Stock RAM or third party upgrade??

I'm going to be getting a new 2011 MBP 15". I am debating whether to upgrade to the 8gb RAM through my purchase with Apple or to get the standard 4GB and upgrade it myself with Crucial or something similar.
I know it will be cheaper to upgrade it myself, but I have read several reviews that there is a chance that the computer could have problems with freezing and crashing and other issues with self upgrades through reputable third party sellers like Crucial. If I do choose to upgrade myself then I loose the opportunity to get the "cheaper" upgrade through Apple. It is $180 (student discount) when you buy the laptop and $400 by itself.
The third party brands that I've found are for about $55-80.
Any suggestions or advice? Has anyone ever had a good or bad experience with upgrading the RAM on the latest 2011 MBP model?
Thanks!

The general consensus is to upgrade your MBP with third-party RAM.
OWC is a reliable source of MacBook RAM and will provide warranty if you have any problems.

Similar Messages

No third-party upgrades with smartphone loyalty plan?

Hi,
I recently took VZW up on the offer of a $60 smartphone loyalty plan with a 1-year contract extension. They told me several times that I would keep my device upgrade option. Sounded like a great deal. I just tried to upgrade my device through Best Buy and was unable to do so. Their site, and representatives, kept getting the message "this carrier does not provide service to this number" even though it was the same cellular number I had held for years. They spoke to a Verizon rep. who told them that in order to release my number for their upgrade, I would need to switch to the Share Everything plan which, for the same service, would be $100 a month.
Is this true or was that representative mistaken? Has anyone else been able to do a third-party upgrade on the Smartphone Loyalty plan?
I really want to move on this. Best Buy has a Galaxy S4 free with a 2-year contract extension (the length of which is something I asked specifically about and was told any 2-year extensions would simply lock in the $60 price point).
I kind of feel duped if I am truly limited just to the VZW store. Please help :-/
Thanks,
Chris

However, if you actually extended your contract date, then you would not be eligible for an upgrade at a subsidized price until that date.
When you look on your MyVerizon site, what is the date show for upgrade eligibility and also for contract end date?

Third party upgrade automation software

Hi,
Has anyone had experience of using any third party upgrade software to reduce down-time? If yes, how effective has this been?
Secondly, has anyone used Panaya? They offer cloud based upgrade automation and maintenance solution.
Regards,
Shehryar

> Has anyone had experience of using any third party upgrade software to reduce down-time? If yes, how effective has this been?
Have you done a test upgrade and do you know where your bottlenecks are? There's a quite a number of possible things you can do to decrease your total downtime.
Markus

If I increase my laptop ram to third party ram my warranty affected or not

Hii,
I am Ved from India (Delhi). I have purchase Hp 2230tx laptop in Jan'2013, Its ram is 2gb thats is too low according to my usage.
But i have 4gb extra third party ram. If I install this ram in my laptop, "MY LAPTOP WARRANTY AFFECTED OR NOT".
Thanks in Advance
This question was solved.
View Solution.

No, upgrading the RAM will not void the warranty of your notebook. The RAM you install will have it's own warranty and will not be covered by HP.
If you have to send the notebook in for repair, they will require the original RAM be installed.

Third party memory upgrades?

Hi,
I'm in the process of upgrading the memory in my USB 2.0 iMac and was wondering if anyone had experience with using non OEM modules. In my case, the price is not the only factor deterring me from making a purchase directly from Apple. After placing an online order for a 256MB module (said to ship in 5-7 days), it was 10 days until I received a notice via email that they were backordered and the item wouldn't ship for another two weeks! Lousy.
Anyways, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a particular manufacturer. The specs are:
Unbuffered, PC2700, 3.3v SO-DIMM of SDRAM.
Regards,
Rory Woods

Try looking at www.ramseeker.com for RAM prices. They list prices from a number of reputable vendors. You can also use the RAM selectors on the websites of vendors like www.crucial.com and www.datamem.com. They will all be much cheaper than Apple, and the same or better quality (after all, Apple buys their RAM from third party vendors too; Apple doesn't manufacture their own RAM). Just make sure you buy from a vendor that offers a lifetime warranty (almost all do). Crucial is a very reputable brand; my preferred vendor is Data Memory Systems.

