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iMac Early 2006 ram upgrade max

R

robotcat

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 12, 2010
3
0
Ireland
Hello
I have an Early 2006 iMac 4.1 and I want to up grade the ram. As I understand 2GB is the maximum that I can have. Currently I have 1GB, 2x512MB. As I also understand the iMac has one stick of ram soldered onto the logic board and there is one slot available to upgrade.

My question is, is it possible to install a 2GB stick in the upgradeable slot and therefore get the max ram usage out of the machine. The iMac would then have 1x512MB and 1x2GB. I know I won't get more than 2GB of ram but I am wondering if a 2GB stick would work or not.
My other option is to install a 1GB stick but that would only be 1.5GB ram in total.

Any help would be greatful

Thanks!
 
Ok thanks Bear, maybe I will try open it tomorrow and have a look.
Cheers.

Any other answers to the other question would be grateful for future reference.
 
robotcat said:
Ok thanks Bear, maybe I will try open it tomorrow and have a look.
Cheers.

Any other answers to the other question would be grateful for future reference.
Click to expand...

I have an early 2006 MacBook Pro which is similar to the iMac of the same generation (Core Duo 32 bit Intel) and the maximum RAM you can fit is 2GB in the form of 2x1GB sticks. 2GB sticks won't be recognised. There are two slots though, no RAM soldered to the logic board.
 
If you're adventurous, you could flash the iMac5,1 firmware and be able to increase your maximum ram to 3.3GB.
 
Intell said:
If you're adventurous, you could flash the iMac5,1 firmware and be able to increase your maximum ram to 3.3GB.
Click to expand...
i have a 5,1 with 2gigs and 4gigs sitting on my desk right now.. everything is backed up, whats involved in flashing?
err i'll update my sig after
 
pembyfrank said:
i have a 5,1 with 2gigs and 4gigs sitting on my desk right now.. everything is backed up, whats involved in flashing?
err i'll update my sig after
Click to expand...

If you already have a 5,1, there's no need to flash the firmware because you already have support for 3.3GB of ram.
 
k, thanks didn't know that when ppl said 3 its really 3.3, thought the flash would give the .3 extra
 
The actual amount is almost always 3,328 megabytes. Due to how the chipset in the iMac 32-bit, it must use about 768MB for MMIO mapping. People tend to round of the extra 328MB or not include it if using only 1x1GB and 1x2GB sticks.
 
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