Do new iMacs use 8 gb of DDR3 RAM efficiently?

[bluesphere]

Hello,

I am considering the iMac, and would like one specced with 8 gb of DDR3. However, I have heard of Mac laptops being unable to take advantage of RAM above 6 gigs. Is this a problem at the operating system level, or specific to the laptop platforms? Will the iMac be able to address/use the additional 4 gigs of RAM? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks.

 

[iLog.Genius]

If the iMac is supported (according to spec sheet, all iMac's support 8GB) then yes it would (don't see why Apple would offer it isn't supported fully.

 

[bluesphere]

If the iMac is supported (according to spec sheet, all iMac's support 8GB) then yes it would (don't see why Apple would offer it isn't supported fully.

Yeah, but that having been said, didn't Apple offer a 4 gig upgrade for laptops that couldn't take advantage of it? Also, if it's a problem addressing memory larger than 6 gigs, wouldn't that be an operating system issue? I remember someone saying that Windows has some constraints on the amount of memory it addresses too (not looking to start an argument, of course).

I mean, it seems unlikely that the iMacs wouldn't support it if it were built in, but the upgrade is also very expensive, so I wanted to make sure. Anyone have any experience with the 8 gig iMacs?

 

[wetrix]

Yeah, but that having been said, didn't Apple offer a 4 gig upgrade for laptops that couldn't take advantage of it?

The 4 GB DDR3 SODIMM upgrade you speak of is specifically for the 17" Pro and the 2.93 GHz and 2.66 GHz 15" Pros. Though there is some confusion in the tech specs, Apple does guarantee that these machines support 8 GB. See near top of http://store.apple.com/us/memorymodel/ME_15_2_93_MBP

There have been no claims that this configuration doesn't work.

 

[iLog.Genius]

Yeah, but that having been said, didn't Apple offer a 4 gig upgrade for laptops that couldn't take advantage of it? Also, if it's a problem addressing memory larger than 6 gigs, wouldn't that be an operating system issue? I remember someone saying that Windows has some constraints on the amount of memory it addresses too (not looking to start an argument, of course).

I mean, it seems unlikely that the iMacs wouldn't support it if it were built in, but the upgrade is also very expensive, so I wanted to make sure. Anyone have any experience with the 8 gig iMacs?

Yeah that was a software error when the Late-2008 models were released and was since then fixed with an update. It's not like it's a test to determine whether it will work, it's offered so it works. If there are any problems, it will be fixed with an update so no need to worry.