Incompatible RAM causing problems

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Level 1

30 points

Incompatible RAM causing problems

Hi everyone, I went along and visited an Apple Store, because my early 2011 13" MacBook Pro i5 with 8GB RAM and 7200 rpm HDD was getting really slow and sluggish (the guy even admitted that start up was abnormally slow). After some tests, we found the problem to be the RAM (which seems to be incompatible). What problems could arise due to incompatible RAM? Because I did have an issue in the summer, where a USB port was overly sensitive, and the Mac telling me to eject a disk before removing it (I nudged the cable by accident).

Will inserting compatible RAM solve these issues, and do you think my computer will see a significant performance boost?

Thank you very much in advance

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Sep 30, 2012 3:24 PM

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Answer 1

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Sep 30, 2012 3:27 PM in response to moritzhberg

If the Ram is incompatible then you should replace it, the problems are not predictable.

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Answer 2

moritzhberg Author

Level 1

30 points

Sep 30, 2012 3:32 PM in response to Csound1

Thanks for the (very) fast reply. I'm going to insert the RAM (4GB) that was shipped in the machine. If I find that's not enough, I guess I'll upgrade to 16GB? Can anyone advise this from experience, as Apple does not officially support 16GB (but people have tried it & it worked for them), or will it cause problems?

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Answer 3

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Sep 30, 2012 3:34 PM in response to moritzhberg

Buy it from here: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade

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Answer 4

surogat70

Level 2

154 points

Sep 30, 2012 3:36 PM in response to moritzhberg

What RAM do you used? Maybe it is not incompatible but defective? You will gain not much performance with 16GB RAM or more. 8 GB RAM are enough for normal work. With a SSD drive you will reach more performance.

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Answer 5

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Sep 30, 2012 3:39 PM in response to surogat70

surogat70 wrote:

What RAM do you used? Maybe it is not incompatible but defective?

In my experience a Mac will not startup with defective Ram.

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Answer 6

moritzhberg Author

Level 1

30 points

Sep 30, 2012 3:43 PM in response to Csound1

@Csound1: I don't think it was defective, as the Mac would start up normally (no beeping sounds or anything abnormal)

I don't know what make the shipped RAM was, but the later 8GB were from Transcend. Thanks for the answer on the 16GB, surogat70. What does everyone else think about the 16GB? Is it worth it? Or should I not waste my money, and get 8GB?

Thank you all very much!!! Your help is very much appreciated.

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Answer 7

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Sep 30, 2012 3:49 PM in response to moritzhberg

I doubt that you will gain much from 16G as opposed to 8G, I have 8G in an MBP, most ever see in use (even when I try) is 9 or less, normal use 6 to 7.

An SSD will provide a performance boost but at a higher price/capacity point, and the maxium size will be significantly less than an HD. I compromised with a 750G Hybrid (8G SSD, 750G HD) with performance somewhere between the two, and a price to match.

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Answer 8

moritzhberg Author

Level 1

30 points

Sep 30, 2012 4:05 PM in response to Csound1

Because when I'm doing processor intense tasks (especially in Aperture) I get one third of "inactive" memory, and hence a couple of MB free RAM. Why do I have 3GB of Inactive RAM when Aperture is, say, processing images?

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Answer 9

surogat70

Level 2

154 points

Sep 30, 2012 4:16 PM in response to Csound1

Csound1 wrote:

surogat70 wrote:

What RAM do you used? Maybe it is not incompatible but defective?

In my experience a Mac will not startup with defective Ram.

This depends on the defect.

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Answer 10

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Sep 30, 2012 5:20 PM in response to surogat70

surogat70 wrote:

Csound1 wrote:

surogat70 wrote:

What RAM do you used? Maybe it is not incompatible but defective?

In my experience a Mac will not startup with defective Ram.

This depends on the defect.

OK, I'll bite, enlighten us please.

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Answer 11

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Sep 30, 2012 5:21 PM in response to moritzhberg

moritzhberg wrote:

Because when I'm doing processor intense tasks (especially in Aperture) I get one third of "inactive" memory, and hence a couple of MB free RAM. Why do I have 3GB of Inactive RAM when Aperture is, say, processing images?

Inactive memory is confusing, it is actually free memory that still holds the last reservation it had, when needed it is released. Add that to Free memory to see how much is available.

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Answer 12

surogat70

Level 2

154 points

Sep 30, 2012 5:54 PM in response to Csound1

Csound1 wrote:

surogat70 wrote:

Csound1 wrote:

surogat70 wrote:

What RAM do you used? Maybe it is not incompatible but defective?

In my experience a Mac will not startup with defective Ram.

This depends on the defect.

OK, I'll bite, enlighten us please.

What do you mean? There are defects that in general not lead to a fully disfunction. Some do, some not. Is this new to you?

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Answer 13

broda220

Level 1

25 points

Sep 30, 2012 6:00 PM in response to Csound1

If the RAM is completely dead, yes your computer won't start up. If it's just defective or maybe has some part of the memory defective, you won't notice it at boot up. Only time you'lll notice the issue is when the computer is trying to use that part of the RAM module. That being said, you can experience all sorts of issues. You computer restarting, extreme slow performance, programs crashing, etc etc etc.

Upgrade to 16GB? SURE!!! It depends on what you're trying to do. If you're the standard word processing web browser, it probably doesn't make sense. But it's like $90 bucks to upgrade to 16GB so it's not like it's a complete waste of money.

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Answer 14

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Sep 30, 2012 6:14 PM in response to surogat70

surogat70 wrote:

Csound1 wrote:

surogat70 wrote:

Csound1 wrote:

surogat70 wrote:

What RAM do you used? Maybe it is not incompatible but defective?

In my experience a Mac will not startup with defective Ram.

This depends on the defect.

OK, I'll bite, enlighten us please.

What do you mean? There are defects that in general not lead to a fully disfunction. Some do, some not. Is this new to you?

I was hoping that you could explain that, already understand what you said.

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Answer 15

moritzhberg Author

Level 1

30 points

Oct 1, 2012 3:12 AM in response to broda220

Thanks for the replies, everyone, I'm a heavy user of Aperture 3, and I'm looking into Final Cut Pro X, so I guess 16GB would be a good upgrade. However, given that it is not officially suppported by Apple, will it cause any problems with my computer?

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