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If you buy an 8GB iMac, can you still potentially upgrade to 32GB on your own?

I haven't purchased my iMac yet. I just want to make sure that if I purchase an iMac with 8GB of RAM that I can affordably upgrade to 12, 16 and 32GB if I so choose.

Or is it actually more expensive to do the upgrade from 8 to 16 on your own?
 
The 27" iMac takes 4 DDR3 1333mhz SO-DIMMs. Upgrading is painless and won't void your warranty. You can check module prices online.

No matter what you do, getting the RAM directly from Apple is always more expensive.
 
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MrXiro said:
Always.

Having Apple upgrade RAM is for the computer unsavvy, like grandparents or you just enjoy throwing money out the widow. In which case... we should hang out. :)
Click to expand...

Okay, but where can I buy the EXACT same type of RAM that Apple uses in their machines?
 
Given that upgrading from 4GB to 8GB through Apple is only 189.00, I might as well just do it that way, no?

I'm really worried about the RAM that I get from elsewhere not being commensurate with the RAM Apple offers...
 
Hellhammer said:
The 1x4GB would run in single-channel, thus cutting the maximum memory bandwidth into half.



The loss is minimal though, only 1-2%, and that is just for the 1x4GB. The other channel would still run in dual-channel.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Intel-Core-i7-Nehalem,2057-13.html
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Lol. It's more than that. You got to be kidding, benchmarks for games. Games only care about size, not speed. How about looking at benchmarks for Sandra Memory Index, you will see huge differences between performance of different memory configurations.
 
Amnesiac1 said:
Given that upgrading from 4GB to 8GB through Apple is only 189.00, I might as well just do it that way, no?

I'm really worried about the RAM that I get from elsewhere not being commensurate with the RAM Apple offers...
Click to expand...

8GiB of OWC RAM is $105. You'll end up with 12GiB.

Buy it once you actually experience 4GiB is not enough.
 
Amnesiac1 said:
Given that upgrading from 4GB to 8GB through Apple is only 189.00, I might as well just do it that way, no?

I'm really worried about the RAM that I get from elsewhere not being commensurate with the RAM Apple offers...
Click to expand...

That's still a lot, lot more than the cost of the same memory from Crucial - (£33 for an additional 4 GB DIMM). Crucial memory is guaranteed compatible and comes from one of the biggest manufacturers in the industry (Micron). I've been using it for nearly 10 years and never had a single problem
 
Phil A. said:
That's still a lot, lot more than the cost of the same memory from Crucial - (£33 for an additional 4 GB DIMM). Crucial memory is guaranteed compatible and comes from one of the biggest manufacturers in the industry (Micron). I've been using it for nearly 10 years and never had a single problem
Click to expand...

Okay, so if I buy 4GB and I want to upgrade to 16GB using Crucial RAM (or whatever the ABSOLUTE BEST Ram available is)... how much is it going to cost me?
 
Amnesiac1 said:
Okay, so if I buy 4GB and I want to upgrade to 16GB using Crucial RAM (or whatever the ABSOLUTE BEST Ram available is)... how much is it going to cost me?
Click to expand...

UK Prices - £134.38 from Crucial for 16GB (4 x 4GB sticks) and you'd have the original 4GB to do with as you want. Incidentally, I've seen Hynix, Samsung and Micron RAM in my Macs over the years: There's nothing special about it (and, as I've said earlier, Crucial RAM is Micron: They are the retail arm of Micron)
 
Upgrading RAM is a fairly simple process.

I have seen comments from people buying RAM from 3rd party sources having issues ... but not frequently.

I cannot imagine needing or using 32GB in an iMac though.
 
harcosparky said:
Upgrading RAM is a fairly simple process.

I have seen comments from people buying RAM from 3rd party sources having issues ... but not frequently.

I cannot imagine needing or using 32GB in an iMac though.
Click to expand...

When in doubt buy RAM certified to work on a Mac. Adds about $10-20 but it has been tested to work.
 
MythicFrost said:
I'm pretty sure you need matched sets. You can't do three modules.
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No, that is not correct. My 2011 iMac is running with three modules/DIMMS right now. The fourth Crucial module/DIMM is out of spec or something and I needed to return it for replacement. So until the replacement shows up, it has three memory modules/DIMMS running and it works just fine.
 
Phil A. said:
That's still a lot, lot more than the cost of the same memory from Crucial - (£33 for an additional 4 GB DIMM). Crucial memory is guaranteed compatible and comes from one of the biggest manufacturers in the industry (Micron). I've been using it for nearly 10 years and never had a single problem
Click to expand...

I used to say something similar...as in never had a problem. Well of the two 4GB memory DIMMs I purchased from Crucial for my 2011 iMac, only one worked. When the other DIMM was installed it either failed to start of had a kernel panic the one time I could get it to start. Sending it back to Crucial today for replacement.
 
See? Now someone doesn't want OWC RAM...too divisive!

16GB of Apple RAM it is! :D
 
Amnesiac1 said:
See? Now someone doesn't want OWC RAM...too divisive!

16GB of Apple RAM it is! :D
Click to expand...

That is an enormous waste of money. Apple doesn't always use the same memory, they just buy whatever is cheapest for them. Macs don't use any special type of memory. Every manufacturer will occasionally have a bad stick, but if that happens, you just send it back and it will get replaced for free. You can buy 16GB from OWC (who is more expensive than some) for $210ish, not much more than apples 8GB. You can actually do 16GB on your own for less than apple charges for 8GB.
 
alust2013 said:
That is an enormous waste of money. Apple doesn't always use the same memory, they just buy whatever is cheapest for them. Macs don't use any special type of memory. Every manufacturer will occasionally have a bad stick, but if that happens, you just send it back and it will get replaced for free. You can buy 16GB from OWC (who is more expensive than some) for $210ish, not much more than apples 8GB. You can actually do 16GB on your own for less than apple charges for 8GB.
Click to expand...

Alright. So I'll order 4GB. Can you provide me with an Amazon link for the exact RAM I'll need to bring it to 16GB?
 
Would two of these work?

Also, just to be sure, if I upgrade from 4GB to 16GB on my own, will I still be able to reach 32GB on my own (if I so please)?
 
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