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Mac Mini Upgraded Memory

R

Rekabdekab

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 18, 2012
8
0
Hey all,

Just a quick question. I'm looking at buying a Mac Mini MC816LL/A with the 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 Memory. I was also going to buy myself 8GB of Memory separately and put it in myself.

I was wondering if the Mac Mini will accept two 8GB cards so I can run 16GB on the Mac Mini?

I know I can upgrade to the two 4GB cards and have 8GB running but I was just wondering if it is worth it to spend the extra few $$$ to get two 8GB cards and run 16GB on it.


~I am a video editor and I run Final Cut, Adobe, and various other programs at the same time.

Thanks for the help.
 
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i've never heard that of that brand. I personally use crucial or kingston. Most reliable memory.
 
nkawal said:
i've never heard that of that brand. I personally use crucial or kingston. Most reliable memory.
Click to expand...


OK. So Kingston doesn't have a 16GB kit. They have a single 8GB board, but I would be spending upwards of $300 for 16GB.

Crucial has a kit for $200:
http://www.amazon.com/Micron-Crucia...YH3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326983889&sr=8-1

But on the crucial website it says that the 8GB boards are not compatible with the Mac mini I am buying. Others say this is not true and it will run 16GB

Do you think 8GB is enough memory? I run a ton of programs do to my video editing.
 
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Rekabdekab said:
Crucial has a kit for $200:
http://www.amazon.com/Micron-Crucia...YH3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326983889&sr=8-1
Click to expand...

That's the 16Gb RAM I put in my Mini a few days ago.

It's working fine and has passed all the tests I've thrown at it.

I bought it from Crucial direct, after explaining to them that I planned to put it in a Mac mini. They told they would support this configuration, and would refund me if I wasn't happy.

I had previously tried 16Gb of Corsair RAM which gave me kernel panics and memory test errors. Others here have had no problems with Corsair RAM, which is significantly cheaper.

As far as I know the only company broadcasting their support for 16Gb RAM in Mac Minis is OWC. Their RAM costs a bit more than Crucial's.
 
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elliotn said:
That's the 16Gb RAM I put in my Mini a few days ago.

It's working fine and has passed all the tests I've thrown at it.

I bought it from Crucial direct, after explaining to them that I planned to put it in a Mac mini. They told they would support this configuration, and would refund me if I wasn't happy.

As far as I know the only company broadcasting their support for 16Gb RAM in Mac Minis is OWC. Their RAM costs a bit more than Crucial's.
Click to expand...


So in your opinion is the extra $150 worth it? And should I talk to crucial as well, just in case?

OWC is outrageous, I'm not going to pay $1400 for 16GB of memory. I could have two decked out 8GB computers for that.
 
OWC is outrageous, I'm not going to pay $1400 for 16GB of memory.
Click to expand...

Where did you get that from? OWC charge $280 for 16Gb.

16Gb is only worthwhile if your workflow routinely eats up 8Gb. That's the case with me as I work with large, stitched, layered, 16 bit Photoshop files.
 
elliotn said:
That's the 16Gb RAM I put in my Mini a few days ago.

It's working fine and has passed all the tests I've thrown at it.
Click to expand...

One last question, is it accepting all 16GB? I'm talking to a buddy of mine and he says it's pointless if it only accepts 8GB and you put a 16 in it may work but it may only be using 8GB if that's all it can accept.

I'm assuming since you said it will work and you ran tests that it accepts all 16GB I just want to make sure.
 
Rekabdekab said:
One last question, is it accepting all 16GB? I'm talking to a buddy of mine and he says it's pointless if it only accepts 8GB and you put a 16 in it may work but it may only be using 8GB if that's all it can accept.

I'm assuming since you said it will work and you ran tests that it accepts all 16GB I just want to make sure.
Click to expand...

It accepts 16GB. Apple only says 8GB, but look at macsales.com. They sell 16GB kits for it and ASSURE you that it works. It's just "unofficial".
 
Rekabdekab said:
One last question, is it accepting all 16GB? I'm talking to a buddy of mine and he says it's pointless if it only accepts 8GB and you put a 16 in it may work but it may only be using 8GB if that's all it can accept.

I'm assuming since you said it will work and you ran tests that it accepts all 16GB I just want to make sure.
Click to expand...

It unofficially supports 16GB, best to go with a name brand. I've heard of some users having compatibility issues with lesser known companies. One in particular that I want to mention is Corsair. I read on these forums that someone tried using corsair modules and it didn't detect them.
 
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