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How to buy Aftermarket RAM for new iMac

Agreed. Excellent post. And I was going to wait for 800 MHz RAM for my new iMac :p
 
After CanadaRAMs post, I am wondering how much of a difference the 3GB will be as opposed to a matching set of 1GB+1GB for a total of 2GB. I am guessing that the 6-8% speed reduction from mismatched chipsets shouldn't offset the additional GB that the 1GB+2GB setup will have..

What do you think Canada?
 
Mikebike125 said:
After CanadaRAMs post, I am wondering how much of a difference the 3GB will be as opposed to a matching set of 1GB+1GB for a total of 2GB. I am guessing that the 6-8% speed reduction from mismatched chipsets shouldn't offset the additional GB that the 1GB+2GB setup will have..

What do you think Canada?
Click to expand...
It depends how you use your machine.

If you never use more than 2 Gb of memory in applications and data running at one time, then you won't see an improvement going from 2 Gb to 3 Gb

If you constantly multitask, or have large data sets (including in iPhoto) or run individual apps that can exploit more than 2 Gb RAM (Photoshop, digital audio and digital video production) then the speed gain for the applications should handily outweigh the loss of Dual channel.
 
I will then buy the 2GB chip to add to my existing 1GB. Then if I need more in the future, I can just buy another 2GB.

Thanks!
 
Great

CanadaRAM said:
By Jiminy, the guesswork posters are out in force - suggestion -- if'n you don't know the answer please don't fake it just for the sake of posting. Either do your research first, or wait and learn.

This is an omnibus answer.

1) All intel Macs support Dual Channel memory access if matching modules are installed. The customary estimate is that this gives a 6% - 8% real world performance benefit

2) All intel Corexxxx Macs will run with mismatched RAM, at the loss of the Dual Channel speedup. This means

3) All Core2Duo (and Core2Extreme) Macs can run a 3 Gb configuration (1 Gb + 2 Gb) which on average can be faster than a 2 Gb matched pair if you are using heavy programs like Photoshop that can benefit from the extra 1 Gg.

4) All Corexxx Macs use the same DDR2-667 (PC2-5300) SODIMMs. Therefore, choosing MacBook Pro RAM for the new iMacs is correct.

5)They do not benefit from 800 MHz SODIMMs. This is a hardware limitation of the memory controller on the motherboard.

6) Core2Duo Santa Rosa machines, (MBP and the new iMacs) can recognize a full 4 Gb of RAM.
Core2Duo machines can recognize a potential 3.3 Gb (with 2 x 2 Gb installed... the top 700 Mb is wasted),
CoreDuo and CoreSolo machines max out at 2.0 Gb.
Again, this is a hardware memory controller limitation of each chipset.

7) 4 Gb SODIMMs (if you could find any) will not work in any Mac to date.

8) Points 5) 6) and 7) will NOT be altered by a future OS or firmware update.

The most-recommended USA sellers on MR are Data Memory Systems, OWC (MacSales) and Crucial (use the link at the top of the page)
As mentioned, the Kingston KTA-MBP667xxx series are good too. Look for a reputable seller with good shipping and return policies (no shipping or restocking charges on DOA RAM, for example), and good customer service.

Installing third party RAM is fine with Apple and does not void a warranty. Instructions for D.I.Y. installation are on the Apple Support site.
Click to expand...

Simply outstanding information. I know it's already been said, but it bears repeating..great post!
 
CanadaRAM said:
It depends how you use your machine.

If you never use more than 2 Gb of memory in applications and data running at one time, then you won't see an improvement going from 2 Gb to 3 Gb

If you constantly multitask, or have large data sets (including in iPhoto) or run individual apps that can exploit more than 2 Gb RAM (Photoshop, digital audio and digital video production) then the speed gain for the applications should handily outweigh the loss of Dual channel.
Click to expand...

Given the number of questions on this, I figured I would mention that I just made this upgrade (1 gb + 2 gb) to my iMac C2D 2.16 and it seems to be working out just fine. To be honest I don't even know if I would notice the speed difference between the extra RAM and having dual channel- just seemed to make sense to max out the RAM given the low prices right now, and the amount of work that I do in iPhoto and iMovie.

And I concur with the previous posters in thanking CanadaRam for the very informative and helpful posts here...
 
