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Can the i5 Mac mini support 1600 or 1866 MHz ram?

N

namelessme

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 9, 2012
50
0
I asked this in a previous thread, but I think people were confused thinking I was asking for brands of Ram, when I meant more what type... so figure a new thread may be more clear.

I have the base i5 mac mini model, currently with 2 GB of Ram. I have read that there are reports of people getting a decent (relatively speaking, 5-15%) boost in frame rates if their machine has a HD 3000 chipset when adding speedy ram. What I am unsure of, however, is if the i5 supports 1600 MHz (or perhaps even 1866MHz) speed Ram.

There are threads in this forum about people using it with primarily i7 models and having success. And I have seen other reports for standard PCs too. But again, most seem to be using i7s... have read some people with i5s get at least 1600 Mhz working, but am not 100% sure how accurate that is.

I was considering trying either Kingston's HyperX at 1600, which is about $70 right now, or Corsair's Vengeance, at $44 or so. I have read reports of HyperX working, but none for Vengeance yet. There are other brands of fast ram too, but most of their timings are off, so don't want to risk those.

Any help appreciated here.
 
No, it doesn't support that. Support, however, is different than working. I've never tried it though so I don't know if it will work.
 
I am aware that the stated specs are 1333 MHz. So I should have rephrased it, asking if 1600 MHz or 1866 MHz has been working for anyone. But I assumed most would know what I meant.
 
Yes there are users on this board that use 1600 and 1866mhz memory. The search function can be your best friend....
 
Yep, the search function can be your best friend. Which is how I discovered it in the first place. But I didn't find the answer I was looking for, which is why I opened a thread asking.

Perhaps I didn't dig far enough back, but most of the people who posted in previous threads were using i7s. I think maybe some used the midrange i5 model. I didn't find anyone using the base model + 1866 MHz ram.

That's why I was wondering if the base model i5 + fast ram was working for anyone, and if so, what brand Ram (and speed) they used.
 
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Both 1600MHz and 1866MHz RAM will work. Make sure you select PnP variety of memory from the manufacturer since Apple does not provide access to the EFI to manually set the speed. I personally use Kingston Hyper X PnP 1866MHz in two 2011 Mac minis (see signature).
 
Ooh... thanks for that info. My main concern was that I was using an i5, not an i7, but I guess my concern was unwarranted there.

The only two brands I've considered are Kingston HyperX and Corsair Vengeance (at 1600), as I believe both are PnP. The latter being nearly half the cost of the Kingston is tempting, but I have not read of anyone here even trying that yet. I also had bad luck with 1333 Corsair a while back too, so may be a bit gunshy to try them again.

Have you noticed any issues with temperature or fans running a bit more often due to the ram? And what sort of increase (if any) have you noticed in graphics performance? I will assume they will work fine in Windows 7 too (I hope), as I use bootcamp quite often.

I noticed that someone wanted to do a comparison test about 6 months ago, with the base model and different speed rams, checking frame rates in 2-3 games -- and started a thread on it (yes, search is our friend) -- but I saw no followups at all. Was those tests ever done?
 
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There are Windows laptop reviews comparing the Intel HD 3000 at various different RAM speeds. The gains are not huge 5-15% depending on the test. The general consensus is slow CAS latency of current memory at 1600 or 1866 holds back the potential gains of increased bus speed.

I've not noticed increase temps. However memory is not nearly as energy efficient as the factory Samsung. Should not be an issue in a Mac mini since its a desktop.
 
i have used the kingston 1600 hyperx in all 4 minis. it works fine. personally most people don't need it and the benefits are not much. I have a pair of 4gb sticks in my base mini the 1600 kingston hyperx.
 
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Here's a review I referred to earlier:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1599/1/
 
shortcut3d said:
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Here's a review I referred to earlier:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1599/1/
Click to expand...

you need to keep in mind he is comparing 6gb to 8gb and 1333 to 1866.

