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2011 Imac and Memory

A

applemike68

macrumors regular
Original poster
Hi all,

I'm on my second 2011 iMac and looking to upgrade the memory from the standard 4 GB to 8 or 16. I'm going to assume that more is better but where should I buy the memory? Newegg? Mac Sales? I've upgraded pc memory over the years but never a mac. I plan on using my new iMac for aperture and home movies and games for the kids. How hard is it to add memory? Would 8 be enough? Thanks
 
To answer your other questions…

Upgrading the ram on the iMac is very easy. There's a cover on the bottom under the Apple logo - 3 screws. Then you pull out the old simms using attached ribbons. Piece of cake.
 
Go with 16 GB on the iMac. Take advantage of the 4 slots and do things a Macbook Pro could never do anywhere near the price.
 
DerekS said:
To answer your other questions…

Upgrading the ram on the iMac is very easy. There's a cover on the bottom under the Apple logo - 3 screws. Then you pull out the old simms using attached ribbons. Piece of cake.
Click to expand...

Great, Thanks,

Should I keep the 4 GB that is already in there or should I remove it and install a fresh 16? Not sure...I don't want to cause a problem...Thanks again
 
Here is what I came up with... I guess i should take out the stock memory and add the 16...I should be able to sell the stock on Ebay...

GB Kit (4GBx2), 204-pin SODIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 memory module

Part Number: CT2116942
Module Size: 8GB Kit (4GBx2)
Package: 204-pin SODIMM
Feature: DDR3 PC3-10600
Specs: DDR3 PC3-10600 • CL=9 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1333 • 1.5V • 512Meg x 64 •
 
applemike68 said:
Here is what I came up with... I guess i should take out the stock memory and add the 16...I should be able to sell the stock on Ebay...

GB Kit (4GBx2), 204-pin SODIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 memory module

Part Number: CT2116942
Module Size: 8GB Kit (4GBx2)
Package: 204-pin SODIMM
Feature: DDR3 PC3-10600
Specs: DDR3 PC3-10600 • CL=9 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1333 • 1.5V • 512Meg x 64 •
Click to expand...

A lot of people simply get an 8GB kit and add it to the stock 4GB for a total of 12GB, while spending half as much as it would cost for 16GB. I'd say that's a considerably better deal.
 
You can buy a fresh 16 for under a 100 dollars just about anywhere. I've always preferred to buy memory in kits so that it populates all banks with matching sticks.
I know a lot of people add 4 to make 12, I just wonder if that doesn't create problems, especially if the timings, and voltage aren't equal.
Why pay a premium price for a computer, and then go out and try to buy, or do the cheapest ram upgrade.
 
I picked up a pair of G.Skill 4GB sticks from a local store for my 27" iMac (2011) and thankfully, everything went smoothly. Installation was a breeze and no issues so far (touch wood). Reviews from newegg were quite positive, so I decided on to take the plunge.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231266

Now with 12GB memory, I don't constantly have to watch out for Safari sucking up all the ram.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_8 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E401 Safari/6533.18.5)

You should keep the stock RAM incase you need to send in your iMac for service 🙂
 
Bloodraw850 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_8 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E401 Safari/6533.18.5)

You should keep the stock RAM incase you need to send in your iMac for service 🙂
Click to expand...

Why?
 
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