Upgrading Ram on MBP

[YoGish]

Hi all,

I've seen a few posts here about upgrading Ram on a Macbook Pro. I have a MBP Core i5 2.3 13" Early 2011 model and want to upgrade my Ram from the standard 4Gb to 8Gb or 16Gb.

I've been recommended using crucial, but also found Team Group Hynix. I've done some research and know that I need to match up the speed to 9-2-2-24 and also match the voltage to 1.5 volts.

I want to know if 1) anyone here has used the Hynix / Team group and if they had any issues. 2) I have two slots and read that I need to have both slots filled with the matching pair, so my 2Gb and a 4Gb different brand Ram wouldn't work or not advisable?

Thanks,

 

[lowendlinux]

Hynix is fine they've been making the stuff a long time. I also wouldn't worry so much about the timings my wifes mac of the same vintage is using 8GB of Kingston HyperX 1600 which has looser timings than stock. Just grab the ram you like at the price you like.

 

[JTToft]

You've researched your way to a lot of outdated information.

1) Both Crucial and Hynix are fine. Hynix is common Apple OEM RAM and chances are you'll take Hynix modules out when performing the upgrade. I use Corsair.
2) Timings don't matter for compatibility on your machine, but matters a little bit for performance. I use 10-10-10-27.
3) Voltage doesn't need to be 1.5V. 1.35V modules are also compatible with the 1.5V required by your machine.
4) You don't need to use matching pairs (neither in frequency, capacity, or brand), but matching capacity will result in slightly higher performance and matching speed will result in less wasted potential as the faster module will simply downclock to match the slower one. Brand matching doesn't matter one bit.

5) Your machine can use up to 16 GB 1600MHz RAM. As long as you purchase 204-pin SO-DIMM DDR3 modules, they will work.