RAM upgrade

[darkanddivine]

Hey everyone, I thought I'd drop in to say how fantastic my iMac has been since I got it in August. I ended up choosing the white 20" with 2g of RAM and everything else maxed out. I hoped to get a cheaper newer one but screen glare issues put paid to that. I have to say I haven't looked back and I've not yet had to restart the thing, or had any problems with it in general. It's amazing what a stress free computering life it is with a mac.

Anyhow I do have one question. I'm sure after the release of the new iMacs there were a few comments suggesting that the white iMac can accept 4g of RAM. Though I have no idea how that would work, does anyone know if it does? I may up from 2 to 3 in the future if I feel the need, however even for my graphics work on CS3 - this thing runs brilliantly.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Anyhow I do have one question. I'm sure after the release of the new iMacs there were a few comments suggesting that the white iMac can accept 4g of RAM. Though I have no idea how that would work, does anyone know if it does? I may up from 2 to 3 in the future if I feel the need, however even for my graphics work on CS3 - this thing runs brilliantly.

Congratulations on the iMac. Only the newer aluminum iMacs with the Santa Rosa chipset can do 4GB of RAM. With the white iMac you are limited to 3GB total.

 

[Consultant]

It's been discussed here
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/377498/

Conclusion: pre-santa rosa boards cannot USE more than 3.3 gb of ram, although in practical use it's actually limited to 3gb (it might REPORT 4gb of ram, but actually only uses 3GB due to hardware limitations, no matter what OS you use).

 

[ImperialX]

Since you already have 2 GB, you might as well stick with it so that you benefit from Dual Channel.

 

[CanadaRAM]

On the contrary - the extra performance of the additional 1 Gb (especially for CS3 apps) outweighs the 6% - 8% loss of Dual Channel.

MR Guide to Understanding Intel Mac RAM.

Since RAM is now so cheap, you can install 4 Gb to retain Dual Channel access for that last little bit of speed with 3 - 3.3 Gb of memory available.

 

[Consultant]

On the contrary - the extra performance of the additional 1 Gb (especially for CS3 apps) outweighs the 6% - 8% loss of Dual Channel.

MR Guide to Understanding Intel Mac RAM.

Since RAM is now so cheap, you can install 4 Gb to retain Dual Channel access for that last little bit of speed with 3 - 3.3 Gb of memory available.

Yup it's only $30 difference to install 4gb than 3gb (although you can only access 3gb), but the RAM will have dual channel.