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pb1300

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 29, 2008
587
0
Aigio, Greece
How many memory slots are in the 3.06 27 incher, and how many slots are taking up on the basic setup? If there are four slots, are all four slots filled with 1gb cards? Im curious because I ordered my iMac from my job here, and I also ordered 2gb of memory, thinking I can go from 4gb to 6gb of ram. I was going to order a 4gb card, but it was 200 euros at my job. If anything, I will order a couple of more 2gb cards, but that all depends on the number of slots available/open.
 
Do you have to fill slots in pairs like on some peecee computers? Some machines run very slow or not at all if you don't fill each pair of slots with the same size/type of memory. Is that required for the new iMacs?

According to Kingston, if you want to do 'dual channel memory', yes you have to install the same memory in the two slots. I'd not buy a single 4g and get 2 2g instead, or two 4g which would be expensive...

Dual channel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-channel_architecture
 
Do you have to fill slots in pairs like on some peecee computers? Some machines run very slow or not at all if you don't fill each pair of slots with the same size/type of memory. Is that required for the new iMacs?

According to Kingston, if you want to do 'dual channel memory', yes you have to install the same memory in the two slots. I'd not buy a single 4g and get 2 2g instead, or two 4g which would be expensive...

Dual channel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-channel_architecture


You don't have to pair RAM for Macs as they will work with most any config (compatible RAM of course) but it's always best if you can and do. Indeed if you want it to run dual channel and reap the most from your memory then drop in matching pairs.
 
You don't have to pair RAM for Macs as they will work with most any config (compatible RAM of course) but it's always best if you can and do. Indeed if you want it to run dual channel and reap the most from your memory then drop in matching pairs.
I thought the current iMacs did not have dual channel memory (see the following link from crucial.com).
 
2 different matching pairs?

Sorry for the newb question, but I'm still learning about the whole dual channel memory thing. To get the full benefits, would all 4 slots have to have matching ram or can there just two different pairs of matching ram? In other words, could I add 2x1GB ram to the two open slots on my iMac and still have the dual channel, or would that negate it?
 
Unless you plan to get 4 now and 4 very soon after, you're probably better off just getting a 2 x 2GB. It's a lot less money, and in a year or so prices will probably have dropped enough that you can buy 2 x 4GB for less than what you would have spent for the 1 x 4GB now. That's been true for me in the past, at least.
 
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