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??? about 12gb of ram in 2010 iMac

RowdyYates

RowdyYates

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 23, 2010
46
2
a) I assume the new 2010 iMac can handle 12gb of ram (2 X 2gb + 2 X 4gb) with no problem. Is that a correct assumption?

b) Do the 4gb & 2gb sticks have to be installed in a particular order? (i.e. 4gb sticks in the left slots and 2gb sticks in the right) Or, just plug them into any slot and let 'er rip!

Thx in advance.
 
RowdyYates said:
a) I assume the new 2010 iMac can handle 12gb of ram (2 X 2gb + 2 X 4gb) with no problem. Is that a correct assumption?

b) Do the 4gb & 2gb sticks have to be installed in a particular order? (i.e. 4gb sticks in the left slots and 2gb sticks in the right) Or, just plug them into any slot and let 'er rip!

Thx in advance.
Click to expand...

12gb is fine, it worked well in the previous generation as well. The ram is plug and play as long as you install them in matching pairs :)
 
RowdyYates said:
a) I assume the new 2010 iMac can handle 12gb of ram (2 X 2gb + 2 X 4gb) with no problem. Is that a correct assumption?

b) Do the 4gb & 2gb sticks have to be installed in a particular order? (i.e. 4gb sticks in the left slots and 2gb sticks in the right) Or, just plug them into any slot and let 'er rip!

Thx in advance.
Click to expand...

I have 12GB on my recently purchased refurb and I just plugged the matching 2x4GB pair in the available slots and off we went.
 
The current and last generation iMacs support 16GB of RAM.

The RAM sticks have to be installed in pairs I guess, 2 x 2GB left, 2 x 4GB right, or vice versa. But I'm not 100% sure, I even think it could be like this 2GB, 4GB, 4GB, 2GB or 4GB, 2GB, 2GB, 4GB.
 
As long as all sticks have the same latency you should be fine.
I believe the CAS Latency on the 2010 iMacs is 9, and they support up to 16GB RAM (4x4GB)
 
spinnerlys said:
The current and last generation iMacs support 16GB of RAM.

The RAM sticks have to be installed in pairs I guess, 2 x 2GB left, 2 x 4GB right, or vice versa. But I'm not 100% sure, I even think it could be like this 2GB, 4GB, 4GB, 2GB or 4GB, 2GB, 2GB, 4GB.
Click to expand...

The RAM only has to be installed in pairs if you want to take advantage or the Dual-Channel feature. This would require matching pairs. However, I highly doubt you will notice a performance difference. So Just match up the CAS and you are good to go with any combination of SO-DIMMS.

2009 iMacs: PC3-8500 - 1066Mhz
2010 iMacs: PC3-10600 - 1333Mhz
 
dexthageek said:
The RAM only has to be installed in pairs if you want to take advantage or the Dual-Channel feature. This would require matching pairs. However, I highly doubt you will notice a performance difference. So Just match up the CAS and you are good to go with any combination of SO-DIMMS.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I should have added that (Dual-Channel). But how would be the correct seating of the RAM to take advantage of Dual-Channel?

And how is the RAM seated anyway?
 
spinnerlys said:
Thanks, I should have added that (Dual-Channel). But how would be the correct seating of the RAM to take advantage of Dual-Channel?

And how is the RAM seated anyway?
Click to expand...

Simply install matching pairs.

Example
Slot 1: \
--------| Use Matching Pair: Same Speed, Size and Latency, etc..
Slot 2: /
Slot 3: \
--------| Use Matching Pair: Same Speed, Size and Latency, etc..
Slot 4: /

I wouldnt buy anything except
PC3-8500 CL 7 (2009)
PC3-10600 CL 9 (2010)

If you stick with the above and just get matching sizes in pairs Dual-Channel will be enabled automatically. But like I said before, you do not have to do this, and I highly doubt the performance gains will be noticeable.

iMac (2009)
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/DDR3_21.5_27

iMac (2010)
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2010/DDR3_21.5_27

http://newegg.com usually has good prices as well.
 
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