iMac 5.1 upgrade

[shivermetimbers]

I am curious, I am looking at buying the Mac Box Set to upgrade my iMac 5.1 (early intel iMac) to SL and boost the RAM to 3G versus 1G. Would I see some noticeable performance differences jumping from Tiger to SL? Or would it just run a heck of lot smoother? I know the RAM will help out.

I would be doing a fresh install of Tiger beforehand. Its ran great for 3 years. I am giving this iMac to my mother as her first Apple and want the best. Sorry if this redundant.....

 

[Hellhammer]

I would get the RAM first and see how it runs. Remember that the 29$ SL is fine too

 

[shivermetimbers]

I would get the RAM first and see how it runs. Remember that the 29$ SL is fine too

Yeah, the RAM is a given...gonna happen. I was looking at the boxset for everything. Thanks for the reply.

 

[zedsdead]

The RAM will help dramatically.

As for SL, it's almost a no brainer just for all of the leopard features such as Time Machine.

If you think she will use any iLife app, it's worth it.

 

[stubeeef]

I have the same 5.1 iMac, 17" and am running on the edge of overflow with the 160gb hard drive.
I would like to increase the HD to 1tb but the youtube videos make it look too involved, but the cost of having someone else do it is even scarier.
Has anyone do that to the 5.1 and found it easier than they thought?

 

[Tyr.]

I am curious, I am looking at buying the Mac Box Set to upgrade my iMac 5.1 (early intel iMac) to SL and boost the RAM to 3G versus 1G.

If you're upgrading the RAM for performance reasons it is probably best to go 2 x 2Gb modules to make the most of dual-channel memory architecture.

 

[shivermetimbers]

If you're upgrading the RAM for performance reasons it is probably best to go 2 x 2Gb modules to make the most of dual-channel memory architecture.

I thought my 5.1 would only support 3G or RAM max? Unless I misread the manual... Could have....was drinking beer...silly things happen. If it can take dual 2G sticks...that would work great! I was looking at buying my RAM through OWC.

 

[indg]

I thought my 5.1 would only support 3G or RAM max? Unless I misread the manual... Could have....was drinking beer...silly things happen. If it can take dual 2G sticks...that would work great! I was looking at buying my RAM through OWC.

4GB (2x2GB) can be installed, but only 3GB total will be addressable. so go with 1GB + 2GB of PC5300 667mhz DDR2 SO-DIMM. the performance boost from dual channel won't even be noticeable with the 2x2GB pair, so why pay more? even if you went to just 2GB of total ram, you'd notice a big difference in performance coming from 1GB.

 

[Tyr.]

I thought my 5.1 would only support 3G or RAM max?.

No you're right, I mixed up the version numbers. Sorry