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The Apple-supplied RAM club--post if you dare!

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AppleInMyBlood

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 26, 2012
202
0
I think I'm pretty brave (some would say stupid) starting this thread, given the overwhelming opposition to paying for extra Apple-supplied RAM, but since I'm seriously considering doing that (16GB in my soon-to-be-ordered iMac), and since I just know there have to be a few others out there who are thinking of or have already chosen that option, I thought, what the hell! :D

So any other brave souls out there willing to admit to it? I'm not sure if I'll explain my reasons yet, because I know I'll get slammed for them no matter how much I believe them to be perfectly reasonable. And anyway, it's a free country (the U.S. in my case).

Remember, this is a club for those who are considering ordering or have bought extra Apple-supplied RAM, so I hope this doesn't devolve into a shouting match arguing the point (yeah, I know... fat chance!:rolleyes:)
 
lucasfer899

lucasfer899

macrumors 6502
Sep 23, 2012
432
2
London
I know a guy who bought RAM sticks from apple for his mac pro, and dang were those little things expensive. £50 for 1GB DDR2 stick! I can get 2x4GB DDR3 for £38 on ebuyer :eek:

That's  for you :rolleyes:
 
Aluminum213

Aluminum213

macrumors 68040
Mar 16, 2012
3,597
4,707
Apple.com
add $200 for 16GB of RAM
add $600 for 32GB of RAM

vs.

Amazon.com
add $180 for 32GB of RAM from Amazon



I'll just leave this video here for those who want to see how stupidly easy it is to add RAM yourself to the 27" model

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ173C0v-OY
 
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B

Brostep710

macrumors newbie
Jan 11, 2013
5
0
Yeah I know I'm a terrible person for not installing it myself...
 

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kaulvirus

macrumors newbie
Jan 11, 2013
3
0
I bought mine off apple. I had them install 32GB on the new 27" imac I bought a few weeks ago. I've had bitter experiences with custom rams before.
I also own a 2009 mbp unibody on which I installed a hynix memory I bought off an apple reseller (8GB costing me $70) . The stick was practically the same brand and lot number (as the original apple memory) but made my mbp unstable during particular instances.

I am an animator and use heavy duty softwares like Maya, XSI, Real Flow and Sony Vegas as my pipeline. Whenever I'd load Maya and Vegas together, my machine would just freeze. I am not a nerd and couldn't pinpoint the issue but I decided it would be best to buy memory off apple the next time I bought a machine. I dont buy computers every year so I figured it would be worth the money.
 
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AppleInMyBlood

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 26, 2012
202
0
Phew, I'm very happy not to be the only member! ;)

kaulvirus said:
I am an animator and use heavy duty softwares like Maya, XSI, Real Flow and Sony Vegas as my pipeline. Whenever I'd load Maya and Vegas together, my machine would just freeze. I am not a nerd and couldn't pinpoint the issue but I decided it would be best to buy memory off apple the next time I bought a machine. I dont buy computers every year so I figured it would be worth the money.
Click to expand...

Very interesting to hear your story. I will be using Cinema 4D, Realflow, Vue, FCP, PS and possibly Maya a little way down the track. I think my jitters about 3rd party RAM are justified. Problems are probably rare, but RAM can be finicky.

BTW, I was initially going to wait for the 2013 Mac Pro, but it's likely to be out of my price range if the current Pro prices hold. Are you confident about the new iMac performing well enough? I plan to order it with the high-end processor and GPU options and Fusion Drive. I'm hoping I can get away with 16Gb of RAM (???).
 
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kaulvirus

macrumors newbie
Jan 11, 2013
3
0
AppleInMyBlood said:
Phew, I'm very happy not to be the only member! ;)



Very interesting to hear your story. I will be using Cinema 4D, Realflow, Vue, FCP, PS and possibly Maya a little way down the track. I think my jitters about 3rd party RAM are justified. Problems are probably rare, but RAM can be finicky.

BTW, I was initially going to wait for the 2013 Mac Pro, but it's likely to be out of my price range if the current Pro prices hold. Are you confident about the new iMac performing well enough? I plan to order it with the high-end processor and GPU options and Fusion Drive. I'm hoping I can get away with 16Gb of RAM (???).
Click to expand...


To be honest, even my 2009 mbp with 8 gigs and 9600M gt can handle maya just fine. It completely depends on what exactly you wanna do with the software. I am a character animator so my usage of software is limited to animating and not simulation or vfx particle crap. If you intend to do cloth sim or real flow particle stuff, I feel imac should be up to it. I bought a 27" imac 3.4 with 32 gigs memory, 1TB fusion (i use bootcamp constantly) with 680Mx and practically all my softwares run flawlessly. I was also playing Battlefield 3 the other day and it worked like a charm on its native resolution. Hope that helps.
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,922
3,800
Seattle
You guys are bonkers. I spent under 60 seconds installing 32GB in my iMac that I spent $160 on Amazon to get.

I KNOW, of course I'm beating a dead horse here, but, really? :D:p
 
D

drewaz

macrumors 6502
Dec 4, 2012
495
264
Phoenix
I ordered an additional 8GB Apple RAM installed on my new iMac .... no sweat to me. Nice to have it and I know it works.
 
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Thuc5dides

macrumors newbie
Dec 22, 2012
28
0
kaulvirus said:
I am an animator and use heavy duty softwares like Maya, XSI, Real Flow and Sony Vegas as my pipeline. Whenever I'd load Maya and Vegas together, my machine would just freeze. I am not a nerd and couldn't pinpoint the issue but I decided it would be best to buy memory off apple the next time I bought a machine. I dont buy computers every year so I figured it would be worth the money.
Click to expand...