Inter-Company Sales v/s Inter-Company Stock Transfer v/s Third Party Sales

Hi, I understand the basic business processes between Inter-Company Sales, Inter-Company Stock Transfer and Third Party Sales.
The Inter-Company Sales is sales process between two companies having different company codes. A customer orders an item to Company A which can't be delivered by Company A, so Company A generates PO to Company B which supplies the item to Company A and finally Company A delivers it to Customer.
The Inter-Company Stock Transfer is stock transfer from one plant to another where the plants belong to two different company codes. Now all Inter-Company Sales process covers Inter-Company Stock Transfer process.
Third Party Sales process is process where a customer orders an item to Company A but Company A ca't deliver the item to the customer. So Company A generates a PO to Company B which in turn directly delivers the item to customer. After the goods receipt verification at customer end Company A pays to Company B.
Now looking at the these basic process steps I just want to know what is the basic difference between Inter-Company Sales and Inter-Company Stock Transfer ? Is this something that when there is a need to deliver an item to the customer and not available in that company, the Inter-Company Sales takes place but when there is no customer order but the companies want to maintain stock, the Inter-Company Stock Transfer takes place ? Please clarify based on my above understanding.

Hi
I will explain you with example
Say there are 2 org structures
Company code 1000 sales org 1000 and DC 10 and division is 00 and plant 1000
Company code 2000 sales org 2000 and DC 20 and division is 00 and plant 2000
Now A customer Say X lies in sales area 1000,10,00 and a sales order is created for a material ABCD for this customer X in sales area 1000,10,00
Now if the plant 2000 supplies this material ABCD for this order to the customer X in sales area 1000,10,00 then it is intercompany sales
IF the plant 2000 transfers the stock to plant 1000 ands (then if the plant 1000 supplies to this sales order for customer X) then it is intercompany STO
If the material is supplied from a external vendor directly to the customer X without involving your plants then it is third party sales
Now all Inter-Company Sales process covers Inter-Company Stock Transfer process
No not at all
Both are entirely different
Inter-Company Stock Transfer process doesnot involve Inter-Company sales
Similarly Inter-Company sales does not involve Inter-Company Stock Transfer process both are different
Third party means it is an external vendor not your other company code
All three are different
If a plant belonging to one company code directly makes a delivery for a customer to the sales order created in another company code then it is intercompany sales
the movement of stocks between plants of 2 different company codes is inter company STO
Regards
Raja

Third party ram + apple ram?

I'm thinking about buying a macbook pro with the standard 1 stick of 1 gig ram, but third party solutions for the remaining slot looks much cheaper. Will putting 1 gig of apple ram + 1 gig of nonapple ram together cause any problems? Has anyone done this and had any issues? Thanks.

Apple don't make ram themselves. They supply Samsung, Hynix, Nanya and Micron (which is also Crucial) as standard -so any of these will be as supplied by Apple.
Some respected retailers sell these and then certain other 3rd part ram which they have extensively tested - such as ramjet and owc (macsales).
If you stick to one of the brands that Apple supplies or one of these respected 3rd parties, you should be fine. Some very cheap ram may cause problems.
Best of luck.

Logic board and third party ram upgrade on Macbook

I bought a new macbook about a month ago and the only change i made to it was to install third party ram myself. The logic board broke on Friday. Apple was kind of enough to replace the logicboard for free even though I had third party ram in there which they said violated the warranty. I called other world computing where I bought the ram and they said there was no way the ram could be the cause of the logicboard failure even if I installed the ram wrong. Is this true?
My real question is what do I do now for upgrading my ram. Do I buy mac ram and pay the extra money or can I use third party ram and not have to worry about it causing damage to my system? Whatever the resolution I don't want to void the warranty in any way.

*"which they said violated the warranty."*
What they told you there is a load of crap. Installing RAM does not void the warranty. Even the RAM that Apple installs is from a third party.
*"can I use third party ram and not have to worry about it causing damage to my system?"*
Yes

27"imac with 16gb ram, wanting to upgrade to 32gb. what is the least problematic third party memory to upgrade to?

I want to upgrade from 16gb to 32 for my imac 27", release date Sept 2013. I've been reading about Crucial memory problems with random restarts and kernal panic notices as late as today on the Crucial website. Any tips on a third party memory brand that is least problematic?

I personally would steer clear of the others listedi n Baby Boomers link. Not because they may or maynot be good I am just not familiar with them.
Just because you are not familiar w/the website, the OP should steer clear? <Edited by Host>
For the record, I have been using Ramseeker website since 1999. Not once have I ever had a problem w/any of their RAM.
I would never recommend a website if there were known problems w/their products.

What third party RAM is equal to "1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB" for the NEW, 27" 2014 4K iMAC and is it advisable to buy instead of the Apple upgraded RAM?

