4 gigs vs 8 gigs.

[Nautilus007]

just picked up an imac 21.5 high end model with 4 gigs of ddr3 ram.
Question is will me upgrading to 8 gigs show a significant different in everyday performance ?

also correct me if im wrong but the machine has 4 slots for ram?

i usually watch movies browse the web and play occasional games adding in some photoshop usage is the 8 gig upgrade worth it?

 

[littlelarry33]

just picked up an imac 21.5 high end model with 4 gigs of ddr3 ram.
Question is will me upgrading to 8 gigs show a significant different in everyday performance ?

also correct me if im wrong but the machine has 4 slots for ram?

i usually watch movies browse the web and play occasional games adding in some photoshop usage is the 8 gig upgrade worth it?

I know it has 4 slots but I too would like to know if it is a substantial boost or if it is even needed now.

 

[negatv1]

8GB is great, but your 21.5 only has two SO-DIMM slots. You'd have to buy the much more expensive 4gb SO-DIMMS to get 8GB.

 

[macjunk(ie)]

just picked up an imac 21.5 high end model with 4 gigs of ddr3 ram.
Question is will me upgrading to 8 gigs show a significant different in everyday performance ?

also correct me if im wrong but the machine has 4 slots for ram?

i usually watch movies browse the web and play occasional games adding in some photoshop usage is the 8 gig upgrade worth it?

and for your usage...4GB is more than enough..

 

[toddngina]

8GB is great, but your 21.5 only has two SO-DIMM slots. You'd have to buy the much more expensive 4gb SO-DIMMS to get 8GB.

Negative. Listed for BOTH sizes on the Spec sheet: "4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; four SO-DIMM slots support up to 16GB"

 

[dwd3885]

Negative. Listed for BOTH sizes on the Spec sheet: "4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; four SO-DIMM slots support up to 16GB"

yep, 4 slots on the 21.5

 

[negatv1]

Hmm.. why is there not a build to order option of greater than 8GB if there are four slots?

Maybe someone who actually has one can verify. I'm waiting for my 27inch...

 

[pukifloyd]

Negative. Listed for BOTH sizes on the Spec sheet: "4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; four SO-DIMM slots support up to 16GB"

+1...both the new imacs have 4 slots

to the OP
i don't think you need extra RAM for that kind of work...if you really want it then upgrade it to 6 gb...but i think you'll be fine on 4gb

 

[Ace134blue]

just picked up an imac 21.5 high end model with 4 gigs of ddr3 ram.
Question is will me upgrading to 8 gigs show a significant different in everyday performance ?

also correct me if im wrong but the machine has 4 slots for ram?

i usually watch movies browse the web and play occasional games adding in some photoshop usage is the 8 gig upgrade worth it?

IT has 2 slots, only the 27 inch has 4 slots
Oh wait nevermind . Thought they used two 4gb so-dimms.

 

[toddngina]

Hmm.. why is there not a build to order option of greater than 8GB if there are four slots?

Maybe someone who actually has one can verify. I'm waiting for my 27inch...

Maybe they figured if you're hardcore enough to go past 8 GB, then you most likely won't be buying the 21.5, so why bother offering it. The order page for the 21.5 specifically mentions 4 sticks for the upgrade to 8 GB (and why it's only $200): "8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB [Add $200.00]"

 

[fr4c]

8GB seems a bit overkill, so just stick with the 4GB. Even at 4 x 2GB it is still quite expensive just for normal computer use.

 

[drrich2]

Since you can add RAM after purchase it seems you can wait awhile, even if you do upgrade. The main potential benefit I see that could affect a substantial segment of the user base is if you run Windows XP, VISTA or 7 via virtual machine software (e.g.: VMware Fusion, Parallels) and want to give 4 gigs RAM to each OS (Mac OS X & Windows) and have overhead to concurrently run app.s in both.

Richard.

 

[larzy]

I have a question - can I mix the current 2x2GB already in the new iMac with the 2x2GB I bought from Crucial for my Macbook Pro 13"?

Or is it better to have 4x2GB of the same brand / type of Ram manufactor?

 

[Hexley]

+1...both the new imacs have 4 slots

to the OP
i don't think you need extra RAM for that kind of work...if you really want it then upgrade it to 6 gb...but i think you'll be fine on 4gb

For a moment I found the 6GB suggestion odd until I remembered that I upgraded my late 2008 Macbook Pro's memory to 4GB and kept my 2GB.

So I have a "free" upgrade until 4GB SO-DIMMs go down in prices then upgrade to 16GB for hopefully $200-300.