New Imac 5k compatible with DDR3 1333 ram?

[Jseattle]

The question is per the title. I have 16gb of DDR3 1333mhz ram in a 2011 mac mini.

Would this ram work in a new 5k Imac? (Inserted by itself)
Would the ram work in conjunction with the 8gb DDR3 1867mhz (albeit clocked down to 1333mhz)?


I would like to be able to re-use my ram (even though there would be a performance hit).

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Possibly but I think it will be far more trouble than it's worth and a hit on performance on a new machine for the sake of less than a hundred dollars.... Why would you want to do that? Why spend thousands on a new machine and then gimp it for the sake of $100??

 

[thekev]

Possibly but I think it will be far more trouble than it's worth and a hit on performance on a new machine for the sake of less than a hundred dollars.... Why would you want to do that? Why spend thousands on a new machine and then gimp it for the sake of $100??

It won't be noticeable at all, assuming that memory is properly tested. The biggest problem with user installed ram is that some of it goes bad. That won't affect performance. It would show up in the form of kernel panics. Lack of a sufficient amount would also be an issue. Compared to the memory used by the cache, both are incredibly slow, so your concerns seem a little misplaced here.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

It won't be noticeable at all, assuming that memory is properly tested. The biggest problem with user installed ram is that some of it goes bad. That won't affect performance. It would show up in the form of kernel panics. Lack of a sufficient amount would also be an issue. Compared to the memory used by the cache, both are incredibly slow, so your concerns seem a little misplaced here.

All the RAM will down clock to 1333mhz (if it works and that's not certain) so the RAM will take 30% speed hit if that doesn't make a difference why bother using faster RAM??? It's like spending a fortune on a new Mercedes and then fitting it with a turbo from a 1990's diesel compact because you've got one in the garage at home.

 

[thekev]

It's like spending a fortune on a new Mercedes and then fitting it with a turbo from a 1990's diesel compact because you've got one in the garage at home.

Car analogies are unnecessary and extremely misleading here. I never claimed the ram wasn't slower. I claimed it wouldn't make any noticeable difference between those two. The issue of going to ram in the first place is expensive relative to pulling something from the cache, but a small difference between the two isn't going to change anything. 30% only pertains to the clock speed of the ram itself, which as I said won't be an issue here unless your sole purpose in owning a computer is to run benchmarks.

Whether it's a good idea to mix the two to go from 16GB to 24GB is a different issue, as is the fact that the OP probably hasn't run any kind of hardware test on that memory since he purchased it. Looking at the issue of 2011, I would be much more concerned about whether those sodimms are still in good condition.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Can't agree with you on any point, but my main point is why cheap out on the RAM after spending that much on a computer??? If the op wasn't looking for better performance etc why buy a 5k iMac in the first place?? At which point why then deliberately make it slower, if they need 24gb of RAM (very few work cases need lots of RAM but wouldn't benefit from it being faster) then they need a fast system it's got to be worth spending a bit to ensure that and to avoid any RAM mixing issues.

Oh well we'll have to agree to disagree, the analogy was good from a financial point of view (as intended) not a technical one, and I feel my observations are perfectly logical.

But hey if the OP wants to use slower old RAM in a brand new top of the range machine that's their choice and I would recommend they just try it, it won't hurt anything if it doesn't work just take ten minutes to install and then uninstall if it doesn't work.

 

[Jseattle]

Possibly but I think it will be far more trouble than it's worth and a hit on performance on a new machine for the sake of less than a hundred dollars.... Why would you want to do that? Why spend thousands on a new machine and then gimp it for the sake of $100??

Well, you are correct ... why spend thousands and then gimp it? Well, #1 I own the ram (which can be updated in the future if there is a noticeable performance hit).

However, it is correct there are very limited use cases where you need that much ram. I don't tend to use more than 16gb, but while working in Photoshop, compiling several panoramic images it gets to the point of eating up on average 10-12gb of ram. So .... once you hit the swap drive (7200rpm or SSD, doesn't matter) that 1333mhz ram starts to look pretty dang sweet.

With how "non-upgradeable" these Imac's are, I would like to get a bit more life out of the one dang part they let you replace.

I didn't expect anyone to have tried it, most posts are about using ram FASTER than intended, but it was worth a shot. I guess it is a "see if it works" however at this point I am not so sure I am looking at that imac purchase anyways ...

 

[thekev]

Oh well we'll have to agree to disagree, the analogy was good from a financial point of view (as intended) not a technical one, and I feel my observations are perfectly logical.

They are logical on paper. It's just that most people won't won't get anything even approaching a 30% boost in actual use. They are unlikely to even see a 5% boost in completion time of operations, at which point it's not even noticeable and any suspicion that you did notice something is likely to be something different. You might note that the people who worry most about the speed of their ram are gamers. Games constantly load large texture files from disk Most operations are not so uniform.

 

[Shamgar]

Is it DDR3 or DDR3L? The new iMacs are Skylake systems that use the lower voltage DDR3L standard and are not intended for use with DDR3. DDR3 will work, but may cause damage in the long term.

 

[Gav2k]

As above it requires ddr3l not ddr3 like the mini used back then. The issue however won't cause any damage it just won't boot. If it does boot it'll be fine as the logic board is providing the juice not the cpu lol

 

[Jseattle]

Is it DDR3 or DDR3L? The new iMacs are Skylake systems that use the lower voltage DDR3L standard and are not intended for use with DDR3. DDR3 will work, but may cause damage in the long term.

Ahhh that is a very good point (one I had considered but not looked into). The sticks are standard DDR3 (1.5v) and not DDR3L (1.3v ?)

Considering the voltage differences, I don't think I would stick them in there in that case.