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Need help--what RAM to buy for Late 2006 iMac?

JerTheGeek

JerTheGeek

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 15, 2014
1,993
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So I have an iMac from 2006; it is the 1.83 gHZ 17in. Core 2 Duo model. It currently has 512mb of RAM. I am going to max out the RAM and put Lion on it so it will be more of a modern Mac and we can use it more easily for everyday stuff. However, I'm confused as to what RAM I need. I'm pretty sure it goes up to 2GB, but where can I buy the RAM online and what kind do I look for?
 
Your iMac will use 200-pin PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMMs.
Your slots support up to a maximum of 2 x 1GB sticks - total of 2GB. I THINK you can use a single 2GB stick, if you want, but nothing extra in the other slot would be supported.
You can shop anywhere that supplies the correct RAM specs. Crucial is a good place to start, and will give you an idea about prices.
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/imac-1*83ghz-intel-core-2-duo-(17-inch)/CT744640
 
DeltaMac said:
Your iMac will use 200-pin PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMMs.
Your slots support up to a maximum of 2 x 1GB sticks - total of 2GB. I THINK you can use a single 2GB stick, if you want, but nothing extra in the other slot would be supported.
You can shop anywhere that supplies the correct RAM specs. Crucial is a good place to start, and will give you an idea about prices.
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/imac-1*83ghz-intel-core-2-duo-(17-inch)/CT744640
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link; I found some at OWC that is only $18.79, so now my next step is to get it on snow leapoard. What is the best way to do this!
 
redheeler said:
With a Snow Leopard install disk. If you don't already have one, Apple still sells it.
Click to expand...
Great, that's what I thought. Time for this Mac to get an upgrade! Now I know there are hacks to get Yosemite on it, but would I have to get lion first, after snow leopard, in order to do the Yosemite hack?
 
JerTheGeek said:
Great, that's what I thought. Time for this Mac to get an upgrade! Now I know there are hacks to get Yosemite on it, but would I have to get lion first, after snow leaopard, in order to do the Yosemite hack?
Click to expand...
It should be possible to install Mountain Lion with a little work, but anything after that would break graphics acceleration and make for an unpleasant experience.
 
redheeler said:
It should be possible to install Mountain Lion with a little work, but anything after that would break graphics acceleration and make for an unpleasant experience.
Click to expand...
Ah ok, thanks for the tip. I think I'll just keep it on Lion then. And, just to confirm, there is no way to get Lion without getting snow leopard? Do I have to pay $20 for snow leopard and then $20 for lion? Or can I just buy lion?
 
JerTheGeek said:
Ah ok, thanks for the tip. I think I'll just keep it on Lion then. And, just to confirm, there is no way to get Lion without getting snow leopard? Do I have to pay $20 for snow leopard and then $20 for lion? Or can I just buy lion?
Click to expand...
You'll need to have Snow Leopard installed if you want to download Lion from the App Store. However, there are other methods of clean installing Lion, such as downloading it on another Mac and making a bootable USB installer. There are also eBay sellers that sell such drives if you want to go that route.

I would probably run Snow Leopard instead of Lion actually, as Lion was somewhat of a performance downgrade. However, it does benefit from greater support and more modern features.
 
redheeler said:
You'll need to have Snow Leopard installed if you want to download Lion from the App Store. However, there are other methods of clean installing Lion, such as downloading it on another Mac and making a bootable USB installer. There are also eBay sellers that sell such drives if you want to go that route.

I would probably run Snow Leopard instead of Lion actually, as Lion was somewhat of a performance downgrade. However, it does benefit from greater support and more modern features.
Click to expand...
So it is possible to buy lion, make a bootable usb on my MBA, then plug it in and go? All legal right?
 
redheeler said:
Only if your MBA is compatible with Lion will the App Store let you download it unfortunately. A newer model (mid 2013+) won't be.
Click to expand...
Yeah mine is 2014 so it wouldn't work. No problem, I'll just get SL then Lion. Around $60 total for RAM and the 2 OS X upgrades is a pretty good price for a significantly more modern experience.
 
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