Which Ramm to choose from

[givmedew]

I have a Macbook Pro. From my experience or lack there of. It will only run ram that is rated at 1066MHz unless the spd profile is overwritten to make it run as 1066MHz.

I just sold my 8GB kit which didn't work because it was 1333MHz I had one dimm in and 1 dimm was a 1gb stock cimm which caused both dimms to run at 1066MHz so I have had 5GB of ram for the last year or so.

I would like to get a 8GB kit I was wanting to get low voltage adata but I am having trouble finding it. So I am giving a choice between a few brands on newegg and I was wondering the following.

Is there any of these I should choose and why?
Is there any of these I should stay away from and why?

The LINK

Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 Laptop Memory
Cas Latency: 7
Voltage: 1.5V
$36.49
Free Shipping

Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop
Cas Latency: 7
Voltage: 1.5V
$35.99
Free Shipping

G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop
Cas Latency: 7
Timing: 7-7-7-20
Voltage: 1.5V
$34.99
Free Shipping

PNY Optima 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500)
Cas Latency: 7
Voltage: 1.5V
$36.99
$33.99
Save: 8%
Free Shipping

Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Laptop Memory Model 996644
Cas Latency: 7
Timing: 7-7-7-20
Voltage: 1.5V
$34.99
Free Shipping

CORSAIR 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop
Cas Latency: 7
Timing: 7-7-7-20
Multi-channel Kit: Dual Channel Kit
$49.99
$42.99
Save: 14%
Free Shipping

Team 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 Laptop Memory Model
Cas Latency: 7
Voltage: 1.5V
Multi-channel Kit: Dual Channel Kitrrr
$34.99
Free Shipping

GeIL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop
Cas Latency: 7
Timing: 7-7-7-20
Voltage: 1.5V
$35.99
Free Shipping

 

[Ajay57]

To be able to help out with your problem we need to exactly the information on your original memory that came with your laptop! Next the processor type as well and whether your OS is 32 or 64 bit which can affect the amount of memory. Then we can look at your list and decide which would be the best match for the laptop. AJ.

 

[EarthDog]

Is there any of these I should choose and why?
Is there any of these I should stay away from and why?

Assuming W7 64bit (only way to see more than 4GB)....

1. Any will do.
2. Nope.

Ram is ram.. if the sticks you get match the voltage and speed of your current kit (1066), then all should be well. If you want to be 100% certain ram will work instead of 99%, check the MFG website for a compatibility list. Otherwise, the cheapest up there should do just fine.

 

[givmedew]

Was just wondering if any brand was specifically better than the other really... Every single one of those kits listed are the same latency, speed and size just different manufacturers.

As far as the OS it would be mountain lion 64 bit usually although I do have windows 7 64 bit on parallels which means it only gets part of the 8GB... Also I run lightroom 4.2 and a couple adobe and apple apps and some of them can use a lot of ram so the 8GB is a minimum. I had 5GB because I bought the wrong 8GB kit and could only use (1) 4GB and (1) 1GB SODIMM because with mac you cant select your memory speed it just goes off whatever the default is so with both 4gb sticks in it ran at a faster speed and was unstable.

Anyways

Again I am wondering if any of those brands are specifically high or low quality. Secondly I am wondering if anyone has any experience with ADATA low voltage ram. I have heard good things about it as far as battery life is concerned.

 

[ivanlabrie]

A-data makes great products...Gskill or Mushkin are good too.
For regular ram I'd get a gskill kit, but do check your qvl list (the board manufacturer or in this case Apple should have a list of supported ram somewhere)
Most brands will be the same, the difference being the lifetime warranty or whatever they offer and price, unless you want to overclock the ram...which in this case you can't.

 

[givmedew]

OK, so I'm doing some google searches and it seems like any cas 7 capable ram that can not go higher than 1066 is pretty much compatible. EVEN low voltage. Low voltage IS what I want but I am having a hard problem sourcing it. I found a pdf from micron describing a 2 4 and 8gb so-dimm that can operate at 1066 7 cas but I can not find the product. I found information about hynix releasing a low voltage memory but it doesn't actually say so-dimm and it may be talking about the chips themselves. Then ADATA but again no luck on finding a vendor.

Some of these companies are referring to this as DDR3L.

That is what I want most. If anyone has any idea where to get it.

If I cant find it at a slow speed then the only other option if I really want it is to write to the SPD which I see there are 2 programs avail to do that but one is not free and the free ware is not easy to use. So in other words it adds money to the cost of the memory as I would only use that software to write to an spd once in my life.