imac ram question

[erikpmort]

Hey, I purchased a 24" imac recently that has been awesome amazing sick...

It didn't come with any manuals though, and i'm wondering what is the max ram it will hold... i found where you install it and it has two slots and a gig in each slot right now... i'm guessing it will allow me to put 2*2 gig sticks in there for a total of 4 gigs?

just wanted to make sure i can do that...

what should i expect to pay for 4 gigs?

 

[erikpmort]

oh, i better mention that it is a white imac and its an intel 2.33 core duo

 

[Tallest Skil]

Can't be Core Duo if it's 24". Get a tape measure or go to About This Mac.

 

[erikpmort]

sorry core 2 duo

 

[Tallest Skil]

Four gigs, then. $100 bucks. Have fun!

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/53IM2DDR4GBK/

 

[erikpmort]

thanks for the link, much appreciated... ram used to be more expensive you know, 100 seems not that bad to me...

 

[erikpmort]

i was just noticing that my imac booklet says it will only take 3 gigs of ram... but theres two slots... is one of them unreplaceable?

 

[Tallest Skil]

I am GRIEVOUSLY sorry. Your iMac will recognize no more than 3.3GB of RAM. You'd need to put four gigs in to get that, though, and the extra may make a difference.

 

[erikpmort]

please explain...

 

[sbornia]

please explain...

On paper, your iMac will take 3GB RAM max -- i.e., 1 2GB stick, and 1 1GB stick.

You can, however, use 2 2GB sticks (for a total of 4GB) but in that case the machine will only recognize 3.3GB of the available RAM. It may also run a bit faster in certain circumstances because the two sticks are equal. Whether that makes a difference from simply using 3GB...YMMV.

There are many threads about this, so if you do a search you will likely find a more technical explanation.

 

[erikpmort]

hmmm that suks. I have 2 gigs right now, maybe i'll just leave it

 

[plasticguy]

OWC - 4 GB for $103 total...

I got the 20" CDC aluminum iMac back in August. I just put 4 GB in it about 1 week ago. Got it for $103 from OWC in a couple days.

Took longer to order it than install it.

I believe the white iMacs will only "see" 3GB (or thereabouts) as mentioned before.

Hope this helps.

PS: my first post!

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Real world performance from 128-bit addressing (a junior version of what people call dual channel in the iMac) is negligible, so I recommend getting just a 2GB stick especially if you don't want to part with the two 1GB sticks you have now and you don't regularly max out the RAM.

 

[SaSaSushi]

please explain...

The Santa Rosa chipset that was introduced in the aluminum iMac line is the first to be able to fully address 4GB of RAM. However, that's in OS X. Under Vista (32 bit) in Boot Camp I still show 3GB.