6GB RAM worth it over 4GB on 07 Alu iMac?

[powerbook911]

I have a September 2007 Aluminum iMac. The first aluminum model.

It's great.

I know I can now upgrade from 4 GB to 6 GB. However, will that give me performance increase, or will I notice decrease since I'd lose the dual channel or whatever the current terminology is.

Many thanks for any advice.

 

[arnop]

It depends on what you're doing with your iMac. If you're only browsing Facebook and checking your emails, you won't need 2g more. On the other hand, if you use Photoshop, iPhoto, Aperture and other large applications, don't hesitate to add these 2gs...

 

[TMRaven]

Let your activity monitor be the judge of that.

If page outs are 20% or more of page ins then consider some more. (Not after a fresh restart, but after quite some time of everyday use)

 

[toxic]

if you're RAM-limited, dual/triple channel is meaningless. swapping to disk is hundreds of times slower, and dual channeling is only marginally faster.

 

[flopticalcube]

You would only lose out on dual channel in the upper 2GB. Having said that, what are you doing that requires so much RAM? Check your page in/out ratio.

 

[fhall1]

More RAM would allow you to give more memory to virtual installations using Parallels/Fusion (if you use them)

 

[Loono]

Thw 2007 aluminium iMac models have a 4Gb cap.

 

[TMRaven]

Thw 2007 aluminium iMac models have a 4Gb cap.

Actually they all unofficially support 6gb.

 

[CaneCollegeboy]

VM size 118 GB

Page ins: 456.6 MB

Page out: 1.0 MB

Would that be a good candidate for a memory upgrade since i have the same machine?

 

[TMRaven]

VM size 118 GB

Page ins: 456.6 MB

Page out: 1.0 MB

Would that be a good candidate for a memory upgrade since i have the same machine?

Depends or not if that exemplifies a couple days of your typical usage. Is so, then no.

 

[sscotti]

How to upgrade to 6GB from 4Gb?

How do you upgrade? I currently have 2 2GB sticks. You just swap out a 2 GB for a 4 GB? Any special instructions or restrictions?

 

[rkaufmann87]

How do you upgrade? I currently have 2 2GB sticks. You just swap out a 2 GB for a 4 GB? Any special instructions or restrictions?

None, just ensure the new DIMM is the correct specifications and that's it. I did mine 2 weeks ago and installed it in the right bank. I use Aperture and Fusion, both are snappier now.