Memory upgrade

[teerexx52]

I have been reading the various posts about upgrading the retina iMac memory. My wife is purchasing a crucial 16gb kit for me for Christmas. My question is should I leave the stock 8gb in place or remove it when installing the new 16GB kit. Seems from responses I've seen it does not seem to matter. Help would be appreciated and Happy Holidays to all

 

[matreya]

Should work just fine... I've seen other people who've done exactly that... I was lazy and just ordered my riMac with 32GB

 

[GGJstudios]

My question is should I leave the stock 8gb in place or remove it when installing the new 16GB kit. Seems from responses I've seen it does not seem to matter.

It doesn't matter at all.

 

[rkaufmann87]

Leave in the stock RAM and you will have a total of 24GB. This should be more than enough for most people's needs.

 

[redheeler]

Should work just fine... I've seen other people who've done exactly that... I was lazy and just ordered my riMac with 32GB

That's a cost of $600!

Leave in the stock RAM and you will have a total of 24GB. This should be more than enough for most people's needs.

I don't get why everyone must upgrade to the maximum of 32 GB. 24 GB is more than plenty by today's standards, and still enough to impress most people

 

[matreya]

That's a cost of $600!

I had a good year

But yes, 24 is usually more than enough

 

[redheeler]

I had a good year

But yes, 24 is usually more than enough

By the way, do you seriously have 53 TB of storage or is that just a typo in your signature?

 

[yjchua95]

That's a cost of $600!



I don't get why everyone must upgrade to the maximum of 32 GB. 24 GB is more than plenty by today's standards, and still enough to impress most people

Because 24GB isn't a power of 2 number (2, 4, 8, 16, 32....), and in my opinion, it's better to have all sticks with the same capacity for optimal performance.

 

[matreya]

By the way, do you seriously have 53 TB of storage or is that just a typo in your signature?

Yes, I seriously have 53 TB of storage

 

[teerexx52]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I can't see any real reason not to go with the 24GB as opposed to the 16GB. The memory arrives today so I am planning on leaving the two 4gb chips and adding the two 8GB chips.

 

[MowingDevil]

Because 24GB isn't a power of 2 number (2, 4, 8, 16, 32....), and in my opinion, it's better to have all sticks with the same capacity for optimal performance.

As far as I know thats irrelevant as long as they're in pairs and put in the correct slots (1+3, 2+4).

 

[GGJstudios]

Because 24GB isn't a power of 2 number (2, 4, 8, 16, 32....), and in my opinion, it's better to have all sticks with the same capacity for optimal performance.

It is not necessary for all 4 modules to be the same capacity for optimal performance. As long as matched pairs are being used, there is no real-world disadvantage in one pair not matching another pair. Even if you didn't use matched pairs, the advantage of having more RAM far outweighs the small benefit from matched pairs. All of this assumes, of course, that the user actually needs and uses the amount of RAM installed.