New iMac .. problem? Or just lacking memory?

[monty77]

Just picked up a new Intel iMac, only has 512Mb RAM at the moment, waiting for another gig stick to add.

..it's REALLY slow though - apps take an age to start up, menus are laggy. My old iMacG5 had 2Gb of RAM and was MUCH snappier. Do I have a problem ? Or was I just spoilt by having loads of RAM? Does it make that big of a difference?

Embarassingly WinXP running under bootcamp with the same 512Mb is much nicer to use at the moment, apps open quicker, menus without lag etc...

Cheers,
Adam

 

[kretzy]

Our Intel iMac only has 512MB RAM atm, and I've found that anything running under Rosetta is pretty slow. Most Universal apps run well though. I'm sure things will improve with even just another 512.

 

[Scarlet Fever]

I found 512 in my MPB was really slow, then i threw a gig stick in. WOW!

 

[berg]

More ram will definitely help ... OSX needs at least a gig to run properly I've found ...

Other than that ....

General Sluggishness? Follow these steps ...

1. Start up in Safe Mode .. this will run the "Repair Disk" utility.
Be sure the computer is turned off.
Now press the power button.
Just after you hear the startup tone (NOT BEFORE), press and hold down
the shift key.

Now release the shift key when you see the start up screen with the gray
background with the Apple logo and the progress indicator.

During the startup, you will see "Safe Boot" on the Mac OS X startup screen.

2. While in Safe Mode Repair Permissions.
Close all files and applications on the disk you want to repair. Go to Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility and double click it. Then select "Macintosh HD" in the left panel and First Aid at the top. Then click on "Repair Permissions."

To leave the Mac OS X Safe Mode just restart your Mac normally, without
holding any keys during the startup period.

Download and Run this ...Onyx
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11582
Go to Automation Pane ..
Check all the boxes EXCEPT
1. Optimize the system
2. Hidden DS Store Files
3. Links between documents and applications

Also choose "Clear All" in the button box for caches. Then execute

These settings perform three basic troubleshooting procedures ...
1. Repair permissions
2. Run Unix maintenance (cron) scripts
3. Clear caches

4. Energy Saver - Set processor performance to "highest" (if applicable)

5. For other causes and solutions ...
Mac OSX Speed Troubleshooting
http://www.macmaps.com/Macosxspeed.html

 

[tonyl]

Yes, need another 512 to make dual channel. Or 2GB.

 

[Artful Dodger]

As most people have said 512 is too little, it was for me, all of 10 mins. Once I put in 2GB the iMac flew and has been fast ever since. So with that said get at least a 1GB stick to add and see the big difference compaired to what is in there now