new iMac 27" 32GB RAM??

[JInx3110]

Can anyone confirm or deny this? quote was taken from crucial memory upgrades q+a section for my model of iMac (spec in signature)

Q: Hello - You say in the spec for iMac 3.4GHz i7 27inch that the max memory is 32GB with a maximum of 8GB per slot but the apple website says that the max memory is 16GB with a max of 4GB per slot?
Am I missing something?
Thanks James
Asked on 9/2/2011 by Jim from UK
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1 answer

CUSTOMER CARE
A: We get the information directly from Apple with regards to the memory specifications. Normally we would not recommend higher than what the manufacturer states but we have tested the system internally and found that it can run with 32GB installed.
Answered on 9/5/2011 by Crucial Support from Meridian, Idaho

[Technobable]

Being able to run with 32gigs and being able to utilize 32gigs are two totally different things. That said, I don't know if OSx can take advantage of anything over 16gig.

Is there any appreciable difference between 16 and 32 gigs? It wasn't night and day going from 4gig to 16gig on my system.

[rkaufmann87]

The good news is the new iMacs (2010 and later) can address 32GB of RAM. The bad news is due to cost of RAM unless for most it's prohibitively expensive. I haven't priced out Crucial's RAM however OWC (www.macsales.com) which tends to be similar in price is $1237 which isn't bad considering it was about $1700 less than a month ago. Perhaps as 8GB DIMMs catch on the price will continue to fall.

[kevin2223]

Newegg has Corsair 16GB (2x8GB) RAM for ~$420, so $840 total. $400 cheaper than OWC. Crucial is $1200, only slightly cheaper.

Or they have Corsair and Patriot single 8GB modules for $220 apiece, total of $880 for 32GB.

They aren't designed specifically for the Mac, but have the same specifications.

I agree, it won't be long before more people can get 32GB for a decent price - memory has been dropping in price about 10% each month. It was $3200 for the 32GB upgrade from OWC 7 months ago, today it is $2K cheaper.

[talmy]

Originally Posted by Technobable

Being able to run with 32gigs and being able to utilize 32gigs are two totally different things. That said, I don't know if OSx can take advantage of anything over 16gig.

Is there any appreciable difference between 16 and 32 gigs? It wasn't night and day going from 4gig to 16gig on my system.

OS X can take advantage of over 16gig. But whether or not you can take advantage of it depends on what you are running. If you run a large number of large apps and don't shut them down when finished (giving the advantage of SSD-like speeds "relaunching" applications) then you might see an advantage. I have 8GB on my iMac and have upgraded my portable (MacBook) to 8GB and am making use of more than four regularly and have hit full usage by leaving my apps running. 16GB on my iMac might net a small gain and I'm sure that 32GB would only mean two things: I'd have less money and more bragging rights. Luckily my iMac doesn't take 32GB!

[thekev]

Originally Posted by rkaufmann87

The good news is the new iMacs (2010 and later) can address 32GB of RAM. The bad news is due to cost of RAM unless for most it's prohibitively expensive. I haven't priced out Crucial's RAM however OWC (www.macsales.com) which tends to be similar in price is $1237 which isn't bad considering it was about $1700 less than a month ago. Perhaps as 8GB DIMMs catch on the price will continue to fall.

This won't just benefit the imac. It will also extend the usable life of the mini for a lot of people, and further expand what can be accomplished on a macbook pro. It's not always the cpu that is a bottleneck. Ram can make an enormous difference in some things well beyond what you'll get from a marginal cpu increase. Taking the example of the macbook pro, I would spend the money on ram rather than going from the 2.2 quad option to the 2.3 on the 15" if I couldn't afford both (I'd upgrade the ram myself but that's beside the point).

Just remember.... 64 gigabytes of ram is the geek equivalent of a fur coat, jeweled cane, and spinning rims

[mac-collector]

Originally Posted by kevin2223

Newegg has Corsair 16GB (2x8GB) RAM for ~$420, so $840 total. $400 cheaper than OWC. Crucial is $1200, only slightly cheaper....

Few months later and RAM is almost 10 % of the price.

[pt44]

I know this is an old thread - but its just fascinating how much RAM prices always change. I've seen high and low over the years.

32Gb for the iMac today is scary cheap

Crucial UK - about £120
OWC - $230

I've been running on 16Gb since I got my 2011 iMac. As a photographer, I filled it with the max I could afford at the time. I wonder how much difference it would make to bump it to 32Gb. Although, considering new iMacs are due very soon we all hope, then perhaps I won't bother. Still cheap though and amazing when it used to cost so much only a few months back even.

[iMcLovin]

I'm so gonna get 32 gb on my next iMac. And I can definitely utilize it. Having photoshop images which takes more than 10gb closed needs a lot of ram to run smoothly. I have to stack down layers and make sure no programs are open in addition to photoshop. Just being able to not worry about this will make my life a lot easier. 32gb will really do me well.

[Lancer]

Depending what Apple delivers I'm probably going to get 16Gb in my new iMac. If they double the RAM to 8Gb in the 27" and leave 2 slots free I figure the best option is just to get 8Gb more. 16Gb is more than enough for most users right now, even for Photoshop.

[Fester1952]

Originally Posted by Lancer

16Gb is more than enough for most users right now, even for Photoshop.

