Hi - I have a mid 2009 macbook pro 17. It has 4gb of ram in it - works fine but the ram is DDR3 1333! I'm running Lion
Every site inc apple, where I lodged the serial no says it should be 1066. I want to upgrade to 8gb, do I go for the 1066 or 1333. When I check the memory slots in 'about this mac' it says it has ram at 1333 - status OK.
Thanks
MacBook Pro
I've fixed my problem completely.
I was using 2x4gb 1333mhz ram on my late 2008 macbook pro.
Screen blinked only when using the integrated 9400m. Mountain Lion would just kernel panic and crash. Gave up and was using 9600gt all the time.
The problem was the ram, it was NOT faulty but the machine says it needs 1066mhz ram and the out of spec 1333mhz caused the integrated 9400m to overclock itself.
I recently bought new memory and the machine has been rock solid. No more screen blinks as all.
The old memory is just fine running on my hp laptop now.
According to Apple specs, you should be using 204-pin PC3-8500 (1066 MHz) DDR3 modules. I'd stick with what is recommended, particularly if you're upgrading. Because you've a 1066 MHz bus, you're not going to see any speed increase and 1333 MHz modules sometimes just don't place nice with 1066 MHz buses.
Clinton
Your Macbook is spec'd out at 1066MHz.....In some cases you're fine with 1333MHz without having issues...
when checking about this mac, it will say that you have 1333MHz RAM installed since that is what you installed.
Some people have been running 1333MHz RAM in their Macbook that is spec'd out for 1066MHz with no issues and some have nothing but trouble and kernel panics - just monitor the way your Macbook performs and if you start having issues - which I hope you don't - your RAM may be the culprit.
good luck
Thanks for the feedback, basilmir.
macbook pro 17 Mid 2009 ram issue: DDR3 1066 or 1333
