Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iMac Additional Memory

B

Boldman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 17, 2010
26
0
Thinking about buying a new iMac 21.5 ' and was wondering about additional memory. Many posts suggest adding the memory modules from someone other than Apple. Is there any problem with warranties if a user replaces or adds to the existing memory ?
 
Boldman said:
Thinking about buying a new iMac 21.5 ' and was wondering about additional memory. Many posts suggest adding the memory modules from someone other than Apple. Is there any problem with warranties if a user replaces or adds to the existing memory ?
Click to expand...

Definitely add the RAM after. It does not void your warranty (unless you somehow cause damage inserting the RAM - there are guides so don't worry) and you might find that the standard amount of RAM is perfectly fine.
 
Do not buy memory from Apple - vastly inflated price.

I put in an additional 8GB from Crucial at a cost of £61.00 (GB Sterling). Job took 10 minutes and that included unplugging all iMac cables, laying the screen flat down on soft cloth, fitting RAM, re-connecting cables.
 
+1

likegadgets said:
You can add RAM easily at a fraction of the Apple price.
I favor www.crucial.com - Have had good experience with their memory for years
Click to expand...

+1 on Crucial. I first added additional RAM from OWC and my iMac seemed to take a performance hit e.g. beachballing, less responsive etc. I ordered an additonal 8GB (2x4GB) from crucial and it's been smooth sailing ever since. My system is super fast and it takes 5 mins and is extremely easy.
 
You have to force the ram in keep in mind. You have to push pretty hard on the ram for it to properly be inserted. I have a 2011 21" ordered with 4gb. I just installed 8gb of kingston I noticed a big improvement
 
Psilocybin said:
You have to force the ram in keep in mind. You have to push pretty hard on the ram for it to properly be inserted. I have a 2011 21" ordered with 4gb. I just installed 8gb of kingston I noticed a big improvement
Click to expand...

I take it the 8gb is in addition to the 4gb. Do the new 4gb units just go in under the existing 2gb or do the 2gb's have to be removed and replaced with the 4gbs and then put the 2gb's back?
 
16gb from Apple would have cost $600 for my new 27" iMac. I bought 16gb last week from newegg for $100 (4th of July sale): if I had bought the RAM at full price from newegg, it would have cost $140. There's no significant advantage to buying extra memory from Apple at the premium that they charge.
 
Boldman said:
I take it the 8gb is in addition to the 4gb. Do the new 4gb units just go in under the existing 2gb or do the 2gb's have to be removed and replaced with the 4gbs and then put the 2gb's back?
Click to expand...

The 4GB modules can be installed in the 2 open slots without having to remove the existing 2GB memory chips. (The iMac has a total of 4 slots)
 
Boldman said:
I take it the 8gb is in addition to the 4gb. Do the new 4gb units just go in under the existing 2gb or do the 2gb's have to be removed and replaced with the 4gbs and then put the 2gb's back?
Click to expand...

You leave the 2x2gb where they are and put the 2x4gb in the other two slots for 12gb.
 
Now with your help I have saved myself some money and was wondering if perhaps I can save even more. It was my intention to upgrade the processor from the i5 2.7 GHz to the i7 2.8 Ghz. What are your thoughts on this? If I save any more I might opt for the 27" rather than the 21.5" although I think it might just be too large for my desk. ( 23" would have been nice)
 
Boldman said:
.... It was my intention to upgrade the processor from the i5 2.7 GHz to the i7 2.8 Ghz. What are your thoughts on this? ...
Click to expand...

Didn't think the i5 chip can be "easily" removed and replaced with the i7 chip. Besides the soldering situation, too many other things to change as well. For i5 to i7 upgrade, most sell their i5 box and replace with new (different) i7 box. Especially if one isn't into DIY tasks and "cracking open" the iMac case. Only memory can be "easily installed" within the iMac case. SSD & larger HDDs can be installed but many get too nervious over these DIY upgrade level...

.
 
Boldman said:
I take it the 8gb is in addition to the 4gb. Do the new 4gb units just go in under the existing 2gb or do the 2gb's have to be removed and replaced with the 4gbs and then put the 2gb's back?
Click to expand...

Yes I have 12 gb. You just stick the new 4gb sticks underneath the already installed 2 gb sticks. The slots are open
 
Psilocybin said:
Yes I have 12 gb. You just stick the new 4gb sticks underneath the already installed 2 gb sticks. The slots are open
Click to expand...
I agree with this. Get a couple of 4GB sticks and upgrade to 12GB. That way you don't even touch the original RAM. I got a couple of 4GB modules from Crucial for about $80.
 
Spike88 said:
Didn't think the i5 chip can be "easily" removed and replaced with the i7 chip. Besides the soldering situation, too many other things to change as well. For i5 to i7 upgrade, most sell their i5 box and replace with new (different) i7 box. Especially if one isn't into DIY tasks and "cracking open" the iMac case. Only memory can be "easily installed" within the iMac case. SSD & larger HDDs can be installed but many get too nervious over these DIY upgrade level...

.
Click to expand...

I wasn't meaning to try and change the i5 chip for an i7 chip myself. It seemed to me that Apple gives you the option to buy the iMac with an i7 chip for additional money.
 
Spike88 said:
Didn't think the i5 chip can be "easily" removed and replaced with the i7 chip. Besides the soldering situation, too many other things to change as well. For i5 to i7 upgrade, most sell their i5 box and replace with new (different) i7 box. Especially if one isn't into DIY tasks and "cracking open" the iMac case. Only memory can be "easily installed" within the iMac case. SSD & larger HDDs can be installed but many get too nervious over these DIY upgrade level...

.
Click to expand...

The chips aren't soldered they can be removed and replaced
 
Spike88 said:
Then how do you do it? Appreciate writing up an upgrade aid. Especially if its that easy.

.
Click to expand...

It's not that easy I wouldn't recommend doing it if you don't know what your doing. I was just stating it can be done if you either a-know what your doing or b-have the balls to attempt it
 
I installed more RAM into my 27 inch last night. It took literally 4 minutes after watching a YouTube video just to be sure. The iMac is made for you to be able to very easily upgrade the memory. Anything else internally, though, is not made for user modification.
 
I am on my 3rd iMac since May! The previous units had HDD failure. On all of them I setup using TM from my 2010 iMac and installed additional memory from Crucial. So, when I got the 3rd replacement, I bought additional memory from Apple (8 GB) - manager gave it to me for 1/2 price and did not use the TM but reinstalled all my programs. This machine has now been working for about a month.

So, I don't waste the memory I bought, I'd like to add back 8 GB of the Crucial memory to go with the 8 GB of "Apple" memory. Do I dare and risk HDD failure? Apple Care didn't think it was the memory that caused the HDD failure but TM that caused the problem. Any ideas? Any experience from other users?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back