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"Early 2009" iMac 4GB --> 8GB

topmounter

topmounter

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jun 18, 2009
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I have an "Early 2009" iMac (24" w/ 2.93 C2D) and I just realized that I can upgrade the DDR3 RAM to 8GB (4x2) from 4GB (2x2). I'm running Lion in 64-bit mode. Until I saw the specs on support.apple.com, I was under the impression that 4GB was the max for this model.

Will 8GB of RAM make any difference on this generation of hardware?

Would this improve Aperture's performance?
 
topmounter said:
I have an "Early 2009" iMac (24" w/ 2.93 C2D) and I just realized that I can upgrade the DDR3 RAM to 8GB (4x2) from 4GB (2x2). I'm running Lion in 64-bit mode. Until I saw the specs on support.apple.com, I was under the impression that 4GB was the max for this model.

Will 8GB of RAM make any difference on this generation of hardware?

Would this improve Aperture's performance?
Click to expand...

yes, and yes. Theres no such thing as too much RAM.
 
Wish my mid 2007 2.8 Extreme could go to 8GB :(

Guess they changed the chipset. Still has most of the same features. Just 4gb max.
 
I upped mine to 8GB a while ago (it was more than $45 then)....it's great for running virtual machines. I have a Lion guest with 4GB RAM assigned on my Snow Leopard host OS - which still leaves 4GB for the host OS....both run great.
 
8Gb can make a huge difference when using programs like Aperture. Not counting apples inflated prices, back in late 2009 2 x 4GB Ram sticks cost at least $600 from online vendors. A year ago it was $130 and today about $45.

Used your activity monitor to help gauge how much RAM you use - I use both Aperture and Photoshop, mostly Photoshop and I often use up all my RAM
 

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I use Lightroom for photo editing and with the Canon 5DII RAW files, my RAM usage quickly jumps over 5GB. Glad I installed 8GB :)
 
The extra 4GB of RAM made an immediate and noticeable improvement in overall system performance as well as within Aperture itself.

8GB of RAM is the new 4GB of RAM which was the new 2GB of RAM.

$45 well spent.
 
I have an iMac early 2009 20 inch and just installed 2x4 GB 1333mhz sticks and its blazingly fast. How can I tell if these sticks are under clocked to 1066mhz or running at full 1333mhz?
 
topmounter said:
The extra 4GB of RAM made an immediate and noticeable improvement in overall system performance as well as within Aperture itself.

8GB of RAM is the new 4GB of RAM which was the new 2GB of RAM.

$45 well spent.
Click to expand...

Where did you get it for 45.00? I need to upgrade mine to 8!
 
ELMNT925 said:
I have an iMac early 2009 20 inch and just installed 2x4 GB 1333mhz sticks and its blazingly fast. How can I tell if these sticks are under clocked to 1066mhz or running at full 1333mhz?
Click to expand...

'About This Mac' -> 'More Info' will tell you how much RAM is recognized and the speed.
 
How's your experience with Yosemite?

Hi everyone,

In case you're still using the iMac from back in '09 and have Yosemite installed, could you give me some insight into how the 8GB are holding up in the machine? I am currently at 5GB (thinking of moving towards the max) and while the computer remains responsive if two user accounts are open and only limited tabs are open, things go down to a crawl once more than 5 tabs are opened on each. Your thoughts are appreciated!
 
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