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Late 13 iMac memory upgrade

M

mdowl

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 27, 2009
8
1
Thanks for this forum as it always has good mac information. I have a late 13 iMac which I experience the spinning wheel frequently (as if thats not already known). I am running High Sierra currently as I am afraid to upgrade due to age of the computer. That is actually question one, should I upgrade?

Second part is I have 2 4gb memory sticks in the machine and I think I should increase it. The activity monitor indicates "memory pressure"from time to time and seems to correspond with the beach ball. The question is should I and second if so, just add two more 4gb or go ahead and replace the two and add 4 8gb.

Also, is there a recommended place to purchase the memory so that I ensure it is compatible with my computer.

Thanks in advance
 
Booting from an external SSD is more likely to solve beachballs.

Prices on Ram for 2013 imac 27" (crucial)

2x4GB $54 (16 GB total--probably plenty for MacOS)
2x8GB $82 (24 GB total-- this is what I run)
4x8GB $164 (toss the Apple Ram, 32 GB total)



An 1 TB SSD is likely in the $120 range, with USB 3 enclosure.

It all depends on what you consider reasonable to spend.
 
So I could just add two 8 GB in the open slots and leave the two 4 GB in place?
 
Yep, you can do that -- What are you doing on this iMac that is using up all its memory?
 
8 GB RAM should be fine for simple tasks. How much swap is used during the slowdowns?

Increasing RAM would help is the problem is indeed swapping. However, it won't help application load times. In your setup, I'd first upgrade the disk to an SSD. Also it might be worth doing a clean install of the latest OS (Catalina).

If you do a clean install though, do not restore from backup. Install every app again. Also do not restore the home directory but only documents/data directly in order to not mess up Library, etc.

I just cleaned up a friend's Mini with 8 GB RAM and a spinning drive this way and it's running quite well.
 
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Not sure why I get "memory pressure". Running multiple office spreadsheets and word files at one time is probably what I would think is the most taxing. I do typically have multiple safari pages up as well. Not sure about the swap file but will check next time I get into a spinning ball. Right now its just under a GB. Hadn't really thought about a external SSD. My internal is a 1 TB and only using about a third of it. But if thats as easy as it sound, it may be something to try. Clean install sounds a bit scary to me but just because I have never done it. I'll research that a bit and see if I can get comfortable with giving it a shot.
 
mdowl said:
Not sure why I get "memory pressure". Running multiple office spreadsheets and word files at one time is probably what I would think is the most taxing. I do typically have multiple safari pages up as well. Not sure about the swap file but will check next time I get into a spinning ball. Right now its just under a GB. Hadn't really thought about a external SSD. My internal is a 1 TB and only using about a third of it. But if thats as easy as it sound, it may be something to try. Clean install sounds a bit scary to me but just because I have never done it. I'll research that a bit and see if I can get comfortable with giving it a shot.
Click to expand...

Just to clarify when you say you get memory pressure, you mean the graph is yellow or red? A green memory pressure graph is normal. Also, can you please post screenshots of Activity Monitor in Memory mode?
 
Fusion. My swap filed use was as high as 1.8 GB last time the "wheel" showed up.
 
It seems what you're running during yellow/red is overflowing the 8 GB RAM. Upgrading RAM is probably the easiest route at this point. May I ask what you're running during these yellow memory pressure periods? Which apps, how many tabs, etc.
 
Will check when it happens again but I would suspect, Excel (3 to 4 files), multiple (4-6) web pages, yes I am lazy about shutting stuff down, adobe reader, mail, messaging.

I ordered the Crucial 16GM Kit or 2 8GB memory.

I am looking at buying a new computer sometime this year but will pass this one off to the wife so thought for $80 it was worth it.
 
That list of apps will overflow the RAM. With 16 GB + 8 existing you'll have 24 GB which should be more than enough. I'd still recommend doing a clean install (and not restore as I mentioned earlier) at some point, especially if you pass it on, to further optimise things. Good luck!
 
Just a follow up after installation of two 8GB cards. While its only been one day, it has made a remarkable difference. I have had a couple of spinning wheels but not the duration of lock up that I was experiencing before. In watching Activity Monitor what I find interesting is that the amount of memory used is 15ish (24 installed now) which is more then the 8GB plus the swap file that would be listed before. I have not seen a swap file used today.

Thanks to all for the help with this
 
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Just out of curiosity, is there any advantage to upgrading RAM? I have 32GB of OEM RAM in my Late-2013 27" iMac. It currently tests OK with TechTool but I am getting ready to open it up for some other upgrades and was wondering if new RAM would be useful.

Thanks
 
BigEnso said:
Just out of curiosity, is there any advantage to upgrading RAM? I have 32GB of OEM RAM in my Late-2013 27" iMac. It currently tests OK with TechTool but I am getting ready to open it up for some other upgrades and was wondering if new RAM would be useful.

Thanks
Click to expand...

The max RAM on a 2013 27" is 32gb, so you already have it maxed out. Doubtful you would need any more than that anyway unless you're doing a lot of music stuff on your iMac.
 
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