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Is 32GB RAM worth it or overkill?

eroxx said:
I have a 27" i7 quad-core 2.93 2010 iMac. I just found out that although apple says it maxes out at 16gb, it in fact can be upgraded to 32gb of ram ... Thoughts?? Thanks!
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You didn't say what ram you have in your computer.

My suggest is if it feels like you need more ram and you have 2 empty slots just buy a large memory kit for those slots. if it turns out down the road that it's not enough, replace the original memory.

If you have no empty memory slots, then you need to figure out you need more memory and then maybe replacing memory in one pair of slots to start with.

It all boils down to how much money you have and as others have said what you will be using your computer for.
 
do imacs still use sodimms?

if so, lots of inexpensive 4gb x 2 kits out there from laptop owners upgrading.

you can cheaply go up another 8gb. maybe as little as $20.
 
TouchMint.com said:
This might be a dumb question but on a new Mac that already has 8gb (2 4gb sticks) would it be bad to toss in 2 8gb? This would bring the total to 24gb but it would also mean that it would have 2x 4s and 2x 8s. I think I heard in the past that mismatching sizes could actually hurt performance is this still the case?
Click to expand...

I am curious about this as well. If it comes with two 4s, is there any problem with just adding two 8s to bring it up to 24?
 
Memory is here!

lucasfunkt said:
When is the RAM compatible with the new 27" iMac going to appear on sites like Crucial?

Because of course we should all be buying RAM from a third party it'd be nice to know how long after we receive our new iMacs we can upgrade the RAM in them.

If it's only going to cost, what £100 from a third party (I'm guessing but I'm not too far off am I) then unless you're just using for iMac for internet and very light uses then surely 32GB has to be worth it, or at least get 16GB.

What do you reckon?
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16G mod are here now from OWC and Crucial it is the same memory that is in the 2012 Mac Mini -- 2 x 8.0GB 1600MHz DDR3L SO-DIMM PC12800 204 Pin

OWC is $99.97 for 16G if you want 32G get two for around $200.
Crucial is $79.99 for 16G if you want 32G get two for around $180.
So the way I look at it How much do you want to spend? I would get at least 16G but if you can afford get 32G, or not.

http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=FFD020F5A5CA7304

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/1600DDR3S16P/
 
>32gb

I don't see why some people skimp on RAM when it is the easiest, cheapest, and most useful upgrade you can do.

I've been using 32GB for a while now, I get page-outs of 50MB up to 2GB before I reboot (after ~1 week). I honestly would get more if I could (64GB would be real nice).

I use my computer for FCPX, steaming movies from DAS to ATV's and Popcorn Hour, d/l and converting torrent videos, etc.
 
oldtime said:
For some people that's not an insignificant amount. Why spend $150 on something you don't need now when you can spend half that whenever you do end up needing it?
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Wait too long and the price of the RAM actually goes up since when they stop manufacturing it in bulk. That could happen in as little as three years.
 
You can also use some of the 'extra' to build yourself a RAMdisk. Super fast access to common needed files. Speed that'll smoke the SSDs! :)
Not that it's 'necessary' but very cool!
Also if you're planning to run any virtual machines or Windows/Linux via boot camp you can dedicate a significant amount of RAM to that 'other' OS or VM
These are situations that make sense to add the extra RAM today, IMHO. However, pricing does fluctuate and if you've got the cash...and you're doing creative/engineering or scientific work on your computer...go for it!
We use iMacs in the field for audio and vide production. We've got a pair of 2010 21.5s and a pair of 2011 21.5s. All have 12 GB of RAM...and the difference it made manipulating our 110,000 song* + libraries in iTunes is a night and day difference in comparison to the original 4GB that came with the system. * these aren't all songs. 30,000+ are SFX, comedy bits, speeches, special audio 'chunks'. But it's a Massive library, internal on 1TB drives=about 880GB data. The RAM is a huge help. Not sure 32GB would be necessary but I ordered my rMBP with 16GB as I'm unable to add anymore down the road

As far as unmatched sticks of RAM, it's definitely not an issue...but there is a way to do it correctly and another way to put them in wrong. Lots of 30 second videos on line on 'how to' pull it off the 'right' way
 
First priority would be a SSD. That is hands down the best upgrade you can do at the moment. It makes the even the oldest systems seem damn snappy in this day and age.

