Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
  • Like
Reactions: 28Gauge
I installed 32GB (2x16GB) of Timetec Hynix RAM 2667Ghz in my iMac 2019 i9 9900K (from Amazon) and it works very well.

Now, I have in total 40GB of RAM and the system is very stable, silent and with an excellent performance.

Hi Sam, where did you put in the new ones? Did you put the new ones in the empty slots, or did you move the original ones into the empty slots and put the new ones in the slots where the original RAM was in? I read conflicting views on this. Thanks.
 
Hi Sam, where did you put in the new ones? Did you put the new ones in the empty slots, or did you move the original ones into the empty slots and put the new ones in the slots where the original RAM was in? I read conflicting views on this. Thanks.

You don’t have to move anything. Just put the new RAM sticks in the empty slots.
 
Hi Sam, where did you put in the new ones? Did you put the new ones in the empty slots, or did you move the original ones into the empty slots and put the new ones in the slots where the original RAM was in? I read conflicting views on this. Thanks.


The original RAM is already interleaved for max performance, so you should not move them. You simply place the new RAM into the empty slots to interleave those new ones too (assuming the new SIMMs are same size RAM to each other; they do not need to be same size as original SIMMS. In other words, interleaving works in pairs).
 
Hey guys!

For $150 I can get either 2x16gb or 4x8gb from Crucial.

Which do you think would be best ? With the first option I get 40gb ram (32+8) but with the second option all the ram stick would be exactly the same... is it more optimized this way ?

Btw even 32gb is overkill for me but I want to "future proof" the machine in the best way possible.
 
Hey guys!

For $150 I can get either 2x16gb or 4x8gb from Crucial.

Which do you think would be best ? With the first option I get 40gb ram (32+8) but with the second option all the ram stick would be exactly the same... is it more optimized this way ?

Btw even 32gb is overkill for me but I want to "future proof" the machine in the best way possible.

2x16GB is definitely the way to go for future proofing, otherwise there is no difference. You can mix 16GB with 8GB SIMMS...the optimal installation is to always pair the SIMMS with the same size, called interleaving... this gives RAM about a 5-10% boost. Simply install them in the empty slots (the original are already interleaved).
 
2x16GB is definitely the way to go for future proofing, otherwise there is no difference. You can mix 16GB with 8GB SIMMS...the optimal installation is to always pair the SIMMS with the same size, called interleaving... this gives RAM about a 5-10% boost. Simply install them in the empty slots (the original are already interleaved).

Thanks! And just to confirm, the base model (8th gen i5 3,0ghz, I think it’s the 8500) supports more than 32gb of ram ?

Apple only offers up to 32gb ram on this model so I want to make sure I’m not going to damage the computer or he processor by going to 40gb and maybe 64gb in the future..
 
Thanks! And just to confirm, the base model (8th gen i5 3,0ghz, I think it’s the 8500) supports more than 32gb of ram ?

Apple only offers up to 32gb ram on this model so I want to make sure I’m not going to damage the computer or he processor by going to 40gb and maybe 64gb in the future..

Yes, 2019 iMacs support up to 64GB of RAM. If you ever attempted to put more RAM into any computer, the computer most likely will simply only read up to the max it supports. In worst case, the computer might give an error or just not start. No damage can occur; you would simply have to remove the extra if it does not start up.
 
The discrepancy between what Apple officially (tests and) supports and what the hardware actually supports in real life dates back to the PowerMac days.

Back then, the base model 7200 could use as much memory as its bigger brothers, but the unofficial word from Apple was that its lower spec was strictly due to different (lower) testing parameters, likely influenced by market segmentation. That they're still doing that now with the 3.0GHz model is kind of silly.

I'm curious as to what the real difference is between Crucial's S266M and SFD8266 memory.

Both are reputed to work just fine, but the former is what they spec for the iMac 2019, and the latter the mini 2018, along with a slew of other options, including 3200 DIMMs. For a computer that doesn't officially have user-installatble memory.

Some funny games.
 
I just bought a 2019 iMac and the Crucial S266M 32GB. Crucial’s website said that was the recommended RAM for the 2019 iMac. I don’t know what the difference between it and the SFD8266 is, the main specs look the same, but figured it would be safer to go with what Crucial recommends.


FWIW, here’s what Crucial says about it: “Take the guesswork out of upgrading your Mac with Crucial® memory for Mac systems. Since Apple® computers often have very specific memory requirements, including particular component densities, speeds, and SPD programming specifications, it’s important to use memory that’s engineered for your Mac. With more than a decade of experience manufacturing and developing memory for all types of Apple computers, Crucial makes adding memory the easiest way to upgrade your Mac.”
 
Last edited:
I just bought a 2019 iMac and the Crucial S266M 32GB. Crucial’s website said that was the recommended RAM for the 2019 iMac. I don’t know what the difference between it and the SFD8266 is, the main specs look the same, but figured it would be safer to go with what Crucial recommends.


FWIW, here’s what Crucial says about it: “Take the guesswork out of upgrading your Mac with Crucial® memory for Mac systems. Since Apple® computers often have very specific memory requirements, including particular component densities, speeds, and SPD programming specifications, it’s important to use memory that’s engineered for your Mac. With more than a decade of experience manufacturing and developing memory for all types of Apple computers, Crucial makes adding memory the easiest way to upgrade your Mac.”

I've been using the SFD8266 for almost 6 months with zero issues. Some people have suggested it was saying not compatible due to some elements in manufacturing (lead free/halogen free) along those lines. Crucial gave conflicting answers on whether it was compatible or not, some reps said yes, some said no.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 28Gauge
I've been using the SFD8266 for almost 6 months with zero issues. Some people have suggested it was saying not compatible due to some elements in manufacturing (lead free/halogen free) along those lines. Crucial gave conflicting answers on whether it was compatible or not, some reps said yes, some said no.

Same here. I have been running the SFD8266 RAM for a couple of months now with no issues at all.
 
I ordered this: https://smile.amazon.com/Crucial-16GBx2-PC4-21300-SODIMM-260-Pin/dp/B071H38422

It’s $30 cheaper than MacSales and seems to be the correct speed and pin layout. Furthermore people seem to have had no problem installing it into the new Mac Mini and I’ve had good luck with Crucial in the past. Make sure you keep your 8GB because there are four slots. Then you can have matched channel pairings to get full speed at 40GB, which is what I’m doing.
Did you have any Problems in compability? Is the RAM running with 2666mhz or 2400 combined with the stock modules?
 
Since the Crucial 16GB SFS8266 (2x8) kit has come back into stock at Amazon, and prices are drifiting up, I burned off some gift cards and placed an order.

I don't anticipate any issues, since these sticks are recommended for the 2018 mini, and it and shares the same memory specs with the 2019 iMac. Apple installs the same for both models at the factory, and vendors like OWC sell the same memory for both as well.

The S266M sticks that Crucial officially recommends for the '19 iMac are a bit more expensive, harder to find, and with the only apparent spec differences compared to the 8266 sticks being environmental, not worth the effort to track down.

If I can't join the chorus of other happy 8266 users, I'll leave a note.

Update: Installed the kit, and it's recognized and runs at full speed.
 
Last edited:
Mine had Microns. But rumor says Tim Cook has made sure that supply chains are at least duplicated if not triplicated.
 

Attachments

  • 8A1CBC97-FE2B-44ED-8D4F-DFCB54EDF797.jpeg
    8A1CBC97-FE2B-44ED-8D4F-DFCB54EDF797.jpeg
    832.4 KB · Views: 481
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.