iMac CPU Usage Problem

Hey there. I'll take a stab at this.

What audio interface are you using? Also, what are your audio interface's buffer settings? Increasing the buffer will help with audio dropouts.

FrostDrone said:

Hi guys;

I have an iMac i3 3.06Ghz 4Gb 10.9.4.

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4 GB is not enough. The slow virtual memory reduces the speed of your computer.

Mr. Retrofire said:

4 GB is not enough. The slow virtual memory reduces the speed of your computer.

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I'll second this guy. It sounds like you're facing bottlenecks elsewhere in the system and my guess is RAM.

The CPU could go higher, but something else in the system is your speed limiting factor.

FrostDrone said:

Thanks for your interest...

Then, tomorrow i will buy extra 4gb Ram.

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Let us know how you get on!

FrostDrone said:

Hi guys, it's me again

Today i bought 4GB Kingston KVR13S9S8/4 Ram for my Mid 2010 iMac. Thanks to you, now i can record more tracks and choking problem is gone...

But after i installed ram, my iMac keeps restarting spontaneously. 4 or 5 times in a day. There is no kernel panic or something just this error message

Image

I checked this topic. I reset pram etc. but it couldnt help... It says "remove third party ram" which is i just bought today

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT200553?viewlocale=en_US

What should i do now?

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Remove the new RAM?

Seriously. Try removing it and see if the spontaneous restarts disappear. If they do, try to return the RAM if possible, and buy supported memory instead. Kingston and Crucial both have guides/configurators on their web pages to show which memory they sell that they consider to be supported by your computer. For some reason, Kingston tends to not suggest their Value RAM series. Probably because they want to sell more expensive models, but it could also be that it actually is not compatible...

FrostDrone said:

Thank you...

I removed new ram and looks like spontaneous restarts are gone. Then tomorrow i will return this kingston.

Do you have any troubleless Ram recomendations for mid 2010 imacs?

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What's you're seeing there is a kernel panic, which is often related to faulty hardware.

What's probably happening is that a small part of that new RAM is defective, but the computer doesn't notice until it tries to address that particular area of the RAM and when it does, it falls over.

It's not uncommon for RAM sticks to have a dud one now and again - return it as defective and get a new one (and use a config tool to make sure you get RAM that is guaranteed to work with your Mac) and install it again, making sure it's properly seated.

Optionally you could do a memory test that will thoroughly check each part of the RAM to make sure it's all ok, but usually it's not necessary.