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rpbrownphoto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 4, 2019
24
1
Got a new 2019 27" 5k iMac on the way and I'm upgrading the ram myself.

Will this work? Amazon reviewers are saying yes, Micron CPG is saying no (it isn't verified).


It seems slightly different than what the Crucial site recommends which would be:


I have Amazon credit which is why I ask..

and PC4-21300 is the same thing as PC4-21333 right?
 

chscag

macrumors 601
Feb 17, 2008
4,622
1,946
Fort Worth, Texas
Both will work okay. The Crucial kits that Amazon sells are essentially the same as from Crucial. I've used a Crucial Kit from Amazon to update the memory for my iMac and it worked great.
 

rpbrownphoto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 4, 2019
24
1
Both will work okay. The Crucial kits that Amazon sells are essentially the same as from Crucial. I've used a Crucial Kit from Amazon to update the memory for my iMac and it worked great.
Great, thanks!!
 

rpbrownphoto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 4, 2019
24
1
Well, of course, like everything else, this has turned into a hassle.

Got the iMac yesterday and immediately swapped out the 8GB of ram for 64GB of the aforementioned Crucial RAM from Amazon. Long story short the machine crashes every 10 seconds to a minute. It just reboots itself, I have access to the desktop for 30 seconds, then crashes again. I have Apple Care and was on the phone with a guy last night who confirmed that the RAM is certainly the culprit..

I took out the Crucial RAM and put back in the Apple RAM and the problem is gone. Of course now I have 8gb of RAM which renders this computer useless.

What RAM should I try next? Should I get Crucial ram again the the mac specific brand?

Or should I try the OWC stuff? The OWC2666DDR4S64S

 

BATman.Berlin

macrumors regular
Jun 13, 2015
239
182
California
Have you put them into the respective slots (1 and 3)? The specs for these modules look ok. Other than that I can only assume the module itself is defective. A checkup from recovery could reveal that
 

rpbrownphoto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 4, 2019
24
1
I had to use all 4 modules as I had four sticks of 16. Returned that ram today and ordered the OWC 2019 iMac specific stuff. Since I got the Crucial from amazon, it very well could have been defective or some ****** low key knock off...
 

CWallace

macrumors G5
Aug 17, 2007
12,376
11,264
Seattle, WA
Have you tried to isolate the bad DIMM by installing just one of them at a time and booting off it it? If that works, try installing two at a time and rotate through them to see if you can reproduce the error.

I've used Crucial RAM in multiple iMacs (including my current one) without issue, so it's likely either a defective DIMM outright or something causing the DIMM to fail when used in pairs or quads.
 

rpbrownphoto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 4, 2019
24
1
That’s a good idea but I already sent it back. Getting pretty sick of flipping my iMac face down over and over and over again. Figured might as well just start fresh with something else instead of trying to return like one stick of ram out of the 4 or something.. hopefully it’s the ram and not the iMac itself because I’m gonna be bummed if I have to send it back.
 

Phil77354

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2014
1,925
2,032
Pacific Northwest, U.S.
The Crucial kits that Amazon sells are essentially the same as from Crucial.

I'm curious, even though you've already returned this RAM - when you purchased from Amazon, was the purchase from the Crucial store (sold by Amazon) or from another seller? Was the part number on the RAM exactly the same as what was specified on the Crucial website for this application?
 

rpbrownphoto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 4, 2019
24
1
The Crucial ram from Amazon was garbage. Made my iMac crash over and over and the OWC iMac specific ram works perfectly. Pretty damn fast with 64GB. I found out while purchasing said ram that the 2019 iMac's can even handle 128GB! I almost did that but then I realized how much of an unnecessary flex that is for someone like me who's just using PS and LR. Upgrading to this 3.7ghz iMac with 2TB of storage and 64gb of ram was such a wise investment. Retouching is actually enjoyable now. Hopefully there are actually jobs available once this pandemic is cleared up (if ever?)

I have a bit or neurosis so please tell me I'm tripping: Having that crucial ram in my machine for a couple hours when setting this iMac up wouldn't do any permanent damage to the computer, right? My luck is laughably terrible so I worry about that. It's fine, right? Computer runs perfectly now but it's always in the back of my mind.

I hate that I had to lay this brand new iMac face down on a towel 3 times and keep propping open the ram gate, but the towel was clean and I don't see any scratches. I should be totally fine, yeah?

Another funny thing: the ram from Amazon was clearly defective because there were numerous reviews saying it worked for others just fine. I think the ram in the packaging must've been different from what was advertised. I sent it back and was accused by Amazon (in a roundabout way) of hustling them leading me to believe I'm right, it wasn't the ram that I purchased.
 

mindquest

macrumors 6502a
Oct 25, 2009
523
103
I had to use all 4 modules as I had four sticks of 16. Returned that ram today and ordered the OWC 2019 iMac specific stuff. Since I got the Crucial from amazon, it very well could have been defective or some ****** low key knock off...
You can never go wrong ordering OWC ram!! Their customer support is A+. Had. them swap out some bad ram after 6 years of use no questions asked.
 

rpbrownphoto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 4, 2019
24
1
I'm glad I went with OWC! The ram was sold and fulfilled by Amazon, so something must have been off. Shouldn't be any long term damage or anything from having the wrong ram in the computer for a couple hours or less, right?
 

alisalem

macrumors regular
Apr 12, 2013
158
123
Mississauga, ON
The Crucial ram from Amazon was garbage. Made my iMac crash over and over and the OWC iMac specific ram works perfectly. Pretty damn fast with 64GB. I found out while purchasing said ram that the 2019 iMac's can even handle 128GB! I almost did that but then I realized how much of an unnecessary flex that is for someone like me who's just using PS and LR. Upgrading to this 3.7ghz iMac with 2TB of storage and 64gb of ram was such a wise investment. Retouching is actually enjoyable now. Hopefully there are actually jobs available once this pandemic is cleared up (if ever?)

I have a bit or neurosis so please tell me I'm tripping: Having that crucial ram in my machine for a couple hours when setting this iMac up wouldn't do any permanent damage to the computer, right? My luck is laughably terrible so I worry about that. It's fine, right? Computer runs perfectly now but it's always in the back of my mind.

I hate that I had to lay this brand new iMac face down on a towel 3 times and keep propping open the ram gate, but the towel was clean and I don't see any scratches. I should be totally fine, yeah?

Another funny thing: the ram from Amazon was clearly defective because there were numerous reviews saying it worked for others just fine. I think the ram in the packaging must've been different from what was advertised. I sent it back and was accused by Amazon (in a roundabout way) of hustling them leading me to believe I'm right, it wasn't the ram that I purchased.

Not sure what happened in your case but I've been using the ones from Amazon with zero problems. I've paired mine with the 16GB I got from Apple for a total of 40GB.
 
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