What third party RAM is as good as the "1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB" upgrade that Apple offers for the NEW, 27" 2014 5K iMAC Retina?
And is it advisable to buy instead of the Apple upgraded RAM? (my understanding is that third party RAM is not as costly).

go with one of the quality sources for ram OWC and Crucial are very well thought of
your options with the 5K when you buy it are
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x8GB [Add $200.00]
32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB [Add $600.00]
you might want to go with the 16GB option when you buy if you know you might want to go to 32GB some day as that will get you to 32zb at the lowest cost. or you can start with the 8 and add 8GB sticks as you need them but if you are not happy stopping at 20GB you will end up with a pair of 4GB sticks to try to sell on ebay... or if you are lazy like me you get a couple of extra xmas tree ornaments.. i have 35 years of ram methods on my tree now dating back to the extra ram for my Apple ][ extra 8k and not a few obsolete processor ornaments too... dress em up with glitter so they sparkle
this is the owc page for ram for the 5k iMachttp://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/Retina-5K/DDR3L
8.0GB PC3-12800 1600MHz SO Kit (4GB x 2) w/Lifetime Warranty
Same Day
$99.79
12.0GB PC3-12800 1600MHz SO Kit (4GB + 8GB) w/Lifetime Warranty
Same Day
$147.50
16GB PC3-12800 1600MHz SO Kit (8GB x 2) w/Lifetime Warranty
Same Day
$197.99
32GB PC3-12800 1600MHz SO Kit (8GB x 4) w/Lifetime Warranty
Same Day
$395.00

Has anyone had problems with Domayne using generic third party RAM for memory upgrades? My RAM is now faulty and had to be removed, but Apple wont replace it under Apple Care because its not a genuine component?

The computer was purchased in the knowledge that all components and hardware were genuine and subsequently covered by the Apple Care warranty.
Domayne replaced the genuine components (8GB stick) with generic components (2x 16GB sticks) to save money and boost margin.
Apple should not allow this misleading, profiteering behaivour. This behaviour is brand damaging. Apple must maintain more control over their supply chain.
Has anyone had any expirenece with this problem?
Has anyone made Domayne or other third party resellers acountable for this misleading behaviour?
Thank you.

Stick with Brand name RAM and reputable distributors. Mac is finicky about low quality RAM
Try OWC http://www.macsales.com/
Crucial http://www.crucial.com/
Most RAM comes with Lifetime guarenntee so return it where you got it.

Third Party RAM Design and Risk

So with the Mac Pro out, my preferred RAM source, OWC (aka MacSales) stocked up on day one.
OWC Mac Pro RAM Upgrades
(Note the heat sink design)
I thought "Great, they already have RAM for it, so when I eventually get one I wont have to pay the enormous amount Apple charges for some reason." But then I saw this little note on the the online Apple Store:
Please note: Apple created a more robust thermal specification for the Mac Pro FB-DIMM heat sinks that provide more efficient cooling than many other FB-DIMMs. These FB-DIMMs require less airflow to stay cool and allow the internal fans to spin at slower speeds, improving system acoustics. FB-DIMMs made by other manufacturers that do not include a sufficient heat sink may cause the fans to run faster (and louder) or the memory chips to run slower so as not to overheat.
And you can see what they mean by that.
So are they saying that an FB-DIMM without a heat sink or one good enough is not approved, or that their design is most likely the only that will work well? Compare the two heat sink designs and imagine the airflow on them.
On top of all this, Apple in general frowns upon third party RAM. When I told them my lower RAM slot has become defective, as soon as I told them the RAM was not directly from Apple, I was put in a "no sympathy bin".
All in all, where should current and prospective Mac Pro buyers get for their RAM?

Well, does this mean that we are better off only getting RAM from Apple for now until the third parties can extensively prove they are worthy?
Yes and no. What I would suggest that you do, and what I have done, is to buy the minimum RAM you can get away with from Apple and then wait for the 3rd parties for the rest. Fortunately for me that was 2GB so that's what I ordered. Given I've ordered both Airport and the ATI X1900XT I have probably 4+ weeks to change that if the 3rd parties come good in time (within 2 weeks or so). Either way though I'm not really bothered as I'll probably end up going to 4GB with all 512MB FB-DIMMs.
At some point the 3rd parties will get their heatsinks right and we'll all be in business… that you can be sure of.
The response from both Crucial and Kingston, by pulling their product, is the perfect example of why you go with the big guys and the properly rated RAM. Buying by spec alone like many do doesn't always work out as in this case.

