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How much memory to add to 2011 iMac?

S

senorgreg

macrumors member
Original poster
Hi,
I am just about to order 8gb of Ram from Crucial for my 2011 BTO iMac, which would bring it to 12gb total ram, I can't see any reason why I would need more than 12gb at this stage, right?

:apple:
 
It is a common misconception with a number of users that boosting RAM is going to result in an increase in performance. This is far from necessarily true and is often a case of money not very well spent.

It all depends on what the computer is going to be used for and what Applications are going to be used. For general use, the supplied 4GB is usually adequate.

The correct approach is to get used to using the machine, keeping an eye on the Activity Monitor which will indicate if more RAM is actually required.
 
General rule: As long as the swap usage is zero or close to zero in Activity Monitor (under the "Memory" tab), adding more RAM won't do anything.
 
Last edited:
Virtualization is a good reason...
At least that is why I am going to do the exact same. If I really happen to need more than 12, I could upgrade the other 4GB to 8GB, but I doubt that would happen anytime soon...
 
It depends on what you are using. Aperture 3 uses a lot of memory (with very large RAW, Safari, Mail and some other applications, I only have around 600 Mb free - I have 8 Gb -).

Otherwise, if you are only surfing on the web, reading mails... 4 Gb is enough.
 
Kerel said:
I can't see any reason why you need more than 4gb
ram or 8?
Click to expand...
You can easily get a 4gb machine to swap with applications like Photoshop, Aperture, Logic, etc.

Depending on what you do with these, even 8gb may not be enough sometimes (although 8gb is usually fine these days, even for most powerusers)

Kerel said:
Where do you need 12gb for?
Click to expand...
For running virtual machines.
 
bakura said:
It depends on what you are using. Aperture 3 uses a lot of memory (with very large RAW, Safari, Mail and some other applications, I only have around 600 Mb free - I have 8 Gb -).
Click to expand...

Modern OS's cache in RAM aggressively. "Free" RAM is not a good metric to use for determining whether you need more; page ins/outs as a percentage of regular IO operations are, however.
 
elithrar said:
Modern OS's cache in RAM aggressively. "Free" RAM is not a good metric to use for determining whether you need more; page ins/outs as a percentage of regular IO operations are, however.
Click to expand...
True, monitoring swap usage is the much better metric than just looking at the amount of free RAM.

However, especially Aperture 3 easily makes a 4gb machine use swap.
 
senorgreg said:
Hi,
I am just about to order 8gb of Ram from Crucial for my 2011 BTO iMac, which would bring it to 12gb total ram, I can't see any reason why I would need more than 12gb at this stage, right?

:apple:
Click to expand...
Without knowing what you run, it's hard to say how much you need. The price for the 8GB kit is pretty inexpensive so it's not that much money extra spent if you only need 8GB. Plus it's a machine you will use for how many years?

As for more than 12GB? since you would have to replace the 4GB in the system to go past that, I'd recommend seeing how the 12GB holds up for you. You can always order more ram later. If you do replace the original memory, save the original memory while the system is still under warranty/Applecare. Apple sometimes insists on having the original memory under certain conditions.
 
nyukfui said:
Why not sell the 2x2GB and buy 4x4GB RAM? RAM is never enough for me.
Click to expand...
This can cause issues with warranty repairs in some cases. Also if the Mac needs to be replaced Apple tends to want to see Apple ram in the system.

In theory if the issue has nothing to do with memory it shouldn't matter. In reality Apple isn't the only company that wants to see the system tried with the original parts.

Oh yeah and since the original poster hasn't stated what they are using the machine for, for all we know 4GB is more than enough. It's easy enough to go from 4GB to 12GB then to 16GB if the person really needs more than 4GB.
 
If you're running RAM hungry applications - pretty much anything made by Adobe or Microsoft, and you like to run lots of them together (e.g. photoshop, illustrator, acrobat, word, excel, iphoto) together with other standard applications (mail, itunes, safari), then you can easily get to 8 GB of ram, particularly if you like opening lots of tabs in Safari.

Alternatively, some types of applications (e.g. 3-D visualization) can also chew through RAM.

So it really depends on how easy you want your machine to be to use - if you detest having to quit and reopen applications like I do, then the extra RAM will be very useful.

If you just use mail/safari/itunes/iphoto, then most of the time 4 GB would be more than ample.
 
Kerel said:
I can't see any reason why you need more than 4gb ram or 8?
Where do you need 12gb for?
Click to expand...

He could be like me and use the following programs (many times in conjunction with each other)

After Effects
Premiere
Mocha Pro
Cinema 4d
Aperture
Photoshop
Illustrator
..just to name a few

12gb is working well for me so far.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I have been working all day and only just got back to the site. I have ordered the 8gb.

I use a very large iPhoto library which since the iPhotos 11 has been very memory hungry with my old machine. I also use iMovie with alot of 1080i content, so I figure both could use it.

Also, as someone above pointed out, it is very cheap, so I figured for less than $100 it was a worthwhile upgrade.

Thanks again.
 
As I always say, system RAM is like horses under the bonnet, the difference being that more RAM doesn't use more juice but does give you a smoother machine especially if your using a lot of media content.

Plus while I'm working I like to have iTunes/mail & Firefox open, 12GB gives me more overhead if I have to open and work on some large Photoshop files.

senorgreg said:
Thanks for all the replies. I have been working all day and only just got back to the site. I have ordered the 8gb.

I use a very large iPhoto library which since the iPhotos 11 has been very memory hungry with my old machine. I also use iMovie with alot of 1080i content, so I figure both could use it.

Also, as someone above pointed out, it is very cheap, so I figured for less than $100 it was a worthwhile upgrade.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
 
It never hurts to have too much RAM is what i always say. So as long as the cost is reasonable...why not?
 
2X2gb standard and i can add 2X4gb on the i7 ?
no matching issues right as long as the 2X2gb and 2X4gb are on the same channel
 
Bear said:
This can cause issues with warranty repairs in some cases. Also if the Mac needs to be replaced Apple tends to want to see Apple ram in the system.

In theory if the issue has nothing to do with memory it shouldn't matter. In reality Apple isn't the only company that wants to see the system tried with the original parts.

Oh yeah and since the original poster hasn't stated what they are using the machine for, for all we know 4GB is more than enough. It's easy enough to go from 4GB to 12GB then to 16GB if the person really needs more than 4GB.
Click to expand...


What is apple ram?
oem ram is a better term.

apple no longer labels the ram with the apple logo. most likely the ram will be

samsung, Hynix or micron. this has been true of imacs ,mac minis, mac pros , macbook pros for around 4 years.

(I do agree with you that setting a machine back to oem is best when asking for a repair)
 
Which slot original RAM

After 33 days of my new iMac 27" the hard drive is DEAD! I need to remove the RAM I purchased and install the RAM that came with the system.

Question - was the original RAM in the top or bottom two slots? I believe the pair of original RAM was in both right bays or left bays.
 
Value seems to be at 12GB...

I just bought 8GB (plus the stock 4) of highly rated (5-egg, 200+ review) RAM for $67 shipped from NewEgg. Do I need 12GB? No, but that should last me 3-4 years and won't have to pull out any measly 2GB dimms in a year or two when I decide that 8GB is insufficient.
 
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