super noob memory question

Discussion in 'iMac' started by Nooblife, Jul 27, 2015.

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  1. Nooblife, Jul 27, 2015

    Nooblife macrumors newbie

    Nooblife

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2015
    #1
    hi all,

    Am sure this has been discussed abt a billion times but would love if all you experts could humor me again as i just want to make sure the info i am going off of is current and applies to my setup.... im pretty useless when it comes to this stuff.

    I bought a 27 inch imac - believe the 2013 ediiton. I got in aug 2014 just before they released the Retina. It is NOT a retina. - not that i'm sure it matters for my question.


    So all that aside. I currently have just the stock setup. i believe 8 GB RAM

    Seems to me that since she is capable of 32, why not right?

    so two questions:

    1. Is there a reason why i wouldn't/shouldnt want to go crazy on RAM and go to 32 that it can take or even just double to 16?

    2. How would i go about doing the same - assuming there is 1 8 gb ram in there now - i havent looked (still very prelim in my head) Do i just go and buy 3 more 8 gb cards? do i buy one 8 and one 16? do i scrap the original 8 and get 2 16's?



    Maybe it doesnt matter - thanks in advance all.


    Jack
     
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  2. phpmaven, Jul 28, 2015

    phpmaven macrumors 68040

    phpmaven

    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2009
    Location:
    San Clemente, CA USA
    #2
    The only reason not to upgrade the RAM is if you are really tight on funds. Right now you have 2 4GB sticks, so you could just buy 2 more to go to 16GB. 28GB sticks would be best so that if wanted to upgrade later, you could just get 2 more of the same. That would be the cheapest way to go. Probably $50 or less. There's always the chance that you could have some compatibility issues between the old and new sticks, so you may want to just get a new 16GB kit which would be $100 or so. Or you could go for 32GB which would run around $200. that would really be overkill for your needs, but if you're not worried about the money, go for it.
     
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  3. Weaselboy, Jul 28, 2015

    Weaselboy Moderator

    Weaselboy

    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2005
    Location:
    California
    #3
    Restart your Mac then use if for a while as you normally do. Then start Activity Monitor and go to the memory tab and look at the bottom where it says memory pressure. If that is all green, you will likely not benefit from more RAM.

    Unless you are doing some very heavy lifting there, I would be surprised if you need more than 8GB.
     
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