RAM Price Difference?

[hazerjohn]

Hi all

Why is there a price difference between:

8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB

and

8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB


Thanks!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

2 X 4 uses 2 of the 4 available slots to give you 8GB of ram

4 X 2 uses 4 of the 4 available slots to give you 8GB of ram

If you later want to increase toward the max of 16GB, the 2 X 4 option will make it a simple matter: add two more 2 x 4 modules (easy, with no waste). On the other hand, the 4 X 2 option will involve dumping all of those 2 X 4 modules out and replacing them with 4 x 2 modules.

 

[mksd]

4 GB modules are more expensive than those with 2 GB, hence the difference.

 

[hazerjohn]

Thank you for your answer.

What would you suggest I take? Should I upgrade to 16GB in the future?

 

[zwaffel]

whats the difference in price for 4x2 and 2x4? I should go for 2x4 then you can always upgrade if you like to in the future.

 

[dagomike]

Keep in mind if you go 4x2, you'll be replacing two 2GB DIMM for 8 GB total. If you get 2x4, you won't have to pull those two and you'll have 12 GB.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Thank you for your answer.

What would you suggest I take? Should I upgrade to 16GB in the future?

Only you can take a best guess at that answer. If you intend to use your computer to run lots of memory-intensive programs at the same time, you might eventually get a feeling that 8GB is "too small". If you don't anticipate running lots of programs at the same time, or running a few programs that use a lot of ram when they are running, 8GB may be more than you'll ever need. You might even do just fine with the base 4GB that comes in the minimum configuration.

What I did was ordered the stock ram (two sticks of 4 x 2) with the iMac purchase, and then ordered two more stick of 2 x 4 from OWC. That will yield a total of 12GB ram.

 

[dagomike]

What I did was ordered the stock ram (two sticks of 4 x 2) with the iMac purchase, and then ordered two more stick of 2 x 4 from OWC. That will yield a total of 12GB ram.

That's what I did (although from Trans Intl) and my thinking is in a year or so, it should be fairly cheap to buy another 2 x 4 and replace the stock sicks. I figure that's the least painful approach when 12 GB is more than enough for day with the option to go 16 GB down the road.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

That's what I did (although from Trans Intl) and my thinking is in a year or so, it should be fairly cheap to buy another 2 x 4 and replace the stock sicks. I figure that's the least painful approach when 12 GB is more than enough for day with the option to go 16 GB down the road.

FYI: I spoke to OWC tech support and they recommended NOT putting the 2 new sticks of ram into the open slots, but instead putting their sticks in place of where Apple installs the stock ram, and moving the (Apple installed) sticks to the open ram slots. I didn't ask why.

 

[dagomike]

FYI: I spoke to OWC tech support and they recommended NOT putting the 2 new sticks of ram into the open slots, but instead putting their sticks in place of where Apple installs the stock ram, and moving the (Apple installed) sticks to the open ram slots. I didn't ask why.

Interesting! Thx for sharing. I wonder why...

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Curiosity got the best of me so I went back to them again and asked why. The reply was that it didn't really matter, as the feedback was really about being sure that ram was paired properly, so that we're not mixing OWC + Apple ram as a group of two.

Apparently, it makes no difference if the new OWC ram is put in the 2 open slots or if it replaces where Apple installs the stock ram and then the stock ram is moved to the other 2 slots.

 

[dagomike]

Well, I can imagine they get all sorts of calls of customers doing weird things.... but sticking the new memory in the empty slots seems a pretty sure bet not to mix up old with new. Thanks for following up.