I have an early 2011 MBP which contains 4GB 1333Mhz RAM. I am thinking of upgrading the RAM myself, but does it support 1600Mhz RAM? And if I use 1600Mhz RAM, does it make a difference? Will it be faster or not work at all? Appreciate your answers! Thanks!
Specs:
2.3 Ghz Intel i5,
Early 2011 Model.
Stock RAM: 2x2GB DDR3 1333Mhz RAM.
Hi k,
If the vendor states it is Mac spec'd RAM for your model, it will work, but only at the speed your Mac uses (you cannot speed up your Mac by using faster RAM). Much RAM today is "dual programmed" so it will work at different speeds in different Macs.
So if I use a 2x8GB 1600Mhz DDR3 memory only the 16GB makes the difference but the mac will continue working in 1333Mhz instead of 1600?
kevinchen1029 wrote:
So if I use a 2x8GB 1600Mhz DDR3 memory only the 16GB makes the difference but the mac will continue working in 1333Mhz instead of 1600?
Correct. But make sure it's RAM tested for Macs, not generic PC RAM.
Thanks a lot!! Appreciate it!!
You're welcome.
tjk, greetings: You may want to update your records. Not only will 1600 GHz RAM run on a 2011 MBP, but it also will not be downclocked to 1333 GHz.
http://blog.macsales.com/14262-boost-2011-mbp-performance-with-1600mhz-ram
Ciao.
Hi O,
Wow, that's news to me! Although 2% isn't much, it's something, and it should be automatically utilized on those machines it works on (if it's 1600 and 1333 RAM). Thanks for sharing!
I have a late 2011 MBP and I am quite content to leave the two 8 GB 1333 GHz RAM chips where they are. Perhaps if I were installing from the original two 2 GB chips I might consider it, but 2% is not enough incentive for me. 🙂 I too was surprised when I initially found this out.
Best regards.
Ciao.
kevinchen1029 wrote:
So if I use a 2x8GB 1600Mhz DDR3 memory only the 16GB makes the difference but the mac will continue working in 1333Mhz instead of 1600?
I stand corrected by O's post and link to OWC/MacSales. According to them, with the machines mentioned in the article, the RAM will run at 1600, achieving a 2% gain in speed.
OGELTHORPE wrote:
tjk, greetings: You may want to update your records. Not only will 1600 GHz RAM run on a 2011 MBP, but it also will not be downclocked to 1333 GHz.
http://blog.macsales.com/14262-boost-2011-mbp-performance-with-1600mhz-ram
Ciao.
I wonder if that's because 1600 Mac spec'd RAM was not available at the time of those earlier machines production?
Can not give you an answer on that. Give the technical staff at OWC a call. I have found them to be very forthcoming.
Ciao.
Will Early 2011 MBP support 1600Mhz RAM?
