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Transcend RAM for MacBook Pro?

R

raymondu999

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 11, 2008
1,009
1
Hi there. I was recently going to buy a new RAM kit for my brother's MacBook Pro, a 2.5GHz Penryn model. Now, when I went in the shop, I asked for PC-5300 DDR2 667MHz RAM. Now, up to this point they didn't know it was for a MacBook Pro. Then I said it was going to be used in one, and they said the RAM wouldn't work in it. Is this true?

The RAM I was going to buy was the Transcend model with above specs. I was initially going for Corsair RAM, but they only had one stick left, and, not wanting to take any chances, I changed brands. So can the PC5300 DDR2 667MHz Transcend RAM stick work in a 2.5GHz Penryn MacBook Pro?
 
No one knows? I've searched through the forums and wiki guides to no avail. Surely someone must know? Maybe someone even has the Transcend RAM in their MacBook/Pros?
 
Transcend is fine. It is virtually impossible to tell a noticeable difference between RAM.
 
Really? Great! Hmmm... is there actually even a limitation for RAM? As in that, are there such things as RAM sticks that can go in a PC laptop, but not in a MacBook?
 
A lot of electronic stores have no idea what they are talking about; better safe than sorry.

And the RAM should have no issues with MBP. This is essentially a regular PC.
 
Ah well. Since I'm in Indonesia, the technician is personally coming over to my house to test it. I'm paying only if the RAM works on my brother's MacBook Pro.
 
So I should be fine with any regular RAM, right? No need to buy some "Mac-compatible" RAM right? The shop offered me "Mac-compatible" RAM, saying that the one that wasn't "Mac-compatible," the Transcend, wouldn't work. However, they were charging around 20% more for that RAM.
 
raymondu999 said:
So I should be fine with any regular RAM, right? No need to buy some "Mac-compatible" RAM right? The shop offered me "Mac-compatible" RAM, saying that the one that wasn't "Mac-compatible," the Transcend, wouldn't work. However, they were charging around 20% more for that RAM.
Click to expand...

same question :confused:
 
If you want to be safe go to Crucial.com and buy some from there, its cheap and they have a lifetime warranty.
 
Yup, that ram is fine. I have several macs that are running on aftermarket ram, all running just fine.

I have the GSkill in my iMac and Crucial in my MBP. Both run great.

No need to listen to Apple's gibberish about using their ram only!
 
Ram is certianly not "just ram".

Stating this, your macbook pro will be compatable with a wide range of the appropriate mem (from different manufacturers)

I just purchased a set of the pc6400 OCZ ram which *should* have downclocked to 667 from 800, but failed to do so.

I had to manually go and and edit the SPD values, then reflash the ram which was very tedious (but i'm used to it).

I wonder if I can tighten up the timings on it....:D
 
Eddyisgreat said:
Ram is certianly not "just ram".

Stating this, your macbook pro will be compatable with a wide range of the appropriate mem (from different manufacturers)

I just purchased a set of the pc6400 OCZ ram which *should* have downclocked to 667 from 800, but failed to do so.

I had to manually go and and edit the SPD values, then reflash the ram which was very tedious (but i'm used to it).

I wonder if I can tighten up the timings on it....:D
Click to expand...

So you bought the wrong speed RAM and you were surprised it didn't work. Genius.

Thats like saying I bought a new axle for a Toyota Camry and it didn't fit my BMW without shaving it! If you buy the right thing, it will work almost guaranteed.
 
"Should" is the main point here. RAM of the right spec should work fine, but there are a lot of cases were certain brands just wont play nice. (reflashing the RAM is not an option for most people)

I rolled the dice on the RAM for my MBP (figuring I'd just return it if it didn't work). I've run some heavy RAM diagnostics and everything is good.
If you can return it, give it a shot, if not then pay the premium.
 
taylorwilsdon said:
So you bought the wrong speed RAM and you were surprised it didn't work. Genius.

Thats like saying I bought a new axle for a Toyota Camry and it didn't fit my BMW without shaving it! If you buy the right thing, it will work almost guaranteed.
Click to expand...

Bad analogy. The RAM is essential the same, just higher quality. It's like buying Z rated tires for your car when you only plan to drive the speed limit.

Besides, he obviously knew how to address the issue by reflashing the SPD values. So I guess your right... Genius.
 
err404 said:
Bad analogy. The RAM is essential the same, just higher quality. It's like buying Z rated tires for your car when you only plan to drive the speed limit.

Besides, he obviously knew how to address the issue by reflashing the SPD values. So I guess your right... Genius.
Click to expand...

Er, not really. He bought on the assumption that they would automatically downclock, and they didn't. The logic boards used in the Macbook Pro don't have this capability because Apple doesn't use off the shelf intel reference boards and instead builds their own, so it was an incorrect assumption to make.

And yes, he clearly knows what he is doing so I commend the DIY attitude, but I'm just saying - don't expect something to work when its not whats specified (hence the axle analogy).
 
taylorwilsdon said:
Er, not really. He bought on the assumption that they would automatically downclock, and they didn't. The logic boards used in the Macbook Pro don't have this capability because Apple doesn't use off the shelf intel reference boards and instead builds their own, so it was an incorrect assumption to make.

And yes, he clearly knows what he is doing so I commend the DIY attitude, but I'm just saying - don't expect something to work when its not whats specified (hence the axle analogy).
Click to expand...

Fail.

Rev. 3 / Penryn Chipset macbook pro's do not automatically clock the speed down-as I thought they did- unlike the OTHER revisions of the Macbook Pro which were confirmed to work with the moduels I used.

At any rate, I was iterating the fact that one cannot simply go out and purchase something that says "laptop" ram and expect it to work, but having the right type of ram should work amongst various manufacturers.

Thx for trying.

BTW, what area of seattle are you in? I'm in capital hill right now...
 
Super Simple Answer...

raymondu999 said:
Hi there. I was recently going to buy a new RAM kit for my brother's MacBook Pro, a 2.5GHz Penryn model. Now, when I went in the shop, I asked for PC-5300 DDR2 667MHz RAM. Now, up to this point they didn't know it was for a MacBook Pro. Then I said it was going to be used in one, and they said the RAM wouldn't work in it. Is this true?

The RAM I was going to buy was the Transcend model with above specs. I was initially going for Corsair RAM, but they only had one stick left, and, not wanting to take any chances, I changed brands. So can the PC5300 DDR2 667MHz Transcend RAM stick work in a 2.5GHz Penryn MacBook Pro?
Click to expand...

Ok, lets just make this as simple as possible.

The MacbookPros use PC5300 - DDR2 667 RAM - if you replace the modules with the same type then you will not have any problems - I've been replacing ram in apples for a long long time now. I'm personally using Transcend ram in my MBP at the moment - 2gb x 2 - i got them free so I'm not complaning.

Another interesting point is that often apple uses generic branded run-of-the-mill ram modules.

Really, you can't go wrong. I don't know of a store that wont accept ram back (if you havent blown it up knowingly by doing something stupid) for a refund or replacement.

Cheers
Dave
 
Don't be fooled up the Mac-compatible RAM that cost 20% more; it used to matter with Power-based computer since they were a bit different, but now with the new Intel machines the Macs are now essentially regular PCs loaded with OS X, so in turn it would use industry standard hardware and memory that should work with any other other laptop should work with the Intel Macs.
 
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