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Ram Question

J

jonochui

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 25, 2013
14
0
I have a Macbook pro mid 2010 (7,1). I know the ram module is pc3-8500, but I found pc3-12800 ram that is cheaper than the pc3-8500. I read on crucial website that ram can be backwards compatible but I don't know about macbooks if it will accept it. I am just unsure if it will break the laptop in anyway lol. Has anyone tried doing something similar and it worked fine? Thanks.
 
No as long as it is pc3 sodimm all is well. It will run on the best setting the MBP supports. All RAM is backward compatible.
 
New problem :s

Thanks everyone! So I got the PC3-12800 ram. First thing I did was put both sticks in and tried to boot it up. Black screen but fan was on and the light on the right of the macbook is lit. Next I put 1 pc3-12800 and the other one as the old one. It boots and show 6 gb of ram. So whats the problem? I did not try SMC reset. I tried PRAM and that did not work. Any help please?

edit: also i am on yosemite pb3
 
Last edited:
jonochui said:
I have a Macbook pro mid 2010 (7,1). I know the ram module is pc3-8500, but I found pc3-12800 ram that is cheaper than the pc3-8500. I read on crucial website that ram can be backwards compatible but I don't know about macbooks if it will accept it. I am just unsure if it will break the laptop in anyway lol. Has anyone tried doing something similar and it worked fine? Thanks.
Click to expand...

PC3-12800 is just faster RAM than PC3-8500. It will work with your Mac; however, just because your RAM is faster doesn't mean the system will work faster.
 
Thanks. Ya i knew that. It was just 30$ cheaper than the pc3-8500 thats why i got it. But installing is giving me a headache.
 
jonochui said:
Thanks everyone! So I got the PC3-12800 ram. First thing I did was put both sticks in and tried to boot it up. Black screen but fan was on and the light on the right of the macbook is lit. Next I put 1 pc3-12800 and the other one as the old one. It boots and show 6 gb of ram. So whats the problem? I did not try SMC reset. I tried PRAM and that did not work. Any help please?

edit: also i am on yosemite pb3
Click to expand...

Assuming this is ram that is backwards compatible with 1066mhz, I can think of two reasons.

1. you are trying to put in more GB of RAM than the motherboard supports
2. one of the ram dimms is defective
 
jonochui said:
Thanks everyone! So I got the PC3-12800 ram. First thing I did was put both sticks in and tried to boot it up. Black screen but fan was on and the light on the right of the macbook is lit. Next I put 1 pc3-12800 and the other one as the old one. It boots and show 6 gb of ram. So whats the problem? I did not try SMC reset. I tried PRAM and that did not work. Any help please?

edit: also i am on yosemite pb3
Click to expand...
Sounds like one of your modules is bad. Try booting with just one of the new ones but try both alternately.
Might be the second time you just put in the good one.
 
So I checked the each ram and they work in both slots. The ram works but only with the old ram.
 
Ram is not always backwards compatible. My 2010 core 2 duo Mac mini uses pc3 8500 and will not accept faster ram. I'm not sure if it's the same for the other 2010 macs.
 
cfedu said:
Ram is not always backwards compatible. My 2010 core 2 duo Mac mini uses pc3 8500 and will not accept faster ram. I'm not sure if it's the same for the other 2010 macs.
Click to expand...

That's forwards-compatbile you are talking about.
 
I understood you. However, tried to find the solution to this problem and I can't. Macbook pro 7,1 13 inch does not like pc3-12800 ram in both slots but works only with the other ram as pc3-8500. So sad :(
 
cfedu said:
???

My Mac mini is not forward compatible with faster ram.

Faster ram is not backwards compatible with my model Mac mini. Am I getting this wrong?
Click to expand...

Your mac mini is not forwards-compatible with faster ram but is backwards-compatible with slower ram.

you don't say the ram is compatible with the computer, you say the computer is compatible with the ram. i think
 
poiihy said:
Your mac mini is not forwards-compatible with faster ram but is backwards-compatible with slower ram.

you don't say the ram is compatible with the computer, you say the computer is compatible with the ram. i think
Click to expand...

So the term backwards compatibility is a logical fallacy and should not be used?
 
cfedu said:
So the term backwards compatibility is a logical fallacy and should not be used?
Click to expand...

no I mean the host device is the thing being compatible with the ram and not the other way around

or whatever i'm confused now :confused:
 
http://tylermilner.com/?p=342
This is probably the solution for anyone with this problem. I am going to go to a computer repair shop if they can downgrade RAM spd for me. Unfortunately, I can't return the sticks and replace them for PC3-8500 1066Mhz.
 
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