I did lots of testing comparing 8gb to 8gb and 1333 to 1600.

the single biggest boost in the scores is not the 1333 to 1600 but the 6gb to 8gb.


the reason is very simple the intel 3000 gpu maxes to 512mb when you have 8gb ram.

it the testing review he is using 6gb which means the ram in the integrated 3000 graphics is at 448mb. when he goes to 8gb the 3000 graphics then get 512mb ram this gives him a good boost. i get about .1 higher for graphics on windows experience. with the 8gb 1600 kingsyon vs 8gb 1333 gskill. all of this will not help the discrete models in graphics. just the base and the server.
 
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Excuse my ignorance regarding integrated video, but I'll assume there is no way to set what amount of Ram it uses manually somewhere?

Is there any greater benefit to using 16GB? Not as far as using Ram for programs, but increasing the available Ram for the 3000 HD? When looking under graphics settings, I see (in windows) -- total available graphics memory: 787 MB, so always assumed that the video could use that much, if needed.

And what do you think about this ram?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233242

States this in its specs: Auto-overclocking (no bios configuration required)

The Kingston would be preferred, but this is around only $8 more than regular 1333 Ram. Or is there a big difference between it and the Kingston?

I haven't seen 1866 ram cheap yet. Ideally I'd like to find it at <$50.
 
namelessme said:
Excuse my ignorance regarding integrated video, but I'll assume there is no way to set what amount of Ram it uses manually somewhere?

Is there any greater benefit to using 16GB? Not as far as using Ram for programs, but increasing the available Ram for the 3000 HD?
Click to expand...

Answers: No and No. The amount of Video RAM will automatically determined by the system based on the amount of System RAM you have, and the max amount of System RAM allocated to Video RAM is 512 which occurs at 8GB. Anything about 8GB still only allocates 512.

In the end these are Integrated GPU's, so the GPU will eventually become the bottleneck as opposed to the Video RAM.

Edit: Supposed to be anything ABOVE 8GB instead of About
 
Last edited:
namelessme said:
Excuse my ignorance regarding integrated video, but I'll assume there is no way to set what amount of Ram it uses manually somewhere?

Is there any greater benefit to using 16GB? Not as far as using Ram for programs, but increasing the available Ram for the 3000 HD? When looking under graphics settings, I see (in windows) -- total available graphics memory: 787 MB, so always assumed that the video could use that much, if needed.

And what do you think about this ram?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233242

States this in its specs: Auto-overclocking (no bios configuration required)

The Kingston would be preferred, but this is around only $8 more than regular 1333 Ram. Or is there a big difference between it and the Kingston?

I haven't seen 1866 ram cheap yet. Ideally I'd like to find it at <$50.
Click to expand...



The ram you link does not have any review that states it runs at 1600MHz in a mac.

if you want to be a guinea pig and test it cool.

The max ram for the intel 3000 is 512mb it reaches it at 8gb ram.

16gb ram is only helpful for running vmWare fusion with windows. or other very high use ram software.




THE BOTTOM LINE IS SIMPLE MAC MINI = MEDIOCRE GRAPHICS


THE intel 3000 is less then the discrete gpu but both are not that good.

Maybe the mini will improve with the 2012 models.
 
Okay, thanks for all of your help.

And yeah, the graphics aren't good. I guess I was hoping to make them slightly less terrible by increasing the speed of the Ram.

I may be willing to be a guinea pig so long as wherever I purchase the corsair ram from allows me to return it, if it doesn't work. I need to check their policies.

I think I read a review somewhere that someone with a mbp got it working, but forget where. Actually, it may have been the GSkill instead where I read that.

Timings important, I assume? We want 9-9-9s? I've seen Gskill 1600 even cheaper (w/coupon) at about $36, but Gskill doesn't mention the PnP thing anywhere. Not sure if the latter number matters, as I think the gskill is 9-9-9-28, the corsair is 9-9-9-24 and the hyperx is 9-9-9-27. Lower is better?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...tion&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na
 
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