Using 2400mhz RAM from iMac in New Mac Mini?

[rjsounds]

Pretty straight forward: I have 32gb 2400mhz ballistix RAM added to my 2017 27" iMac for 40gb total... I am eyeing up a new Mac Mini and am wondering if I can use the 32gb RAM in the Mac Mini instead. I know the Mac mini comes with 2666mhz RAM so if I use the iMac RAM:

1. will it even work?
2. If so, will the performance hit be noticeable?

Edit: and sorry for the non-Mac question but, if it doesn't work, would I be able to use this RAM for a Windows PC build? What limitations, if any, would I have in doing so? Thanks in advance.

 

[rmdeluca]

Pretty straight forward: I have 32gb 2400mhz ballistix RAM added to my 2017 27" iMac for 40gb total... I am eyeing up a new Mac Mini and am wondering if I can use the 32gb RAM in the Mac Mini instead. I know the Mac mini comes with 2666mhz RAM so if I use the iMac RAM:

1. will it even work?
2. If so, will the performance hit be noticeable?

Edit: and sorry for the non-Mac question but, if it doesn't work, would I be able to use this RAM for a Windows PC build? What limitations, if any, would I have in doing so? Thanks in advance.

1. Probably yes
2. Not really (5% or so difference on average)
3. No, most desktop PC motherboards use full sized DIMMs, not SO-DIMMs. They are appropriate for PC laptops though

 

[teksurv]

I am using 2400mhz G.Skill Ripjaws in my 2018 mini and it works fine.

 

[netdudeuk]

Pretty straight forward: I have 32gb 2400mhz ballistix RAM added to my 2017 27" iMac for 40gb total... I am eyeing up a new Mac Mini and am wondering if I can use the 32gb RAM in the Mac Mini instead. I know the Mac mini comes with 2666mhz RAM so if I use the iMac RAM:

1. will it even work?
2. If so, will the performance hit be noticeable?

Edit: and sorry for the non-Mac question but, if it doesn't work, would I be able to use this RAM for a Windows PC build? What limitations, if any, would I have in doing so? Thanks in advance.

It looks like you already have a very fine machine there. The 5K display alone is going to take some beating. It might be worth sharing your motivation and invite comments.

 

[rjsounds]

1. Probably yes
2. Not really (5% or so difference on average)
3. No, most desktop PC motherboards use full sized DIMMs, not SO-DIMMs. They are appropriate for PC laptops though

Thanks, I had a feeling the SO-DIMM RAM was more appropriate for Laptops.

I am using 2400mhz G.Skill Ripjaws in my 2018 mini and it works fine.

Thank you! This is really great to hear.

It looks like you already have a very fine machine there. The 5K display alone is going to take some beating. It might be worth sharing your motivation and invite comments.

Oh yes, it's a fabulous machine don't get me wrong, and I'd be happy to share my motivation. The truth is I'm selling the iMac because I want to build a custom gaming / editing PC while still having the ability to work in my main DAW Logic Pro X for music production. I've opted to not go for a hackintosh at this point, although it is something I may experiment with in the future. So I figured with the high resale value of my beefy iMac, I could use the funds to do the following:

-buy a 2018 Mac Mini (to become my main music production workstation)
-buy a 27" 1440p monitor (as an audio editor, the 5k screen was awesome to have, but definitely not necessary)
-purchase parts to build a custom gaming / video editing workstation

As much as I love my iMac, I realize for my needs it was still a compromise. I could game a little on the iMac but it wasn't great and the fan was really loud and annoying. If anyone has any comments on my decision I'd love to hear it. I'm 99% certain I will be happy with my decision, but there is still a part of me screaming "what are you doing man!? you have a beast of an iMac! Don't sell it!" haha.

 

[netdudeuk]

Sounds like a reasonable plan

 

[rmdeluca]

Thanks, I had a feeling the SO-DIMM RAM was more appropriate for Laptops.



Thank you! This is really great to hear.



Oh yes, it's a fabulous machine don't get me wrong, and I'd be happy to share my motivation. The truth is I'm selling the iMac because I want to build a custom gaming / editing PC while still having the ability to work in my main DAW Logic Pro X for music production. I've opted to not go for a hackintosh at this point, although it is something I may experiment with in the future. So I figured with the high resale value of my beefy iMac, I could use the funds to do the following:

-buy a 2018 Mac Mini (to become my main music production workstation)
-buy a 27" 1440p monitor (as an audio editor, the 5k screen was awesome to have, but definitely not necessary)
-purchase parts to build a custom gaming / video editing workstation

As much as I love my iMac, I realize for my needs it was still a compromise. I could game a little on the iMac but it wasn't great and the fan was really loud and annoying. If anyone has any comments on my decision I'd love to hear it. I'm 99% certain I will be happy with my decision, but there is still a part of me screaming "what are you doing man!? you have a beast of an iMac! Don't sell it!" haha.

You may be pleased to know that you can purchase a decent GPU and a good eGPU enclosure and game just fine on your Mini under Bootcamp. This is what I've done, my gaming PC became my wife's and now I just boot into Windows to play games on my Mini.

 

[rjsounds]

You may be pleased to know that you can purchase a decent GPU and a good eGPU enclosure and game just fine on your Mini under Bootcamp. This is what I've done, my gaming PC became my wife's and now I just boot into Windows to play games on my Mini.

Yes, that is a nice feature however my intention is to have a fully upgradeable PC built from the ground up. But it's great there is that option for others.