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Where to get ram

S

seattlecal

macrumors member
Original poster
May 25, 2009
32
0
I'm going to be getting the imac that is $1799 it comes with 2.93 ghz but I'm going to lift it to 3.06 ghz. It also comes with 4 ram. I'm going to be getting logic studio, taking guitar and piano lessons from gband and getting the symphonic choir that takes up significant amount of space. I want my computer to run as smoothly as possible and somebody said get ram, ram and more ram. To go from 4 ram to 8 ram on apple it is $1000 and I was hoping someone may know where to get it for much cheaper. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks:)
 
Hellhammer I see you've got the specifications of the new imac I'll be getting. So how long do you propose I wait til and who do I go to at that point. I appreciate your help. thanks bunch:)
 
seattlecal said:
Hellhammer I see you've got the specifications of the new imac I'll be getting. So how long do you propose I wait til and who do I go to at that point. I appreciate your help. thanks bunch:)
Click to expand...

Currently I'm running Safari with 13 tabs opened, Photoshop CS4, Aperture 2, iTunes, Adium... Things like that at the same time without slowdowns. 80% of my RAM is in use now which is quite much but no lags or crashes.

I can't say how much you have to wait but prices are coming down all the time, so ~6 months and 8Gb will be at reasonable price. Bookmark those links and look them as the time goes by, I can't say which will be the cheapest, but I've always used Crucial. 4Gb is enough for most people, if it isn't for you, buy 8Gb or think about Mac Pro. High-end iMac with 8Gb is more than quad MP
 
thanks to all. stupid question sorry still new. Is gb the same as ram. And if so I would already have 4 ram so I probably just need 4 more. Does this sound correct or just totally misinformed? Sorry about my lack of computer knowledge I swear I'm learning slowly but steadily.:)
 
seattlecal said:
thanks to all. stupid question sorry still new. Is gb the same as ram. And if so I would already have 4 ram so I probably just need 4 more. Does this sound correct or just totally misinformed? Sorry about my lack of computer knowledge I swear I'm learning slowly but steadily.:)
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Your computer right now has 2 x 2gig sticks in it = 4 gigs. You only have room for two sticks, so you would need two completely new ones, hence 2 x 4gig sticks = 8 gigs.

Don't worry about the questions, that what this place is for. Congrats on the iMac purchase.
 
Just swap out one of the 2GB sticks for a 4GB one if you absolutely need more memory. Don't forget that more memory won't do you any good if you don't use it.
 
geoffreak said:
Just swap out one of the 2GB sticks for a 4GB one if you absolutely need more memory. Don't forget that more memory won't do you any good if you don't use it.
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Geoffreak has got a point. Why don't you get the machine you have and run what you need. Download this Widget, http://www.islayer.com/apps/istatpro/

It's free and will tell you how much of your RAM you are using. If you are running out, splurge for the 8 gigs, if not, don't worry about it.
 
Thanks guys my issue is that I will be running logic studio, using gband lessons, and hope to get the symphonic choir. I understand the choir takes up a great deal of space I would however be saving all of my projects in logic studio to an external harddrive. And probably dumping the gband lessons off my computer after I finish them as I believe you can download them anytime. So does this sound like it would run smoothly under the current imac parameters of 3.06 ghz and 4 ram. I'd be thrilled if this is all I need but if you see something in this note that flashes a light in your head that says he's gonna need more of this or more of that please do let me know. Thanks for the continued support:)
 
seattlecal said:
Thanks guys my issue is that I will be running logic studio, using gband lessons, and hope to get the symphonic choir. I understand the choir takes up a great deal of space I would however be saving all of my projects in logic studio to an external harddrive. And probably dumping the gband lessons off my computer after I finish them as I believe you can download them anytime. So does this sound like it would run smoothly under the current imac parameters of 3.06 ghz and 4 ram. I'd be thrilled if this is all I need but if you see something in this note that flashes a light in your head that says he's gonna need more of this or more of that please do let me know. Thanks for the continued support:)
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I think you will be fine with 4, but again, once you get it you'll have the 4 gigs anyway, so test it out. If the RAM is being used up, go for the 8.
 
Now do you think this is way out there and I'm not understanding. I went to crucial's website and looked up their ram and I think it said 4 gb for 55 bucks. Is this the wrong thing I'm looking at or just some incredible deal?:)
 
seattlecal said:
Now do you think this is way out there and I'm not understanding. I went to crucial's website and looked up their ram and I think it said 4 gb for 55 bucks. Is this the wrong thing I'm looking at or just some incredible deal?:)
Click to expand...

You are probably looking at 2 2GB sticks. 1 4GB stick is around $300-$400.
 
MacMini2009 said:
You are probably looking at 2 2GB sticks. 1 4GB stick is around $300-$400.
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This is exactly it.

The iMac only has two spots for RAM.

Currently, the iMac you ordered will have each slot filled with a stick that has 2 gigs. That gives you a total of 4 gigs of RAM.

If you want 8, you must replace each set you already have with two new 4 gig sticks. Those sticks cost around $300-400 each.
 
newegg.com

...look for RAM with the manufaturer's name of OWC, Crucial, or Mushkin.

OWC is my personal choice, but the 4GB of DDR3 are gonna cost ya!

CrackBookPro:cool:
 
alright thanks guys I'm starting to gain an understanding on this. Thanks for your help
 
Not sure anyone will see this and this is really off the topic well sort of. With an imac at 3.06 ghz and 4 ram and using an external harddrive how many audio and instrument tracks would I be able to use with logic studio. I really hope it's over 20 for each and particularly audio. I use to only be able to use 16 with gband of each and found it insufficient. If anyone knows of even a rough estimation I'd appreciate it thanks:)
 
zedsdead said:
Geoffreak has got a point. Why don't you get the machine you have and run what you need. Download this Widget, http://www.islayer.com/apps/istatpro/

It's free and will tell you how much of your RAM you are using. If you are running out, splurge for the 8 gigs, if not, don't worry about it.
Click to expand...

what's interesting is when i pull up that widget, it never adds up to 4gigs of ram on my MBP.. last night i opened up every program i could ( :D ) and it still didnt' add up to 4gigs.. :confused:
 
seattlecal said:
Not sure anyone will see this and this is really off the topic well sort of. With an imac at 3.06 ghz and 4 ram and using an external harddrive how many audio and instrument tracks would I be able to use with logic studio. I really hope it's over 20 for each and particularly audio. I use to only be able to use 16 with gband of each and found it insufficient. If anyone knows of even a rough estimation I'd appreciate it thanks:)
Click to expand...

I think it can. Remember that you have 14 days to return it, so if it isn't enough for you, change it to Mac Pro

njl said:
what's interesting is when i pull up that widget, it never adds up to 4gigs of ram on my MBP.. last night i opened up every program i could ( :D ) and it still didnt' add up to 4gigs.. :confused:
Click to expand...

You can't get it fully used because system and apps "saves" RAM when it's starting to be fully used. That's because your system will likely fail if it's 100% used
 
Hellhammer, I would get a macpro in the first place but they are so expensive. In fact when I started the journey into getting a home studio that was the one that I wanted. But then figured out less funds were going to come in and switched to the imac. However if a macpro would do everything i've asked of it might be a good idea to push the deadline for equipment to a later date and splurge on it. What I did not get was that it showed it got 3 Gb and the imac got 4 so this is quite confusing. Let me know your thoughts I appreciate it.:)
 
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