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iMac RAM

U

Unholymethod

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 6, 2013
3
0
27-inch, Mid 2011
Processor 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2048 MB
Software OS X 10.8.3 (12D78)

I'd like to upgrade to 32GB of RAM, But I don't know what I should be looking for.

I do a lot of video rendering, music production, and gaming, and have been experiencing "lag" since upgrading to mountain lion

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233232

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148465

Will either of these work, which is preferable, or what is a better/best option for RAM?

I would rather spend a couple extra bucks than potentially have an issue down the road.
 
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iF34R said:
Definitely neither of them are going to work on your iMac. You linked to 240 pin RAM. Your system uses 204 pin RAM.

Also, Apple support shows that the mid 2011 iMac only supports up to 16GB of RAM. 4x4GB (One 4GB RAM stick for each slot).

You'll use PC10600 (DDR3 1333).

Here's the link to the apple support: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4621

Here is the link to the RAM according to that: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...0000414&IsNodeId=1&name=DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification on the RAM, you may want to look further into the capability of iMac to use 32Gb though...

is there a preference in brand?
I can't seem to find a straight answer...
 
Yeah, I know it "can" support up to 32GB, but that wasn't based on the info from Apple Support. I guess I should have included the extra bit. My bad.

As far as the brand, Crucial and Corsair seem pretty reliable. I went with the Corsair myself.
 
iF34R said:
Yeah, I know it "can" support up to 32GB, but that wasn't based on the info from Apple Support. I guess I should have included the extra bit. My bad.

As far as the brand, Crucial and Corsair seem pretty reliable. I went with the Corsair myself.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help man.
Is there a reason that you said "can" as in: is there a reason I might not want 4x8Gb sticks in my iMac?

Would this work then?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233250

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148468
 
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Probably the reason he said "can" is because people have been able to run more than the supported amount. The motherboard probably supports more, but Apple did not officially support them. I haven't looked into that particular iMac, I have the newer one. However, on my old MacBook, Apple only supports 4 GB of RAM. This was because at the time, there were no 4 GB modules on the market. It now runs quite happily with 8 GB. There are several models of Macs out there that have officially supported amounts lower than what will really run in them. There are also several with seemingly strange amounts, that will ignore any additional amounts. There are some that will take 3 GB or 6 GB. You can typically put more in, but chipsets on the motherboard can only support and address a maximum amount. It will effectively ignore the rest. One last note, you 'can' put more than Apple supports, but that always comes with the risk of system instability. You might be fine, you might not, but you should be informed of the possibility regardless of how small it might be.
 
richard13 said:
I would suggest you consider OWC. They will point you exactly at what your Mac can use and have lots of options available. For example:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2011/DDR3_21.5_27

I got RAM from them for my current iMac and will likely use them again for my future computers.
Click to expand...


Crucial memory is cheaper than OWC and it works in my Mac just fine. Sometimes you can even find the same model numbers cheaper on Amazon.

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=iMac (21.5 and 27-inch, Mid 2011)&Cat=RAM
 
Imac Sam said:
Crucial memory is cheaper than OWC and it works in my Mac just fine. Sometimes you can even find the same model numbers cheaper on Amazon.

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=iMac (21.5 and 27-inch, Mid 2011)&Cat=RAM
Click to expand...

Oh sure. I wasn't saying that OWC was always the cheapest or that other RAM didn't work in the Mac. I was merely conveying that I had a good experience using OWC and that the OP would likely have an easy time finding what he needed through them.

Over the years I've used RAM from a number of quality vendors and most have worked just fine. To get the absolutely best deal you have to spend time searching and know what you are looking for. Web sites like OWC and Crucial make this process relatively easy.
 
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