For the price of an extra 16GB to 32GB why not go for it? I have 32GB, I have tried the iMac with 16 and 32 and you can notice the performance difference.
OWC has some benchmark results with different ram configurations:
http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/Fr...Page-iMac.html

[Lancer]

Originally Posted by Fester1952

For the price of an extra 16GB to 32GB why not go for it? I have 32GB, I have tried the iMac with 16 and 32 and you can notice the performance difference.
OWC has some benchmark results with different ram configurations:
http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/Fr...Page-iMac.html

For me on my budget the 27" is a stretch so 16Gb will have to do. Besides to get 32Gb you have to dump the original RAM so assuming the next iMac has 8Gb I can upgrade to 16Gb for less than $100AU. To get 32Gb it's about 4 time that.

I figure if I need more RAM in 2-3 years it will be cheaper and I can get 32Gb then.

[krravi]

If an iMac can take 32 GB then Apple would have bumped up the specs and not downplay it. After all who will downplay their products?

Even though it might take 32 GB, pushing all that data around can cause heat. Yes RAM can get hot as well that's why you see today's RAM with heat sinks on it.

So Apple might have decided that to be safe 16 GB is max.

Just a thought....

[flopticalcube]

Originally Posted by krravi

If an iMac can take 32 GB then Apple would have bumped up the specs and not downplay it. After all who will downplay their products?

Apple does this all the time. Many of their machines could take more RAM than advertised.

[theSeb]

Originally Posted by krravi

If an iMac can take 32 GB then Apple would have bumped up the specs and not downplay it. After all who will downplay their products?

Even though it might take 32 GB, pushing all that data around can cause heat. Yes RAM can get hot as well that's why you see today's RAM with heat sinks on it.

So Apple might have decided that to be safe 16 GB is max.

Just a thought....

please don't confuse the matter. There is no such thing as safe. Os x can address up to 96 GB of RAM. The 2011 iMac has been proven to work with 32 GB of RAM. When it was released there were no 8 GBs sticks so the max specs were set at 16 (4x4 GB). Apple does not bother to update these specs when new memory capacities are released. The 2011 MBP specs say maximum of 8 GB, yet there are thousands of people that run 16 GBs.

2011 iMac can have up to 32 GBs. There are no ifs or buts. It's not a debate; it's a fact.

[mankymanning]

I have 32GB in my 2011 iMac working just fine, I do a lot of work with some beefy VMs so it is very handy to have. Doesn't cost all that much either these days...

[azBoB]

But do you think I could put 32gb in a 2010 iMac 21.5? What do you think the restriction would be? Heat dissipation? Controller (though I can't believe it's that different from the 27")? Space?

What do you guys think?

[krravi]

Originally Posted by theSeb

please don't confuse the matter. There is no such thing as safe. Os x can address up to 96 GB of RAM. The 2011 iMac has been proven to work with 32 GB of RAM. When it was released there were no 8 GBs sticks so the max specs were set at 16 (4x4 GB). Apple does not bother to update these specs when new memory capacities are released. The 2011 MBP specs say maximum of 8 GB, yet there are thousands of people that run 16 GBs.

2011 iMac can have up to 32 GBs. There are no ifs or buts. It's not a debate; it's a fact.

Its a fact as far as the OS can handle, I know. Just wondering if there were any other limitation, thats all.

But thanks !

[theSeb]

Originally Posted by azBoB

But do you think I could put 32gb in a 2010 iMac 21.5? What do you think the restriction would be? Heat dissipation? Controller (though I can't believe it's that different from the 27")? Space?

What do you guys think?

Unfortunately your 2010 21.5" iMac only supports up to 16 GBs.

You can check these sort of things whenever you're unsure:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/by_c...y-of-macs.html

----------

Originally Posted by krravi

Its a fact as far as the OS can handle, I know. Just wondering if there were any other limitation, thats all.

But thanks !

No worries.

[Ak907Freerider]

I just bought and installed two 8 gb ram sticks in my iMac. Plus left my stock ram in two 2 gb sticks. So Im running 20 gb all together. Im having no issues and it is soooooo much faster now. Got the i7 3.4 and it makes it just fly along. Can open tons of programs Final Cut X iMovie Safari etc all at once doing lots of HD video editing and it is night and day difference. So now that I have crossed this bridge of seeing if the iMac will go over 16gb without issue Im thinking 32 gb is next . For $69 free shipping on Amazon it is almost to tempting. hmmmmm

[ElectricTommy]

the iMac 27" WILL accept 32GB of RAM.

i just dropped in the 32GB set from Crucial. literally took 2 minutes. machine recognizes the change in "About this MAC."

[krravi]

Originally Posted by flopticalcube

Apple does this all the time. Many of their machines could take more RAM than advertised.

You are correct. I just upgraded by 2011 iMac from 16 GB to 32 GB and it works great and have no issues. I needed all that RAM for many Virtual Machines.

[atthecross]

wow, i thought i was doing something with upgrading to 8gb

[kennyap]

Originally Posted by krravi

You are correct. I just upgraded by 2011 iMac from 16 GB to 32 GB and it works great and have no issues. I needed all that RAM for many Virtual Machines.

Upgrading from 16GB to 32GB: doing this expanded the general capacity of my machine, the thing is I thought I was fine until I actually did the upgrade, only then did I realize the difference it would make.

[krravi]

Originally Posted by kennyap

Upgrading from 16GB to 32GB: doing this expanded the general capacity of my machine, the thing is I thought I was fine until I actually did the upgrade, only then did I realize the difference it would make.

Actually with that much memory you can turn off hard disk paging of virtual memory through Onyx I believe.

Haven't tried it yet but am tempted to.