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Level 1

10 points

Can I use 1600mhz Ram for Early 2011 MBP?

My Macbook Pro is the Early 2011 2.2ghz (Sandy Bridge i7 2720QM). The wiki page says my MBP is expandable to 16GB of 1600mhz PC3-12800 DDR3 ram.

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

Some people have posted saying that 1600mhz ram might not work or would be clocked down to 1333, or maybe even work but cause things to run slower. They seem to be basing those ideas off of what the FSB allows. Mine MBP has Intel's DMI bus.

What is the best Ram I can get for my MBP?

Posted on Sep 12, 2012 7:36 PM

19 replies

mickc82

Level 1

74 points

Oct 27, 2015 11:14 AM in response to wanderstrike

Hi wanderstrike,

Do you have the model of Kingston Ram you used? I remember reading that based on Apple's firmware 1600 MHz ram will step down to 1333 MHz even if they machines support 1600 MHz. However there is a way to stop them from stepping down. You seem to have found Ram that is configured to stop the step down.

The early 2011 MBP with the 2.2 GHz (i7-2720QM) and 2.3 GHz (i7-2820QM) do support 1600 mhz ram as you have correctly have stated. The base 15" MBP had a 2.0 GHz (i7-2635QM) processor only supports 1333 MHz ram.

The two higher-end CPU's technically support 32 GB of ram and the base model supports 16 GB but I believe the Intel® BD82HM65chipset used in these machines limits them to 16 GB. Though I cannot find the confirmation on Intel's site. It is the combined specs of the Chipset and the Processor that defines what type of Ram these machines use.

So yes, all the 15" early 2011 MBP support 16 GB of Ram. The two higher-end i7 process models also support 1600 MHz ram where as the base supports it only @ 1333 MHz.

Hotchili

Level 1

8 points

Mar 4, 2016 2:59 PM in response to nmyers

I had this exact issue with my 2011 MBP 17" and changing out the RAM fixed it: I think it is a compatibility issue, try your old RAM and I'll bet you the issue goes away.

I just changed out the RAM in another 2011 MBP 13 that had 16Gb of 1600mhz RAM. It was occasionally spontaneously rebooting, having troubles waking from sleep, and would often start doing the 3 beeps (even after it had booted correctly). Putting 16GB of 1333mhz RAM in it fixed it.

newwaylw

Level 1

19 points

Apr 6, 2016 2:53 PM in response to stikygum

I will try to end this discussion.

DDR3 1600 is backward compatible to DDR3 1333 (PC-10600) .

People reporting that their Mac may or may not work with DDR3 1600 is because the voltage difference.

At least for the Macbook pro early 2011, the required voltage is 1.5V. However, newer DDR3 uses 1.3v/1.35v (better power consumption).

That's what's causing the incompatibility.

Now most of the recent DDR3 SODIMMs are dual voltage (they are called DDR3L, you can google it), this should ease the situation.

Jul 22, 2016 7:30 AM in response to Shootist007

I would want to just because I already have 1600mhz ram not being used, and would like to put it in my Macbook Pro. So is it possible?

Can I use 1600mhz Ram for Early 2011 MBP?