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iMac 27 ram upgrade

D

Drask

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 3, 2012
228
0
So my iMac should be arriving withing next week, my question is: I order the 4 gb one ( cheapest 27" for 1700), it comes with 2 x2 gb ram, i want to upgrade to at least 8 gb bcuz ill be working with photoshop, xcode etc.

Should i get 2x4 gb for around $40-50 and get rid of the 2x2gb installed? or should i just install the other two and get 12 gb? Not sure if its even compatible or recommended to have different sizes of ram in the same computer.
 
Last edited:
More RAM = Good.

It's fine to mix different sizes of RAM. I have 2 x 4GB modules and 2 x 2GB modules and it works great :)
 
Drask said:
So my iMac should be arriving withing next week, my question is: I order the 4 gb one ( cheapest 27" for 1700), it comes with 2 x2 gb ram, i want to upgrade to at least 8 gb bcuz ill be working with photoshop, xcode etc.

Should i get 2x4 gb for around $40-50 and get rid of the 2x2gb installed? or should i just install the other two and get 10 gb? Not sure if its even compatible or recommended to have different sizes of ram in the same computer.
Click to expand...

Order the 4gb base from Apple, but DON'T buy their RAM....Crucial, Newegg, anybody else will provide you with memory far cheaper. I ordered my iMac with 8GB, but upgraded to 16 soon after purchase.

It's easy to do, will not void your warranty and Apple even tell you how to do it in the manual that comes with your iMac.
 
Macman45 said:
Order the 4gb base from Apple, but DON'T buy their RAM....Crucial, Newegg, anybody else will provide you with memory far cheaper. I ordered my iMac with 8GB, but upgraded to 16 soon after purchase.

It's easy to do, will not void your warranty and Apple even tell you how to do it in the manual that comes with your iMac.
Click to expand...

Not to be rude or something, but, did you even read what i wrote?
 
Drask said:
Not to be rude or something, but, did you even read what i wrote?
Click to expand...

Sorry...Late night, my bad.

I think if it were me I would buy with 8GB (2x4)....Leaving you the option to upgrade later....Having said that you could sell the 2x2GB and start afresh....I actually don't know if Apple will sell you a machine sans memory, but would be interested if they do. Can't see it though...It would leave them wide open I think.
 
Macman45 said:
Sorry...Late night, my bad.

I think if it were me I would buy with 8GB (2x4)....Leaving you the option to upgrade later....Having said that you could sell the 2x2GB and start afresh....I actually don't know if Apple will sell you a machine sans memory, but would be interested if they do. Can't see it though...It would leave them wide open I think.
Click to expand...

Why not keep the 2 x 2GB modules and install more RAM in the additional slots. Then if/when the OP needs more RAM they can remove the 2 x 2GB modules and install more.
 
I heard that if u don't use the 16gb ram it can potentially slow down your computer against an 8 gb ram because it has to search for memory all over the 16 gb instead of the 8 gb, is that true on Macs? (or even windows?)
 
Drask said:
I heard that if u don't use the 16gb ram it can potentially slow down your computer against an 8 gb ram because it has to search for memory all over the 16 gb instead of the 8 gb, is that true on Macs? (or even windows?)
Click to expand...

I have never heard that before. RAM access speed is so quick, latency should not be a problem.
 
I'm getting a refurb 27" 3.4 2011 model delivered in a couple of days and as I'm planning on keeping it for a long time and the 27" can take 32GB of ram I would suggest getting a single 8GB module and leave the 2x2 for a total of 12GB, then just keep adding 8GB cards as the price drops, they are a lot dearer than 2x4GB at the moment but after searching all day I found one in Australia (where I am) for $80 so I'm going to get two of those for a total of 20GB. And then max it out to 32GB when they get a bit cheaper.

currently $125 for an 8GB from OWC but only $80 here So the prices are coming down real fast.
 
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