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Petoz

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 1, 2008
438
38
UK
I have just bought one of the brand new refreshed iMacs. I just went for the basic 2.4GHz 20" model. I would like to upgrade the RAM to either 2GB or 4GB. I have had a look, and am not entirely sure what RAM I need. I know it is different to the previous iMac, as the speed of the RAM has increased to 800MHz i think. And is PC2 6400?

I have looked on crucial, and used the system scanner, and it did not come up with anything. I am in the UK, and was wondering if anyone was also looking for new iMac RAM, and had found some. If so, could you please let me know.

Post website links on here if you know them. Any other help regarding the RAM in the new iMacs would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
I'm assuming it is using the same RAM from the previous iteration of the iMac. The best place to buy it, IMO, is from Crucial.

I looked on crucial. It uses faster RAM than the last gen iMac, so the RAM it takes me to when i fill in the options is wrong. Also, when i used the crucial system scanner, it didn't show up any results.
 
Developer note...

iMac Computers (April 2008)

The iMac computers introduced in April 2008, based on the Intel Core 2 Duo microprocessor, provide two RAM slots that accommodate 200-pin DDR2 SDRAM SO-DIMMs up to 1.25” in height. The SO-DIMMs must be DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) compliant and must be unbuffered, unregistered, 8-byte, nonparity, and non-ECC.

The 2.4 GHz 20-inch iMac ships with one 1 GB, 800 MHz, SDRAM SO-DIMMs installed. The 2.66 GHz 20-inch iMac and 24-inch iMac ship with 2 x 1 GB, 800 MHz, SDRAM SO-DIMMs installed, for a total of 2 GB. The largest capacity SO-DIMM supported is 2 GB, for a total maximum of 4 GB.

Memory configure-to-order options are: two 1 GB DIMMs for a total of 2 GB or two 2 GB DIMMs for a total of 4 GB.

The memory controller supports 1 GB and 2 GB SO-DIMMs; other configurations are untested. Because the memory in the two slots is configured as a contiguous array of memory, when both SO-DIMMs are the same size and type, the interleaving function is able to improve performance.

The iMac supports a CAS latency of 5 or 6.

The width of each 800 MHz memory channel is 64 bits.

The maximum number of devices per SO-DIMM is 16. See Table 3 for device and DIMM configurations.
 
" (if you are a mac user, we suggest you check with Apple or your local Apple outlet) as we are unable to accept returns of the item for incompatibility."

Bad sign. If it doesn't work, and you're stuck with it. Not the type of confidence you're looking for in your reseller.
I recommended it because in another thread I was recommended 7DS (and that recommendation backed up) for my MB, people seem to have had good experiences. Is that the right type of RAM?
 
I'd go crucial personally. flopticalcube's link is what you want, you get to that page simply by ignoring the auto detect system feature, and selecting the imac 3.06Ghz as your system.
However that 7day place is shockingly cheap compared to crucial, but perhaps too much so...
 
Newegg.com is the best place. Cheap prices and crazy fast shipping. I upgraded my iMac to 4gb for $65+shipping.
 
the new iMacs are apparently capable of running RAM at 800MHz, but is this really true?

I beleive what would limit it to 667Mhz is the type of chipset in the iMac, and I've read so many different things about santa rosa vs montevista or whatever they are called that i ended up confused about what the new specs really are :confused:
 
Thanks for all the help. Would the 667Mhz PC2-5300 RAM work in the brand new iMacs as well? Or is it just the faster RAM that will work? I ask, as I am not a heavy user, and do not think I would notice any difference. Any ideas? Or recommendations? Thanks.
 
I expect it would work, but am only guessing, however I'd strongly recommend against it, it probably would make quite a big performance drop and I can't see you saving very much money at all doing that.
 
That makes sense. OK, another question. As my iMac only has 1GB RAM at the moment, will adding another 1GB be really noticeable, and speed it up alot? Or would you recommend going for 4GB. Considering, 1GB is only £14.09, and 4GB will cost £70.49.

I am not sure which would be best. Just the 1GB extra, and saving money, or losing 1GB in my machine, and adding 4GB for the cost above. Any recommendations or opinions?
 
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