IMac Ram

[prosty41]

Hello,

I just got a 2011 iMac (I chose not to wait). I followed the advice of getting only the 4 gigs of ram with the plan to upgrade aftermarket ram. I've been looking on amazon. My question is, which is the best ram to buy and how much should I get.

Also, I currently just put 15000 photos into iphoto. When scrolling, it's super choppy and doesent respond well. Is this a ram issue?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

You need 1333 MHz 204-pin DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM. You can get it via Newegg or Amazon and 8 GB will cots less than 50 USD giving you 12 GB (as you can use the already present 4 GB) or 16 GB for less than 100 USD.

If RAM is the culprit, you can use the following:
Open Activity Monitor and go to the System Memory* tab and look for Page Outs and Swap used and report back.

Using Activity Monitor to show you CPU and RAM usage​

* Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor​

The lag also depends on how big the images are (file size and resolution) as the thumbnail has to be created almost live and depending on where they are stored (USB or Firewire HDD or internal HDD) it can take a while.

 

[Bear]

Crucial is a good brand. I recommend getting an 8GB (2 x 4GB) memory kit which as stated is under $50 and will bring you to 12GB.

If you later on determine you need more, you can upgrade the original Apple memory (But hold on to it, it's need sometimes when warranty issues come up.)