Third party chip and OSX upgrades

i have an original bondi blue imac (233 mhz) that I upgraded years ago to 500mhz with a newer technologies third-party chip. I also have upgraded it to a 40MB HD and 374 Meg RAM with another 8Meg video RAM. Now it is time to do the firmware update in order to upgrade to OSX.
Has anyone had any experience with that firmware update and those types of third party chips? I am afraid!
The manufacturer has discontinued them and I emailed them but haven't got any joy so far.
thanks
kt
iMac bondi :: dual USB ibook Mac OS 9.2.x

Do you have the original CPU handy? You can always downgrade, then do the firmware upgrade, and then upgrade again.
As far as I know the firmware upgrade affects only the logic board and not the CPU, but I don't want to be responsible for you frying your upgrade chip. As the upgrade chip is technically not supported by Apple, they will not have tested their firmware upgrader on a machine that has a third-party chip. But untested doesn't mean it won't work.

Third Party Plug Ins & RAM

Hi Guys
My MBP is about a year old now with 2GB RAM and 2.4 GHZ processor.
Until recently I have been running Logic very nicely for my needs, generally 15-20 audio or software instruments tracks with overloading a rather rare occurance. This is with pretty much zero third party plug-ins.
Recently however I purchased EWQLSO silver play edition and have found overloading to be occuring to a quite undesirable degree (with maybe only 3-4 EW instances). Firstly can I clarify that this is simply down to the fact that EW is very CPU hungry? This overloading seems a little extreme, but my sytem is otherwise ok.
As such I am considering upgrading to 4GB RAM and I was wondering will this be worth it and improve my situation here?
I also notice that memory from Apple is rather expensive and is available cheaper elsewhere...is it safe for me to change the memory myself (I don't really trust myself a friend upgraded his RAM manually from a cheap website and encountered one or two problems)?...Also will an upgrade to just 3GB be beneficial at all...I have read that it is better for the RAM in each slot to be identical?
Any other general advise I would very much appreciate.:)
Sam

So far, no one has mentioned "multitimbral" in this thread. I don't know if your third-party software instruments are multitimbral, but if they are, this may even solve your entire problem all by itself. (If your soft instruments are NOT multitimbral, then this won't help at all.)
I also recommend MAXING out your ram, which is ALWAYS a good idea.
IF your instrument has multitimbral capability (Kontakt Player 2, SampleTank, and many others do), then you'll need to read all about it in their manuals, as each one uses a different method of set-up for Logic. Logic plays multitimbral instruments quite nicely.
Basically, this method allows you to use the multitimbral software instrument only ONCE, for up to 16 separate instrument tracks, thereby saving a lot of ram, since the instrument itself takes up so much ram. To do this, you'll need to create your software instrument track(s) as multitimbral in Logic when you create the tracks, then within the individual software instrument itself, you'll have to assign ascending midi channels to ascending pairs of outputs. In other words, midi channel 1 will be assigned to outputs 1-2, midi channel 2 will be assigned to outputs 3-4, etc., all the way through outputs 31-32 assigned to midi channel 16.
Setting this up takes some time, so when you're done, save it as a TEMPLATE in Logic.
Then to MIX each channel separately, you'll need to create a special AUX channel for each track. In Logic, this means you'll have TWO tracks for each instrument: one for the midi data, and one for mixing, effects, etc. But it saves a TON of ram over using a software instrument instance for each track.
I'll search for an earlier thread in this forum, if it still exists, for more details on how to do this, and post the link here if I find it.
DS9

Third party RAM for my Mac Pro

I have a 1st generation Dual-Core 2.66GHz/4GB Mac Pro desktop. I want to install 16 GB total, from a third party. I'm not very computer savvy... and I'm not sure which third party offers the ram most suitable for my particular machine, or which pairs I'm better off purchasing, etc. If anyone knowledgeable enough to put me in the right direction could give me some advice I'de really appreciate their input. Thanks guys.

You will need 667MHz FB-DIMMs. If you are thinking about upgrading to a 2nd gen MacPro, then you can get 800MHz ones. In 1st gen they will operate at 667MHz but you will be able to swap them into a 2nd gen if anything. If you are not planning to upgrade anytime soon, then forget what I just said and go for teh 667MHz ones.
If you are not planning to ever want more than 16GB RAM, then 8x2GB is a good choice. Or you can get 4x4GB.
Now, there is Apple Certified and Apple Qualified FB-DIMMs. Its basically the same thing but Apple Certified ones are much more expensive just because they are "certified" by Apple. Qualified memory is the same thing, but it has not been certified by Apple. Same reason why Apple brand memory is much more expensive. I am using qualified memory myself.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory
Hope this helps.

Stock RAM or third party upgrade??

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