Imac Ram question

[Yianni1066]

Hi all,

I have just installed 2x2gb ram sticks into my 2.16ghz 24" White Imac but I was told by someone that this imac can only handle upto 3gb ram yet when i click on 'about this mac' it says 4gb.

I checked it out and found that the 3gb is what was stated for this model but i am no expert at these things... has there been a an update which now allows the 4gigs to work?? or am i not getting 4gigs even though the machine can see 4gigs?

As i said I dont know much about these things, is there a test I can run which will show me how much the machine is using?

Any help greatly appreciated!!!
J.S

 

[72930]

It can 'see' but not use the whole 4GB, this is a hardware and not a software limit.

 

[Yianni1066]

thx for response!

I have just read on Apple support pages that you CAN install upto 4gb but will only use 3gb... why would anyone do this? is there some kind of benefit to installing a pair of 2gb even though they are not fully utilized over having 1x2gb and 1x1gb

Im asking basically whether you experts would leave it as 2x2gb or return one back to the shop for a refund and install one of my old 1gb sticks?

Thx again!
J.S