can anyone please tell me if i can replace my 2x2 ddr3 1333 mhz ram with 2x4 ddr3 1600 mhz on my mac book pro early 2011
Purchase correct RAM from a vendor known to support Macs. Other than Apple there are only two that I have used and can recommend, Crucial and OWC / MacSales.
This OWC blog may interest you: http://blog.macsales.com/14262-boost-2011-mbp-performance-with-1600mhz-ram
Don't extrapolate that information to any other model Mac.
Well i was going to replace my 1333 mh with 2x4 1600mh elpida ram but will it work as it is a 1600 instead of 1333
It may not work at all. Purchase memory from Apple, or one of the above two vendors. Macs are intolerant of memory that does not meet Apple's stringent specifications.
John is absolutely right on all counts. In any event, it's sure not going to run at the faster speed.
I do agree with what you all saying but the thing that is confusing me is that the 1600 mhz elpida is actually from a later macbook pro model as i am buying it from a friend that has just upgraded to 2x8 on his so thats why i thought it would work
Macs are very particular about the RAM they like. In theory it should run that RAM at the slower speed your machine requires. In practice you may end up pulling your hair out in a month trying to figure out where your kernel panics are coming from.
Use the correct RAM for your specific model Mac. Anything other than that is incorrect and may not work.
Even if the speed difference alleged in the OWC link above is realized, it's a 2% increase. Upgrading from Mountain Lion to Mavericks alone on that same model MBP resulted in about the same performance increase, and it's free. Incorrect RAM may manifest itself in random crashes that can appear immediately or years from now, long after you have forgotten about having installed it.
Different versions of MBP use different versions of memory.
Just because it works in one model of MBP that says nothing about if it will work in another MBP.
Allan
BobRz wrote:
it's sure not going to run at the faster speed.
Actually in this case there will be a very modest performance increase due to the 1600MHz speed. To what degree will it be noticeable is an open question. I have a 2011 MBP and I am not about to install the faster RAM. 🙂
Ciao.
ali--1985 wrote:
I do agree with what you all saying but the thing that is confusing me is that the 1600 mhz elpida is actually from a later macbook pro model as i am buying it from a friend that has just upgraded to 2x8 on his so thats why i thought it would work
You will not hurt your MBP trying it. It may work it may not. I have experimented installing RAM from a 2011 MBP into a 2010 MBP. In that case that RAM worked but was down clocked.
Ciao.
The problem to me is it may work sometimes. Meaning it may panic sometimes too. I just don't see the benefit unless it's free.
Thank you very much for all your help and time i will take all your opinions and advise and really think about it as i do not want to mess my mac up as i paid a lot of money for as you all know about this devises lol. I will probably stick with the 1333 to the original ram and hope it will speed things up. Thanx again guys
BobRz wrote:
The problem to me is it may work sometimes. Meaning it may panic sometimes too. I just don't see the benefit unless it's free.
Yes, point well taken, and there could be other factors that might cause problems. I have yet to hear of a MBP be destroyed by incompatible RAM, they just don't operate correctly thus no harm experimenting.
Ciao.
Oh, I agree. He won't destroy his MBP and I'm all for experimenting. Like I said, it's worth it if it's free.
Anyway... good collaboration on this thread. It was fun.
🙂 🙂 🙂
Ciao.
1333 mhz ddr3 vs ddr3 1600 mhz
