX RAM. Costs slightly more, but I've only read good things and the difference is only $20.
 
Stick with well known brands and check what kind of warranty they supply. I have used crucial and have had no problems.
 
the 2.2 and 2.3 chipsets support 1600GHz (i think one of the 13" too) but it may be that Apple have a built in limit which may be unlocked in the future via a firmware update.

the system will report it's 1600GHz but whether or not it's using it as 1600 or underclocking it to 1333 is another matter
 
Coolestdude said:
There are numerous posts on MR showing "about this Mac" as identifying the ram as 1600. One post contains comparison benchmarks. Reviews on Newegg indicate positive results also.
Click to expand...

edifyingGerbil said:
the 2.2 and 2.3 chipsets support 1600GHz (i think one of the 13" too) but it may be that Apple have a built in limit which may be unlocked in the future via a firmware update.

the system will report it's 1600GHz but whether or not it's using it as 1600 or underclocking it to 1333 is another matter
Click to expand...

Right well im quite happy with 1333 8GB Ram so i think i'll stick with it (pardon the pun:rolleyes:)
 
edifyingGerbil said:
yeah that's the brand and model i got, it looks good.

no, not every RAM module has a cas latency of 9. the RAM that that chap up there quoted http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220577 has a latency of 11.

it's not much and probably not noticeable to the average human. i was merely making an observation that they're nearly the same price so why not get the most out of it.
Click to expand...

again thanks for all the great response! i just want to verify, the objective is to get the higher cas (in this case, 11) right? higher means better?

the kingston hyperX ram looks cool so i am tempted, haha but since i wont see it anyways i would rather get the faster one'

EDIT: read everything again, i want a LOWER cas (eg: cas of 9 is better than cas of 11), correct?

additionally, i noticed for the kingston hyperX series of ram, there appears to be 2 different models:

KHX1600C9S3K2/8G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...53&cm_re=KHX1600C9S3K2-_-20-104-253-_-Product

vs

KHX1600C9S3K2/8GX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...30&cm_re=KHX1600C9S3K2-_-20-104-230-_-Product

one of them (the 8GX) is listed as supporting Intel XMP (Extreme Memory Profiles), thats something i want right?
 
Last edited:
I am also looking to upgrade my 4gb ram to 8gb ram. I was just going to go to apple (since I was told I can take my '11 15" mbp to them and they will upgrade it I just pay the difference). It seems though everyone recommends other alternatives than what Apple supplies. Should I just play it safe and go with the Kingston 8gb for 99$ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104253) like you all were saying or just upgrade through apple?
 
Wanderer509 said:
additionally, i noticed for the kingston hyperX series of ram, there appears to be 2 different models:

KHX1600C9S3K2/8G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...53&cm_re=KHX1600C9S3K2-_-20-104-253-_-Product

vs

KHX1600C9S3K2/8GX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...30&cm_re=KHX1600C9S3K2-_-20-104-230-_-Product

one of them (the 8GX) is listed as supporting Intel XMP (Extreme Memory Profiles), thats something i want right?
Click to expand...

i think that in order to enable the XMP you need access to the BIOS which you can't do with macs, but i could be wrong.

maybe someone else can be more helpful in this regard. if they're the same price go for the 8x

you're correct about the latency, lower = better :)

AFPoster said:
I am also looking to upgrade my 4gb ram to 8gb ram. I was just going to go to apple (since I was told I can take my '11 15" mbp to them and they will upgrade it I just pay the difference). It seems though everyone recommends other alternatives than what Apple supplies. Should I just play it safe and go with the Kingston 8gb for 99$ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104253) like you all were saying or just upgrade through apple?
Click to expand...

Apple charges a lot for a RAM upgrade, it may be different if you purchased the RAM separately and asked them to upgrade it after having bought a standard configuration MBP.

it's really quite easy to replace the RAM, there are myriad guides online. just make sure you ground yourself first, and maybe disconnect the battery cable.
 
Last edited:
edifyingGerbil said:
i think that in order to enable the XMP you need access to the BIOS which you can't do with macs, but i could be wrong.

maybe someone else can be more helpful in this regard. if they're the same price go for the 8x

you're correct about the latency, lower = better :)



Apple charges a lot for a RAM upgrade, it may be different if you purchased the RAM separately and asked them to upgrade it after having bought a standard configuration MBP.

it's really quite easy to replace the RAM, there are myriad guides online. just make sure you ground yourself first, and maybe disconnect the battery cable.
Click to expand...

apple provides detailed information regarding ram upgrade in their manuals supplied with the macs, with pictures to boot!

i never knew i could supply my own ram manual and ask the tech to do it, do they charge service fee?
 
Wanderer509 said:
apple provides detailed information regarding ram upgrade in their manuals supplied with the macs, with pictures to boot!

i never knew i could supply my own ram manual and ask the tech to do it, do they charge service fee?
Click to expand...

I spoke to Apple care (UK) just now and they told me I can bring my RAM into my store and they'll install it for free. I have apple care tho, so maybe that's why... still, it doesn't hurt to ask.
 
edifyingGerbil said:
i think that in order to enable the XMP you need access to the BIOS which you can't do with macs, but i could be wrong.

maybe someone else can be more helpful in this regard. if they're the same price go for the 8x

you're correct about the latency, lower = better :)



Apple charges a lot for a RAM upgrade, it may be different if you purchased the RAM separately and asked them to upgrade it after having bought a standard configuration MBP.

it's really quite easy to replace the RAM, there are myriad guides online. just make sure you ground yourself first, and maybe disconnect the battery cable.
Click to expand...

Don't buy the 8GX with XMP, the 8G works fine though.
 
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