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iMac 20" RAM Decision

L

LGRW3919

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 6, 2005
142
0
cupertino (no joke)
I've had my iMac for a little over a week and even though my performance has increased substantially from my iBook G3, I want to boost the RAM. would it be worth the extra $50-$100 to get a 1 GB module and put in my iMac, or just to put in another stick of 512 MB? Any performance hit from non-matching RAM?
 
Non-matching RAM does not matter in your iMac. (no performance hit)

If you multi-task a lot (running iTunes, Mail, iChat, Safari w/mutiple tabs, Word, lots of widgets, etc.), get a lot of beachballing, or have a lot of pageouts, then you would benefit from more RAM. Personally if i was buying i would go ahead and get the 1gb stick, and buy from either Crucial or Data Memory Systems. I went from 512mb to 1gb (max) on my TiPB and the difference is quite noticeable, especially with the 5400rpm HD.
 
I would recommend that you purchase the 1 GB. Should use the Crucial RAM link above. That can assist you with getting the proper RAM. Should give you a very noticeable increase in performance.
 
I thought matched RAM in an iMac helped performance, although Barefeats apparently disagrees, having run a few tests.

I just got a new iMac 20" and put in 2x1 Gb sticks from Newegg--Patriot RAM. Works perfectly, and is notably faster than the stock 512 that came in the machine.

Best,

Bob
 
Get another 512MB. I've got 1GB and with 5 dash widgets, Halo, Safari and iTunes open at the same time, I still have 300MB of free RAM on my iMac.
 
faintember said:
Non-matching RAM does not matter in your iMac. (no performance hit)
Click to expand...


:eek: Apple says:

"Whoa?!
If that technical stuff sounds scary, don't worry. There's an easy way to make sure they match. Just buy your DIMMs at the same time as a matching pair, like socks." :cool:
 
SteveG4Cube said:
Really?

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300082

I bought an OEM 512mb stick on ebay for like $30 to match the 512mb that came with my G5, and noticed a big difference in performance.
Click to expand...
Didnt know that was the case with the iMacs, only thought it was with the PM. I dont see why having 1 512 stick and one 1gb stick would make any difference though. If it does make a difference i apologize for my inaccurate information. Lets see what any iMac users have to say about this...
 
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