Upgrade Ram on i3 27'' iMac???

[GreenHead]

I have the base model iMac, with the Core i3. Since I don't know much about computers, is it worth upgrading the memory since I bought the base model processor?

Also, since there are 4 slots for memory and I currently have 2x2g. If I get 2x4g upgrade will I leave the original 4g in there and just add the 8g? So essentially I would have 12g of Ram?

I don't do much video editing at all, but I do a lot of multi-tasking. Would the 12g of ram make a big difference, a noticeable difference?

Looks like I could do this set-up for $280 through OWC, is that a good idea, price?

Thanks for the help, and I'm guessing there are some youtube videos that would walk me through the installation.

GreenHead

 

[BulletToothTony]

if you don't do video editing (even if you did) 8gb is pretty much all you need.. i've seen some charts that show that there was 2-4 seconds in a 20 minute decoding/encoding gain from maxing your imac with 16gb of ram.

the best result (as far as investing) was putting 8gb since it did show a nice increase in speeds for editing and of course multitasking..

Unless you're going to use a program like VMWare Fusion ALL the time doing things on both os-x and windows 8gb is really all you'll need.

you probably wouldn't see a difference in performance between 8gb and 12gb, but if you have the money and putting 12gb of ram will give you peace of mind then go for it.. it wouldn't hurt at all.

 

[GreenHead]

if you don't do video editing (even if you did) 8gb is pretty much all you need.. i've seen some charts that show that there was 2-4 seconds in a 20 minute decoding/encoding gain from maxing your imac with 16gb of ram.

the best result (as far as investing) was putting 8gb since it did show a nice increase in speeds for editing and of course multitasking..

Unless you're going to use a program like VMWare Fusion ALL the time doing things on both os-x and windows 8gb is really all you'll need.

you probably wouldn't see a difference in performance between 8gb and 12gb, but if you have the money and putting 12gb of ram will give you peace of mind then go for it.. it wouldn't hurt at all.

Thanks for the help. So would I get 2 more 2g of ram to make it a total of 8g or get the 2x4g of ram and just use the new ones?

 

[bolen]

I say if you have the money for 2x4GB then buy that. That way you can upgrade the original 2x2GB if needed in the future. from 4GB ->12GB and then you have the possibility for 16GB in the future.

If you get another set of 2x2GB then you will have to swap one of them out to upgrade, but it will only give you 12GB. From 4GB -> 8GB -> 12 GB. Then you will need to get an additional 2x4GB to get up to 16GB. In the end you've bought unnecessary one set of 2x2GB.

So basically, if you have the money - spring for the 2x4GB. If you feel that you don't want to spend that much get 2x2GB now and then in the future accept the fact that upgrading all the way to 16GB will cost you a bit more.