MacRumors vs Crucial iMac RAM question (SODIleMMa?)

[Hassy500]

All,

First time poster, long time lurker...

I have enjoyed drinking the cool-aid and have a 24" desktop, which runs my iTunes library, Aperture 2, and assorted other Office '04 programs. I purchased this unit in June '08 from a reseller, who also threw in a 1G strip of ram with the NOS iMac. According to the System Profiler, it is a 2.4 GHz machine listed as a model 7,1 with 800 MHz Bus speed and 3GB of DDR2 667 MHz ram in a 2/1 configuration (all installed by Mac reseller). I want to swap out a 1GB stick for a 2 GB, thus allowing 4GB of total ram. Aperture gets kinda slow with 80 MB TIFF files, Lossless, and 8 Safari tabs.

I've tried to be diligent and search the forums
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/682571/

Crucial System Scanner says my system does not support dual channel memory, but the trusty MacRumors Understanding RAM/Matched RAM sections indicates yes

http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/viewscanbyid.aspx?id=CF05BC7A31D926C3

http://guides.macrumors.com/Matched_RAM_on_Intel_Macs

Questions-Do I have a Santa Rosa machine that can utilize matched pairs of RAM? Is all I need a 2 GB strip of DDR2 667 RAM to maximize the RAM my iMac will accept (total of 4GB)? Is this even worth the time to upgrade?

Thanks folks. I've had fun coming over to the "red delicious" side of the force...

 

[Hellhammer]

Yup, it's Santa Rosa, I guess. It unofficially supports 6GB so get 4GB chip instead and put it in.

 

[zmttoxics]

I know its hard to recommend Corsair when Crucial and others are so cheap, but I have to. I recommend you get Corsair. I have had 0 issues with Corsair ram in the last 3 years since I switched to using their RAM, and thats in Macs and PCs.

 

[Hassy500]

Thanks Guys.

I wonder how risky adding above-spec RAM is to the system. I've got apple care for another 1.5 years and don't want to rock the boat. The Understanding Mac RAM table mentions a max of either 4GB or 6GB for Santa Rosa chipsets. Can I tell how much my machine will take?

 

[Hellhammer]

Thanks Guys.

I wonder how risky adding above-spec RAM is to the system. I've got apple care for another 1.5 years and don't want to rock the boat. The Understanding Mac RAM table mentions a max of either 4GB or 6GB for Santa Rosa chipsets. Can I tell how much my machine will take?

It can take 6GB. If you need to send it to Apple, just take out the 3rd party RAM and pop in original.

 

[Hassy500]

Hellhammer, I'll check into the 4 GB strip. I don't know much about Corsair, but I'll research them too.

BTW, this site is the bomb. I've enjoyed it for quite some time and got lots of tips and tricks. Thanks for the assist.

 

[alent1234]

Thanks Guys.

I wonder how risky adding above-spec RAM is to the system. I've got apple care for another 1.5 years and don't want to rock the boat. The Understanding Mac RAM table mentions a max of either 4GB or 6GB for Santa Rosa chipsets.

Can I tell how much my machine will take?

not sure about macs but with amd pc builds people had a lot of problems a few years ago. The memory controller was in the CPU and very finicky about memory timings

 

[Hellhammer]

not sure about macs but with amd pc builds people had a lot of problems a few years ago. The memory controller was in the CPU and very finicky about memory timings

AMD = crap, that's the reason

Here's 6GB in iMac thread

 

[Hassy500]

Wow, THAT'S the thread I needed.

Will plunk down for the additional 4GB strip. Looks like more RAM trumps the matched pairs concern anyway. This will be a timely addition for a new HD camcorder to use with iMovie (3 month old daughter).

I guess I can't complain how life necessitates hardware upgrades.


I'll check in if I have any serious issues.

 

[Hellhammer]

Wow, THAT'S the thread I needed.

Will plunk down for the additional 4GB strip. Looks like more RAM trumps the matched pairs concern anyway. This will be a timely addition for a new HD camcorder to use with iMovie (3 month old daughter).

I guess I can't complain how life necessitates hardware upgrades.


I'll check in if I have any serious issues.

Use MRoogle to search MacRumors. Much better than forum search.

 

[Hassy500]

Use MRoogle to search MacRumors. Much better than forum search.

"Ah, I see" said the blind man.

I learn something every day...

 

[alent1234]

AMD = crap, that's the reason

Here's 6GB in iMac thread

Without amd we wouldn't have 64 bit CPU's on the desktop. Intel uses the 64 bit instruction set that amd originally developed. And intel is now copying amd with the integrates memory controller in the CPU. It might have been finicky but it was faster than intel a few years ago