6GB (4GB + 2GB) mismatching RAM sticks

[caaalebbb]

I have an early 2008 iMac (8,1) as my second computer, which unofficially supports up to 6gb of RAM (up to 4gb officially), PC2-6400 DDR2. I currently have 4gb of ram installed (2x2gb) and was considering upgrading to 6GB either by buying a single 4gb stick from OWC and swapping it in for one of the 2gb sticks, or by buying the 4GB + 2GB combo to replace both sticks.

Is the extra $10 for the combo worth it? I was assuming that in either case the RAM sticks will be mismatched since they are still different sizes even if they are the same kind of stick otherwise. I was thinking that because of this, they won't be able to run in dual-channel mode anyway and so it won't really make a difference whether the sticks are matched or not. Is this correct?

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

It won't really make any significant difference to upgrade from 4GB to 6GB, if you already replaced the old HDD with an SSD.
If you are just curious to see if 6GB does work on your iMac, go for the combo, 10$ is not much of a question here.

 

[caaalebbb]

It won't really make any significant difference to upgrade from 4GB to 6GB, if you already replaced the old HDD with an SSD.
If you are just curious to see if 6GB does work on your iMac, go for the combo, 10$ is not much of a question here.

Thanks. Yes, I’ve replaced the old HDD with a SDD.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Your thinking that it won’t matter that they are mismatched is correct. As you said, you’re already losing dual channel, but the advantage of 50% more RAM will likely outweigh the slight performance hit of that. I’ve run 6GB in my early 2008 20” for a few years now and it runs like a champ with that and an SSD. Enjoy your upgrades to a solid old Mac

 

[Nicole1980]

Agreed with poster above. Given how old and relatively slow the overall system is, the very slight performance hit of mismatched memory is the least of your concerns.

However for programs that can utilize the extra ram the additional 2gb will be welcome

 

[hftvhftv]

Your thinking that it won’t matter that they are mismatched is correct. As you said, you’re already losing dual channel, but the advantage of 50% more RAM will likely outweigh the slight performance hit of that. I’ve run 6GB in my early 2008 20” for a few years now and it runs like a champ with that and an SSD. Enjoy your upgrades to a solid old Mac

I bought a early 08 white MacBook with the 2.4ghz Core 2 Duo, would you say spending an extra $50 for 6GB vs 4GB is worth it?

 

[Nicole1980]

I bought a early 08 white MacBook with the 2.4ghz Core 2 Duo, would you say spending an extra $50 for 6GB vs 4GB is worth it?

'worth it' is entirely dependent on your use case. Either way, that's a really slow system by today's standards. If you're expecting any kind of noticeable gain in speed in every day uses cases, the difference in ram you're suggesting would result is absolutely no noticeable gain.

 

[MultiFinder17]

I bought a early 08 white MacBook with the 2.4ghz Core 2 Duo, would you say spending an extra $50 for 6GB vs 4GB is worth it?

Possibly? These machines are quite well aged at this point, and while an extra 2GB of RAM will give it a bit more breathing room, you’d be much better served taking that $50 and spending it on a cheap SSD for the machine. 4GB of RAM and an SSD will be far better to use than 6GB and a spinning disk. If you already have an SSD in there, an extra 2GB likely won’t make a super noticeable difference.

I got the 4GB stick in my iMac years ago when I worked at a small computer shop. Plucked it out of a laptop that was being recycled. If I hadn’t gotten one for free, I would not have spent the money on one.

Besides, cheap SSDs are so cheap now that you could get one and a solid lunch with that $50 for some extra enjoyment!