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How much ram to get for new iMac?

M

mayhone1

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 12, 2011
208
0
Wisconsin
I may be getting a new iMac soon and I was just wondering how much Memory should I get for it that will be good for the life of this computer, to handle things. :apple:
 
mayhone1 said:
I may be getting a new iMac soon and I was just wondering how much Memory should I get for it that will be good for the life of this computer, to handle things. :apple:
Click to expand...

Get the 4GB from apple and add either 2 sticks of 4GB to get the total of 12GB or replace all of them for 16GB of ram. :)
 
8gb seems to be a good choice that will last you - at least from what I can tell. Still room to grow should you need it.

Mark
 
theSeb is asking an important question. also never let apple give you the ram they overcharge like mad. the 2011 iMac can use as much as 32gb ram or as little as 2gb.


here is a price chart correct as of the 8th of dec

so stay with

stock 4gb cost 0

go to 8gb cost 25 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231215 1 set

go to 12gb cost 40 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231342 1 set

go to 16gb cost 80 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231342 2 sets

go to 20gb cost 200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233217 1 set

go to 32gb cost 400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233217 2 sets


this is the price chart for today. Most users can do 8gb and be fine.

so you can spend 0 to 400 most users should think 8gb 12gb or 16gb
 
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Just ordered our 2 iMacs with the base 4GB. Debating on what I order for the memory.

Was thinking give myself 16GB and put my 2 2GB's in the wifes to give her 8GB. Though may just do 12GB each. I think that will be plenty for both of us.

Then when the 8GB chips drop in price I can bump both of ours up to 24GB.

However, how much you need really comes down to what you plan on doing with the iMac.
I know I am constantly bouncing against the current 4GB setup I have now, so 12GB should give plenty of breathing room.
 
I think that going to 16GB and shelving the stock 4GB (in case you need to bring it in for AC support) is the sweet spot.

/Jim
 
flynz4 said:
I think that going to 16GB and shelving the stock 4GB (in case you need to bring it in for AC support) is the sweet spot.

/Jim
Click to expand...

Yeah hard to argue with 16GB for under $100. Who would have thought that a few years ago. :eek:
 
just remember 12gb and 24gb get rid of the dual channel memory aspect and make th ram run at 1000mhz or something like that
 
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robbie12345 said:
just remember 12gb and 24gb get rid of the dual channel memory aspect and make th ram run at 1000mhz or something like that
Click to expand...

It only removes the dual channel which is less than 10% performance drop max. The benefits of extra memory would out weigh the bandwidth gain.
 
robbie12345 said:
just remember 12gb and 24gb get rid of the dual channel memory aspect and make th ram run at 1000mhz or something like that
Click to expand...

Do you have any link with additional information on that? I was thinking of doing 12GB for both of us.
I thought there are two banks (2 slots each) and since each bank has the same module size in them dual channel would work.

If that is the case I will just put the 16GB in mine and she can have the 8GB, until I upgrade her to 16GB.
 
I have 16GB and have gotten to maxing out to around 14GB with:

- Huge Premiere Pro file open
- Photoshop open with many documents
- Two After Effect Compositions
- Adobe Encore
- iTunes playing music while editing
- Chrome opened with a few tabs

Honestly though, the Premiere file was taking a huge chunk that even I couldn't
believe it. So, yes, I don't always utilize all 16GB 100% of the time, but it is nice to know you have it if and when (in my cases) you need it.
 
If you want to handle most anything on your iMac for the life of your computer I'd recommend 16GB.
 
I too am getting a new iMac like the OP. Im getting additional ram as well, my question is, should i turn the imac on and set it up or can i install the ram right out the box with out turning it on first? thanks guys
 
FcknFrank said:
I too am getting a new iMac like the OP. Im getting additional ram as well, my question is, should i turn the imac on and set it up or can i install the ram right out the box with out turning it on first? thanks guys
Click to expand...

it really doesn't matter. I just upgraded a new system, and I did it right out of the box. It was easier to do while most of the protective wrapping was still on the monitor and it was laying flat.

I also upgraded a second system that has been running for two years, and I tipped it back fully, but a thin book under the front of the base base to tilt it back some more... had someone hold the top to make sure that it didn't fall backwards, and worked on it at the front of the desk.

Both approaches were pretty easy... but doing it straight out of the box was even easier.

/Jim
 
I have 12GB and it's perfect for me. I have a lot of office apps and tabs open at the same time and it seems to switch between apps a lot smother now compared to 4GB.
 
Add 2x4gb to your existing 2x2gb, thus 12 gb ram total. If you need more ram, remove the 2x2gb and add more.
 
I had 8Gb in my iMac (used as workstation). It worked fine, but sometimes with lots of apps running I did notice some swapping. I upgraded to 16Gb, and it's much better now - however, I run iStatMenus to monitor memory usage, and even with tons of things running (like VMWare, word, excel, flash, photoshop, a 3d game, mail and lots of other things) I have never been above about 10Gb memory usage.. So in retrospect, 12Gb would probably have been enough. That said, memory is very cheap, so little reason to stop at 12 :)
 
i bought apples madly expensive ram, so i didn't end up with 2 2gig dims that i didn't want. Whereas if you buy an imac with 8gig apple give you 2 4 gig dims, so when upgrading to 16g no dims are wasted.
 
doktordoris said:
i bought apples madly expensive ram, so i didn't end up with 2 2gig dims that i didn't want. Whereas if you buy an imac with 8gig apple give you 2 4 gig dims, so when upgrading to 16g no dims are wasted.
Click to expand...
The problem is that you spend an extra $200 for that upgrade from Apple.

Doing what you propose, you spend $200 + $40 = $240 for 16GB. If you upgrade to 16GB and discard the the original RAM, you pay $0 + $80 = $80 for 20GB of total RAM, of which you could use only 16GB. It gives you 4GB to sell on eBay if you have the time or inclination to get a small portion of that $80 back.

/Jim
 
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