I created a thread to ask this question but by the posts above, it sounds like someone in this thread can help:

I just put an order in for a new 24" iMac on order (YEAH!!!).

To save a couple of bucks, I thought I'd install my own RAM.

Here's the question:

Apples specs keep referring to
PC2-5300 (667) DDR2 200-pin SO-DIMM
but everything I keep finding for sale is
PC2-5400 (667) DDR2 200-pin SO-DIMM

Can someone tell me what the difference is?
More importantly, will the PC2-5400 work fine in an iMac?

My guess is that it's fine, but I figured someone one these forums would know for sure.

I'm really wondering if something like the OCZ 2GB 667DDR2 SO-DIMM (http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...00_ddr2_sodimm) works in the new iMac.

Thanks!
 
umm.. I wouldn't want to call this a b*mp

but, can anyone answer the question above

CanadaRAM?

Thanks! (again)
 
Is there any difference between KTA-MB667xxx and KVR667D2S5 apart from the model number? The specs look the same to me. The "Apple specific" is a bit more expensive.

Also, would I notice any difference between Crucial and Kingston? I've used Kingston before with great results, and they are a bit cheaper (if ValueRam is ok).
 
rainydays - that's another thing I was wondering about. If they're identical in performance, I'd just a soon use the ValueRAM. The Kingston "Mac" Ram can be had a a reasonable price from a www.canadaram.com (not sure if the poster in this forum has anything to do with them, but they have been highly recommended) or I can walk to a store and get 2GB of ValueRAM today for $20 less than I can order the Kingston "Mac" Ram. Plus, if anything goes wrong, I can walk in and switch it.
 
Contrary benchmarks

I just saw something to refute a portion of canadaram's assertions:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/iMac_and_Mac_mini_memory_performance_testing/

As you can see, some of the Mac mini benchmarks show that paired ram actually results in boosts of performance beyond just more ram (e.g. 2 is better than 3 for some tasks). The new iMacs do not appear to show that, at least in these results. Crucial could be right on this one. Maybe there is some performance benefit, but it looks like there's no reason to favor pairs over more ram on the iMacs.

And I have no interest in it either way (and obviously nothing personally against canadaram since his info is most helpful) - I just want to know how to get the best performance.
 
CanadaRAM said:
By Jiminy, the guesswork posters are out in force - suggestion -- if'n you don't know the answer please don't fake it just for the sake of posting. Either do your research first, or wait and learn.
...

6) Core2Duo Santa Rosa machines, (MBP and the new iMacs) can recognize a full 4 Gb of RAM.
Core2Duo machines can recognize a potential 3.3 Gb (with 2 x 2 Gb installed... the top 700 Mb is wasted),
CoreDuo and CoreSolo machines max out at 2.0 Gb.
Again, this is a hardware memory controller limitation of each chipset.
Click to expand...

Better talk to Jiminy again, he misinformed you. The imac core2duo, 2.16ghz that I'm using right now has 4gb of matched RAM in it, but it only recognizes 3 GB, 10% less than the 3.3 GB that you suggested...
 
vramdal said:
I'm a bit confused by this. I have a MB062LL/A MacBook (white, Core 2 Duo, mid-2007).
According to Apple's specs (http://support.apple.com/kb/SP18), it only supports up to 2GB. Is this really correct, or would I benefit from upping my memory from 2GB to 3GB?
Click to expand...


Holy thread necro batman like almost 2 years ago! :eek: You can actually bump your/that Macbook up to 3GB but the improvement would be so minimal that it's not worth it. You're better off putting that money towards a new MBP.
 
itommyboy said:
Holy thread necro batman like almost 2 years ago! :eek: You can actually bump your/that Macbook up to 3GB but the improvement would be so minimal that it's not worth it. You're better off putting that money towards a new MBP.
Click to expand...

It's not that I don't believe you, but how do you know 3GB is possible, despite the specs saying the opposite?

And I do run a couple of heavy apps, so I'm not sure it's not worth it ...
 
Mikebike125 said:
I want to get a new iMac but I heard that I can buy one 2GB RAM chip and install it myself for less than Apple wants to upgrade plus I will then have 3GB of RAM.

What type of RAM should I buy and is one brand better than another???
Click to expand...

I would recommend OWC at macsales.com like a lot of other people said for all RAM upgrades. They only sell stuff for mac and they do a lot of testing on it so they are quite reputable.
 
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