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Installing RAM

M

Mr. Incredible

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 16, 2010
541
0
Southern California
I got a 2010 iMac 21.5'' 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, with 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3 RAM.

My computer has been running slower lately. I used to be able to Open Safari with multiple tabs, open iChat, and iTunes, and have absolutely No Lag! Now, whenever I open multiple apps, I get the spinning beach ball.

Thought my HD was dying, took it to the Apple store, genius checked it, and it's fine. He suggested getting more RAM to improve the performance on my iMac.

I currently Got 4GB, and I found this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...na&AID=10521304&PID=4178070&SID=1r6vqohdow8x2

Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1066 MHz for $80.

When looking at more Information about my Hardware. In Memory, I saw this:

BANK 0/DIMM0 Empty
BANK 1/DIMM0 Empty
BANK 0/DIMM1 2 GB
BANK 1/DIMM1 2 GB

Will I be able to install the 8 GB of RAM in the 2 empty slots (4GB in each slot), to have a total of 12GB?

Also, how will I be able to install this? I came across this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb_B3K1Za5Y

but I'm not sure if it'll be helpful with my model of iMac.

Any thoughts?
 
That video is for the older iMacs, but the process is essentially the same. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a newer video if you need to.

And yep, you can just add 8GB to have a total of 12GB of RAM.

If you want to make sure that your RAM is lacking, open up activity monitor and pay attention to the free memory and the "swaps" ... it can be found under the memory tab. I posted a picture of activity monitor, albeit a older version, so it will display the "swap" on your computer. Basically, when your computer runs out of RAM, it starts writing the processes to the hard drive (otherwise known as "swap) and that's what gets it slow. If you see your computer swapping a lot of memory, then you should probably upgrade.

ActivityMonitor-Programs.gif
 
Currently have 1.62GB of Free Space. When looking at Swap Used: 0 bytes.

There was a point that it went to just a few MB, like 700MB.

The thing is, I download a lot of stuff sometimes, and when storing or retrieving stuff from my external hd, it gets really slow.

I probably don't need 12GB of RAM, but if it's just gonna cost me under $100 to have a much faster computer, than why not, right?

I'll be looking for another video before I order it sometime this month or next.

But just so you know, while me typing this, it went down to 1.57GB...lol.
 
How is your external HD connected? USB?


Well your stats aren't too bad and you aren't swapping yet (which is good).
RAM is pretty cheap these days so if you know you're going to upgrade anyways, you might as well go for it.

Right now on my computer, I've swapped 1.29GB to my hard drive. lol
I think I might upgrade before the price shoots back up.
 
Mr. Incredible said:
The thing is, I download a lot of stuff sometimes, and when storing or retrieving stuff from my external hd, it gets really slow.
Click to expand...

From File sharing networks? If so then File sharing is notoriously heavy on hard drive usage. Doubly if downloading two files. Add reading into this and the HDD can only spin so fast.

My guess is that the spinning beach ball is being caused by the increased seek time on the external hard drive.
 
I have a ram install on my 2011 iMac. Check my sig YouTube link for my channel then for my video. Should apply.
 
Hey guys

Well, the link I provided originally for the RAM was being sold on NewEgg for $79.99.

I said that I was going to wait to save the money for it, and I'm glad I did:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139083

^Price dropped to $49.99!!

So, I'm definitely going to order this now.

But I just wanted to verify one last time. This will fit in my iMac, right?

Oh, and Cole, I'm definitely gonna check out your vids in a second.
 
Alinoe said:
Mr. Incredible said:
The ram you link to has a speed of 1066mhz, you want 1333.
Click to expand...

You can buy the correct RAM from Crucial(in Idaho) for about $25 right now for 4 gb, $50 for a 2gb kit.

Boosting my iMac mid 2011 to 12 has made an enormous difference. I liken the processor to having to swim around in a pool with lots of other people swimming---its always bumping into someone or some floatation device. When I put in 8 more gb, I made the pool 3 times bigger, and now it can swim laps without hardly ever bumping into anyone or anything.
Click to expand...
 
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I should've gotten 1333?

The thing is, my iMac currently has 4GB 1067, so I figured I have to get RAM with similar specs, which is why I ordered the Kingston 8GB (2x4) 1066.

Having a total of 12 GB 1066 isn't bad though, is it? I mean, it's 3 times as much memory as I had before.

Btw, I got my order in today, and I'm about to install it. :)
 
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