Looking to add more RAM to my late 2014 8gb iMac...which configuration would be better?

[ToddJ]

This might be a really dumb question but will it make a big difference if I add 16gb (8gb x 2) to the empty two slots on my iMac or would it be just as fast adding 8gb (4gb x 2)? I hear different things about RAM and I have heard in some situations if you have different size RAM there is not a big speed increase. Also, how bad (or good) is PNY ram? Normally I would buy Crucial but I have some gift certificates and Crucial isn't an option at where I want to buy it.

 

[wardie]

This might be a really dumb question but will it make a big difference if I add 16gb (8gb x 2) to the empty two slots on my iMac or would it be just as fast adding 8gb (4gb x 2)? I hear different things about RAM and I have heard in some situations if you have different size RAM there is not a big speed increase. Also, how bad (or good) is PNY ram? Normally I would buy Crucial but I have some gift certificates and Crucial isn't an option at where I want to buy it.

The amount you need almost entirely depends on what you are doing with the machine... Also are you sure you’re running out of memory today? Why do you need more?

For just web stuff 8GB is probably fine. Heavy apps like video and photography will process large files and more memory benefits those. Adding more of a resource when you’re not already using up what you have won’t speed up anything much. Have a look at the memory use/pressure display under about this mac in the system menu top left.