Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iMac Late 2006 RAM

D

dilap

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 18, 2014
813
60
London, UK
I have an iMac Late 2006 2.0 GHz with 1 GB RAM. I am looking to upgrade it. The maximum it will take is 4GB but the system will only use 3GB of it. I was chatting to a live chat on crucial.com
they said:
Thank you for contacting Crucial.com. How may I help you today?
Paolo:I am looking to upgrade my iMac Late 2006 (2.0 Ghz)'s RAM. It currently has 1 GB preinstalled. I am looking to upgrade to 2 GB. I understand you should have 1 RAM in each slots and they should be the equal amount. Would the best thing to do be getting two 1GB sticks of RAM?
Its 17"
Jase :One moment please while I look up your system.
Your system is actually an exception to the norm. The best possible configuration is to have a single 2GB module in one slot, and a 1GB modules in the second slot. Your maximum memory is 3GB, so that would be achieved with the aforementioned configuration.
Paolo:What do you mean 'Exception to the norm'?
Jase :Typically, systems will need matched modules in each slot. Yours, however, does not. The best configuration for you would be a single 2GB module and a single 1GB module installed simultaneously.
Paolo:Ok thanks! Why is mine different?
Jase :It looks like it was pushing the limits at the time, technologically speaking. Most systems that came out in 2006 had a max of 2GB. It appears that Apple wasn't able to get it all the way up to a 4GB maximum, so they settled with a 3GB maximum.
Click to expand...
On apples website it states that for best performance, make the sticks equal. What is the best thing to do? Ignoring the non-equality of the sticks, 3GB would be better, but 2GB might be better if its equal. It is a little expensive to pay for 2x2GB and have it only use 3GB. I am in the UK, if you were to suggest other sources of RAM.
 
dilap said:
I have an iMac Late 2006 2.0 GHz with 1 GB RAM. I am looking to upgrade it. The maximum it will take is 4GB but the system will only use 3GB of it. I was chatting to a live chat on crucial.com
they said:

On apples website it states that for best performance, make the sticks equal. What is the best thing to do? Ignoring the non-equality of the sticks, 3GB would be better, but 2GB might be better if its equal. It is a little expensive to pay for 2x2GB and have it only use 3GB. I am in the UK, if you were to suggest other sources of RAM.
Click to expand...
To get your maximum usable RAM, you could use 1x2GB and 1x1GB, or you could use 2x2GB. Either way, your Mac will only use 3GB. The added 1GB of running 3GB would outweigh any advantage by using matched pairs with only 2GB. If you install matched pairs of two 2GB modules, you'll have the matched pair advantage on 2GB (2x1GB), but not on the 3rd GB.
 
GGJstudios said:
To get your maximum usable RAM, you could use 1x2GB and 1x1GB, or you could use 2x2GB. Either way, your Mac will only use 3GB. The added 1GB of running 3GB would outweigh any advantage by using matched pairs with only 2GB. If you install matched pairs of two 2GB modules, you'll have the matched pair advantage on 2GB (2x1GB), but not on the 3rd GB.
Click to expand...
Great! Thanks ordering 2 + 1 GB!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back