Hey guys I'm planning to upgrade my MBP 2011 13' memory to 8GB. Is there any recommendation on the compatibility for various vendors?

I'm thinking of Kingston (for best value) or Corsair (for best performance, 1600 MHz?) but was worry about compatiblity issue as some pointed out on G.Skillz RAMs.

I see. Was thinking to purchase the Corsair's for better performance. Any particular model that you're using?

I see. With the additional 8GB of RAM I assume that the swap page file will stay close to 0 or less than 100MB most of the time right, assuming there is 1 Window VM that is running.

There has been a time where my swap file size reached a whopping > 5GB with 1 VM as well as several native Mac app running. The end result is a sluggish overall performance.

Hey guys again.

I had searched around and found the following 2 that might be the one that I wanted:

1) CMSA8GX3M2A1066C7 DDR3, 1066MHz 8GB 2x204 SODIMM, Apple Qualified, Unbuffered= RM259
Seller: http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...macbook+pro+ram

and

2) Mushkin
Seller: http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1973560

I was leaning towards the first option but kinda wondering does the price and performance good as it is only 1066Mhz compared to Mushkin 1333 Mhz.

Added:
It seemed like a user is having problem with Corsair RAM?
http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?p=531714

This post has been edited by D.Sync: Oct 5 2011, 06:20 PM

Is there the need to purchase Apple Certified RAM instead of normal one?

Like Mushkin, there are both Apple Certified (brand # 976647) and non Apple Certified (brand #991647). The price for Apple Certified one are double than that of non-certified.

So hard trying to figure out a suitable and relatively priced RAM for the upgrade to 8GB.

I myself is using 2 sticks of KVR (2x4GB) and it works charm after 3 weeks of usage :-D Never switch my notebook off and just putting it to sleep all the time since the day of upgrade to test the stability of it. And so far it's working just FINE. Will let see if I can pass the 1 month of my so-called 'burn-in' period XD

I take back what I had said before. The entire laptop freezes when I attempt to waking it back up after the complete battery depletion. Now I need to reopen every single things that I had opened in the past 21 days !!! Friggin' unbelievable!!!!!!

Yes it is possible. Just buy a hdd caddy and done with it.

May I ask which kind of memory stick did you purchase, is it from Corsair? I'm wondering whether early 2011 model support 16GB, and it seemed to be very picky for 16GB sticks. I've read success and fail side from it.

I see. Have you run memory stress test on it for at least 24 hours? I have always wanted to upgrade but laid back by the incompatiblity issues that some are facing.

I'm going to upgrade my RAM to 16GB and is now targetting Kingston KTA-MB1333/8G.

Seeing how mfitri77 got it working with the 1600MHz version I'm wondering whether the 1333 will be a smooth sailing too?

One thing I realize is that RAM price is really low right now. It's only been a couple of months since I last checked and this is really a good news.

I always try to use Windows machine to format to NTFS as it is the native file system in Windows. I'm using Tuxera NTFS and it works charmingly without any problem.

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Added on November 25, 2012, 5:18 pmI'm also trying to find a quality 16GB RAM. So far I'm seeing good and bad reviews about Corsair, and not much about Kingston. Mushkin seemed to have a reputable image but it is hard for me to find it in Taiwan. Perhaps I will just go for Kingston and it only cost around RM160 here for 16GB.

In regards to the memory voltage, I believe it is common for MBP to use 1.5v, but it will accept 1.35v (DDR3L) as well without any problem. To be safe, 1.5v is recommended if you own MBP released before 2012.

This post has been edited by D.Sync: Nov 25 2012, 05:18 PM

From what I have read, it is recommended to use memory module with 9-9-9 timing.

I just installed KVA 8GB x2 recently and it ran superbly well until now. I even stress test the RAM by running memtest and no problem whatsoever.

I suppose this will be my last upgrade option for my MBP 2011 down the road now. I see no more room for improvement except a higher HDD capacity :-)

SSD is actually the first thing that I upgraded. No regret whatsoever.