Now that we are in September, Ram prices are still going down, so my question, 8GB or 16GB? AND What ram do you recommend or have experience with? Looking for ram for a 2011 iMac! (In Sig)
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Memory
- Thread starter Nyy8
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How much RAM you need depends on your normal usage. To determine if you can benefit from more RAM, launch Activity Monitor and click the System Memory tab at the bottom to check your page outs. Page outs are cumulative since your last restart, so the best way to check is to restart your computer and track page outs under your normal workload (the apps, browser pages and documents you normally would have open). If your page outs are significant (say 1GB or more) under normal use, you may benefit from more RAM. If your page outs are zero or very low during normal use, you probably won't see any performance improvement from adding RAM.
Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor
Page-outs right now are 400MB, wow. Minecraft, Firefox, and Skype cannot run on 4GB of ram. Do I need 8GB or 16GB?
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Unless your page outs are in excess of 3-4 GB under normal use, 8GB may be sufficient for your needs. However, you may opt for 16GB to accommodate possible future increases in your memory requirements.
- Apple does not manufacture RAM and charges more than you would pay with other reputable RAM providers.
- Some great sources for Mac-compatible RAM are OWC, Crucial and newegg.com.
- Installation of user-installable parts such as RAM does not void the Apple Warranty or the AppleCare Protection Plan, unless you damage something in the process.
- MR Guide to Buying RAM
- MR Guide to Understanding Intel Mac RAM
- MR Guide to Matched RAM on Intel Macs
- MacBook Pro: How to remove or install memory
- MacBook: How to remove or install memory
- iMac: How to remove or install memory
- Mac mini: How to remove or install memory
- By visiting EveryMac.com: Actual Maximum RAM
- By selecting your model on the Crucial Memory Advisor Tool to find RAM information
- By using Mactracker
- By entering your serial number here to find specs for your model.
(Be aware that some models can use more RAM than Apple shows. Check EveryMac to verify actual usable RAM.)