After that.... Screw the haters and buy all the RAM you can while it's cheap. :D
 
akdj said:
You can also use some of the 'extra' to build yourself a RAMdisk. Super fast access to common needed files. Speed that'll smoke the SSDs! :)
Not that it's 'necessary' but very cool!
Also if you're planning to run any virtual machines or Windows/Linux via boot camp you can dedicate a significant amount of RAM to that 'other' OS or VM
These are situations that make sense to add the extra RAM today, IMHO.
Click to expand...

I had forgotten about RAMdisk. Do you have more information about it and how to set it up on a MAC? Thanks for the Information.;):)
 
I still remember paying $200 for 4 MB memory and that was considered good. That's MB. That's $51,200 for 1 GB.

The bonus of being old is it's so easy to justify buying hardware gadgets these days. All I have to do is remember what is cost a 'few' years ago. Now, when I see a couple of 8GB DIMMs for $100, it's a no brainer to get.

Of course there are the other old foggies who still think no one needs more than a few bits because dagnabbit, I ran turbo pascal from a floppy and still have room.
 
multisize

2 x 4G (slot 1&2) + 2 x 8G (slot 3&4) = 24G RAM

multi-size will not really affect performance but should one prioritize the first two slots for the highest RAM ?
 
Corsair RAM vs. OWC

I just installed 32gb of Corsair RAM (ValueSelect) in my 2010 2.93 iMac and noticed that the Memory & Stream benchmarks through Geekbench are lower than with 12gb RAM from (4gb from Apple 8gb from OWC). My question, Is this RAM slower and should I return it and go with an OWC 32gb kit?
Performance wise, I had one hiccup with a YouTube video at full screen - 1080P but otherwise, I'm not noticing any lag yet. Aperture loves the additional memory and eats it up quickly! The photo editing performance has definitely improved...could it be better with higher quality RAM and would it be noticeable for an additional $50.00?

Thanks.

32GB NUMBERS- 10807
Integer Processor integer performance 9568
Floating Point Processor floating point performance 16931
Memory Memory performance 5301
Stream Memory bandwidth performance 4729
Memory Section

Section Score 5301

Read Sequential
single-threaded scalar 6011
7.36 GB/sec

Write Sequential
single-threaded scalar 9156
6.26 GB/sec

Stdlib Allocate
single-threaded scalar 3884
14.5 Mallocs/sec

Stdlib Write
single-threaded scalar 3135
6.49 GB/sec

Stdlib Copy
single-threaded scalar 4322
4.46 GB/sec

-----
12GB NUMBERS - 10806
Integer Processor integer performance 9509
Floating Point Processor floating point performance 16830
Memory Memory performance 5504
Stream Memory bandwidth performance 4870

Memory Section

Section Score 5504

Read Sequential
single-threaded scalar 6076
7.44 GB/sec

Write Sequential
single-threaded scalar 9276
6.34 GB/sec

Stdlib Allocate
single-threaded scalar 4546
17.0 Mallocs/sec

Stdlib Write
single-threaded scalar 3248
6.72 GB/sec

Stdlib Copy
single-threaded scalar 4375
4.51 GB/sec
 
Last edited:
Vuddha said:
I had forgotten about RAMdisk. Do you have more information about it and how to set it up on a MAC? Thanks for the Information.;):)
Click to expand...

You Bet!!!

There are a couple of apps in the App Store actually that make it really easy. I've used 'Boredzo' when I've experimented with it. If you're handy in Terminal, here's a quick link that actually mentions Boredzo--and has the walk through for Terminal command structure

http://www.mactricksandtips.com/2012/03/create-a-high-speed-ram-disk-for-your-mac.html


Sequential 4k write speeds: 5,000 MB/sec--256 @ 12,000MB/sec!!
Sequential 4k read speeds: 1,000/MB/sec--256 @ 5,000MB/sec!!
Random 4k Write 2,600 MB/sec--256@ 9,000MB/sec
Random 4k read 13,000 MB/sec--256@ a whopping 28,000 MB/sec

They're amazing---and IF you can have 32GB of RAM in your machine 'on the cheap'---a 16GB RAMDisk can hold a LOT of data that you want/need to access blindingly fast:)

J
 
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