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Adding Memory to 24 inch 2.16 iMac

W

willie45

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 27, 2007
234
5
Hi

I have just ordered the above computer and plan to upgrade the memory. I will probably go for the maximum at some point but will maybe just orde 2Gb to be going on with. My question is wheter it would be a good idea to order 1 2Gb stick and leave the other slot with 512mb in it or whether I would get better performance by installing 2 1Gb sticks.

It the latter, then when I come to install the full amount of RAM does that mean I am better installing 2x 2Gb sticks and letting the mac only recognise 3 of these?

Sorry to ramble but I'm a bit confused by this

Willie
 
If you ordered one of the new-style systems, they come with one 1 GB stick, the other slot is empty.
Depending on what you do and how much money you want to spend, adding a 1GB or 2GB stick is easy (and yes you can mix "sizes", it works fine).
I bought a 2GB OWC upgrade for my system, works fine.
Enjoy your system, they're fantastic.
 
willie45 said:
Hi

I have just ordered the above computer and plan to upgrade the memory. I will probably go for the maximum at some point but will maybe just orde 2Gb to be going on with. My question is wheter it would be a good idea to order 1 2Gb stick and leave the other slot with 512mb in it or whether I would get better performance by installing 2 1Gb sticks.

It the latter, then when I come to install the full amount of RAM does that mean I am better installing 2x 2Gb sticks and letting the mac only recognise 3 of these?

Sorry to ramble but I'm a bit confused by this

Willie
Click to expand...

I'm sure the old iMac 24" came with 2 x 512MB sticks of RAM. I'd get the single 2GB and replace just the one chip.

The dual channel memory only gives about 6% improvement and is more important if you have a Mac mini or MacBook with the onboard graphics which take full advantage of it.

Check out the guide to Intel Mac RAM
 
Thanks for the replies people. Nissan, I should have made it clear I ordered a refurbished older iMac whch does come with 2x512 mb,

Olly can you explain what you mean by "dual channel" please? Do you mean putting the same amount on each slot? If so would I get the modest increase only if I put 2x2Gb in at the same time?

Thanks

Willie
 
Can I ask a quick question? If you have a 512/512 iMac and want to install one 2gb card - does it go in the top or bottom (if iMac is laying on it's face and you're looking at it)...... or doesn't it matter?
 
fitting memory

I've just purchased 1G of memory for my 24 inch imac 2.16Ghz, anyone know how to get the back off and is it easy to fit.
 
On the bottom of the iMac there's a small meshed panel which opens with, I think, one screw. That will reveal the two memory banks and its just a case of swapping them out. Really easy stuff. Just make sure the new memory is seated properly and you're good to go.

Scratch that, here's the above in Apple's own words with pictures too.

Clicky
 
I ordered my 17" iMac from the Apple Refurbished Website in November, and I was going to do the same RAM upgrade you want (1x2GB and 1X512MB). However, I was pleasantly surprised when I went to upgrade my iMac that Apple had infact shipped my iMac with a single 1GB stick. You might get lucky and have the same upgrade. As a matter of fact, some folks ordering the same system as yours ended up with the upgraded 7600GT graphics instead of the standard 7300. It all depends on what Apple decides to ship out. But I hope you get luck! :D
 
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