whats the deal with memory?

[Mac'nCheese]

Can someone explain why when you upgrade your imac from the apple store, there is such a big difference in buying 8 gigs of ram?
For instance: 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB Add $188.00

versus: 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB Add $564.00


Its still 8 gb!!!! Why the big difference? Do two 4gb work so much better then four 2gb? I'm sooo confused!

 

[flopticalcube]

4GB SODIMMs are very expensive still. They are half the physical size of 2 2GB SODIMMS so you pay for the miniaturization.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

that makes sense, the only thing that doesn't is why would anyone buy the more expensive set up?

 

[bobob]

that makes sense, the only thing that doesn't is why would anyone buy the more expensive set up?

Convenience/excess cash.

 

[dukebound85]

you only have so many slots

using 4 gig sticks allows for more capacity than using many smaller rams

 

[spinnerlys]

that makes sense, the only thing that doesn't is why would anyone buy the more expensive set up?

Because of math and the current iMacs support up to 16GB of RAM, which can only be attained by 4 x 4GB as the iMac has only four memory slots.