I thing using Sony Vegas is your real problem..

I wish I could charge $500 for doing 60 seconds of research on reliable RAM brands..
 
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bernuli

macrumors 6502a
Oct 10, 2011
710
403
If you are getting AppleCare, that might also add to the argument of just going with the Apple factory RAM as it will be covered under that umbrella.

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bill phillips

macrumors regular
Dec 8, 2012
221
0
hey if you got so much money where the 3 min it takes you to save 400 bux doesnt matter to you...then good for you man thats all i can say. lol...personally i wouldnt pay it out of principle alone, just installed my 32gb corsair vengance today off amazon, 180 bux, took me literally 2 minutes
 
A

AppleInMyBlood

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 26, 2012
202
0
kaulvirus said:
To be honest, even my 2009 mbp with 8 gigs and 9600M gt can handle maya just fine. It completely depends on what exactly you wanna do with the software. I am a character animator so my usage of software is limited to animating and not simulation or vfx particle crap. If you intend to do cloth sim or real flow particle stuff, I feel imac should be up to it. I bought a 27" imac 3.4 with 32 gigs memory, 1TB fusion (i use bootcamp constantly) with 680Mx and practically all my softwares run flawlessly. I was also playing Battlefield 3 the other day and it worked like a charm on its native resolution. Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

That helps a great deal!!! I am doing a fair amount of sim and particles/fluids, but from what you're saying I think I'll get by. :)
 
Nermal

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,627
3,987
New Zealand
I bought Apple RAM for my 2011 MBP, taking it from 4 to 8 GB. I think this is the first time that I've admitted it :)
 
N

NewbieCanada

macrumors 68030
Oct 9, 2007
2,574
37
WilliamG said:
You guys are bonkers. I spent under 60 seconds installing 32GB in my iMac that I spent $160 on Amazon to get.

I KNOW, of course I'm beating a dead horse here, but, really? :D:p
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Honestly, if you can open a bottle of beer, you can install RAM. And if you can't install RAM, no way I'd ever trust you with a condom.
 
P

Pngwyn

macrumors regular
Oct 20, 2008
173
0
Lol there's no real justification for paying for Apple RAM unless you want to support your favorite electronics store ever :cool::apple:
 
1

12dylan34

macrumors 6502a
Sep 3, 2009
884
15
AppleInMyBlood said:
Phew, I'm very happy not to be the only member! ;)



Very interesting to hear your story. I will be using Cinema 4D, Realflow, Vue, FCP, PS and possibly Maya a little way down the track. I think my jitters about 3rd party RAM are justified. Problems are probably rare, but RAM can be finicky.

BTW, I was initially going to wait for the 2013 Mac Pro, but it's likely to be out of my price range if the current Pro prices hold. Are you confident about the new iMac performing well enough? I plan to order it with the high-end processor and GPU options and Fusion Drive. I'm hoping I can get away with 16Gb of RAM (???).
Click to expand...

I use all of those programs both at work and home with third party RAM and neither has ever had an issue, even with multi-day long renders. The RAM that Apple uses is the cheapest crap that they can get away with, which is pretty much in line with any "bargain" RAM.

You're doing yourself a favor on both a quality and financial level by purchasing third party RAM.
 
F

flynz4

macrumors 68040
Aug 9, 2009
3,242
126
Portland, OR
Personally,

I'll be joining the $1300 SSD club... because adding an SSD is not a user configurable option. As much as I hate the cost... at the end of the day, it is worth $1300 to me to have the SSD. The combination of the 768 SSD + Pegasus 8TB Thunderbolt array will be a fantastic storage configuration.

OTOH, adding RAM is a user configurable option. There is nothing special about Apple supplied RAM... adding it does not void any warranty, and they expect end users to do the upgrade... and also provide instructions on how to do so.

I'll not be joining this club. I'll buy 32GB from OWC, Crucial, or someplace else.

/Jim
 
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throAU

throAU

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2012
8,817
6,984
Perth, Western Australia
If you have the cash and don't want to risk opening your iMac, go for it.

I proabably would do so myself on a 21.5" iMac.


edit:
the 27" has a ram slot though.... still, if you can't be bothered screwing around - on 16GB, its $100 of your time to not have to seperately order ram, wait for it to arrive, verify it tests OK, deal with the potential return, etc.
 
A

AppleInMyBlood

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 26, 2012
202
0
Nermal said:
I bought Apple RAM for my 2011 MBP, taking it from 4 to 8 GB. I think this is the first time that I've admitted it :)
Click to expand...

Liberating, isn't it?! :D:apple:

----------
NewbieCanada said:
Exactly.

Honestly, if you can open a bottle of beer, you can install RAM. And if you can't install RAM, no way I'd ever trust you with a condom.
Click to expand...

A few people see to be assuming we are unable to install RAM, which is not true at all, for me at least. I have done it before on a laptop, and the iMac process is extremely simple. I am perfectly capable of doing it--I just prefer not to. ;)

----------
throAU said:
If you have the cash and don't want to risk opening your iMac, go for it.

I proabably would do so myself on a 21.5" iMac.


edit:
the 27" has a ram slot though.... still, if you can't be bothered screwing around - on 16GB, its $100 of your time to not have to seperately order ram, wait for it to arrive, verify it tests OK, deal with the potential return, etc.
Click to expand...

Nicely said!
 
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