What RAM to buy to update new iMac launched today?

[SaSaSushi]

Thanks. It was literally that the startup manager wouldn't come up because of the wireless keyboard. Memtest is running now.

Sorry, I misunderstood the problem. Yeah, without the chime the timing for hitting startup keys can be tricky. You have hit it just after the backlight goes grey from total black.

 

[fatherom]

Sorry, I misunderstood the problem. Yeah, without the chime the timing for hitting startup keys can be tricky. You have hit it just after the backlight goes grey from total black.

Once I plugged the USB cable into the magic keyboard it worked the first time. I think the wireless keyboard wasn't connected until after the moment had passed to press the option key.

I ended up getting 64gb of the hyperx ram. Hopefully the memtest will go smoothly!
[doublepost=1499745564][/doublepost]Do I need to be worried about screen burn in image retention if I leave memtest to run overnight?

 

[Azenha]

Im looking through it- it's a big thread. But I still want to know why there's almost a $100 price difference with the brands I mentioned. I'm not being lazy, Im truthfully inquiring. So far no one has answered.

Corsair is a reputable brand and the RAM works just fine on the 2017 iMac. I actually bought a 64 GB kit (as I mentioned previously in this very same thread) for little more than most 32 GB kits cost. The price has since climbed to almost double what I paid so wait for the prices to drop and buy it right away because the price fluctuates quite a bit.

 

[Buxley]

FYI: Crucial got the 2x16 ram for 27" 2017 iMac in stock - $274. That's the fastest way to get it. Amazon has it for the same price via Crucial and it'll get here next week if you order expedited shipping (but why, when going through Crucial is faster?) If you order from Amazon itself and use prime shipping, around the beginning of the month, or early next month.

This is for the CT10559858 RAM from this page:

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for//imac-(retina-5k,-27-inch,-2017)-imac18,3

 

[killermike2178]

FYI: Crucial got the 2x16 ram for 27" 2017 iMac in stock - $274. That's the fastest way to get it. Amazon has it for the same price via Crucial and it'll get here next week if you order expedited shipping (but why, when going through Crucial is faster?) If you order from Amazon itself and use prime shipping, around the beginning of the month, or early next month.

This is for the CT10559858 RAM from this page:

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for//imac-(retina-5k,-27-inch,-2017)-imac18,3

FYI, Newegg has 32 GB (2 x 16GB) kits of HyperX 2400mhz CL 14 back in stock for about $5 more than the Crucial kit off of Amazon, plus Newegg has free shipping and no sales tax for purchases made outside of California.

https://m.newegg.com/products/20-104-667

 

[Buxley]

FYI, Newegg has 32 GB (2 x 16GB) kits of HyperX 2400mhz CL 14 back in stock for about $5 more than the Crucial kit off of Amazon, plus Newegg has free shipping and no sales tax for purchases made outside of California.

https://m.newegg.com/products/20-104-667

But that's CL14 RAM, and the new iMacs take CL17 RAM. I'm guessing that'll work, but it'll be slower.

 

[killermike2178]

But that's CL14 RAM, and the new iMacs take CL17 RAM. I'm guessing that'll work, but it'll be slower.

When it comes to CL rating, it's like a golf score: Lower is better. CL 14-rated 2400 mhz memory should be (slightly) faster than CL 17-rated 2400 mhz memory. The only time CL 17 would be preferable to CL 14-rated 2400 mhz is if the CL 17 has a faster overall clock speed than 2400 mhz, such as 2666 mhz or 3000 mhz, which this iMac doesn't support...

 

[randian]

But that's CL14 RAM, and the new iMacs take CL17 RAM. I'm guessing that'll work, but it'll be slower.

CL14 RAM won't get downclocked unless it's paired with CL17 RAM. It's ok by itself, so if you're buying CL14 RAM you have to remove your original CL17 RAM.

 

[Buxley]

When it comes to CL rating, it's like a golf score: Lower is better. CL 14-rated 2400 mhz memory should be (slightly) faster than CL 17-rated 2400 mhz memory. The only time CL 17 would be preferable to CL 14-rated 2400 mhz is if the CL 17 has a faster overall clock speed than 2400 mhz, such as 2666 mhz or 3000 mhz, which this iMac doesn't support...

Thanks, I had that backwards; I knew mixing and matching CL versions was "a bad thing", but had assumed the lower CL rated RAM would cause the slow down, not the higher. Thanks for the explanation!

 

[rjsounds]

Ordered 32GB (2x16) of crucial ballistix sport RAM and to my surprise it showed up at my door in about 36 hours from Amazon! Super impressed! I'm still waiting for my iMac to come in!

 

[randian]

I think RAM pricing is crazy right now. Kingston HyperX 32GB was around $150 on Amazon in mid-November, then jumped $80, and then jumped another $50 or so in February, to the current ~$280. The 16GB kits almost doubled in price too, from about $75 to about $130.

 

[Glideslope]

FYI to all.

Crucial has the 2X16g kit in stock as of an hour ago. Will prolly go quick.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Ordered 32GB (2x16) of crucial ballistix sport RAM and to my surprise it showed up at my door in about 36 hours from Amazon! Super impressed! I'm still waiting for my iMac to come in!

That sounds like deja vu all over again. I got my own 2x16GB of Ballistix very quickly from Amazon and it sat for a week or so waiting for the iMac to arrive.

Excellent choice in RAM, by the way. The Ballistix has been rock solid and high performance for me with zero problems.

 

[rjsounds]

Excellent choice in RAM, by the way. The Ballistix has been rock solid and high performance for me with zero problems.

Before I caved and bought the iMac, I was seriously considering building a hackintosh after months of research. I was also going to go with crucial ballistix sport ram for the build I was considering, as it came highly recommended from many folks on the tonymac site. I think I'll be very happy with the ram.

 

[JasonMovieGuy]

That sounds like deja vu all over again. I got my own 2x16GB of Ballistix very quickly from Amazon and it sat for a week or so waiting for the iMac to arrive.

Excellent choice in RAM, by the way. The Ballistix has been rock solid and high performance for me with zero problems.

My Ballistix arrived and I'm so excited ! Just waiting on my iMac which is set for in-store pickup on July 20th. Glad I researched and took your advice. Seems it's strong ram, a bit faster then some other forms, and from a very reputable brand.

 

[JVNeumann]

So I'm a bit worried, maybe someone can clue me in: my Ballistix RAM arrived today (link) which is called "Ballistix Sport LT 32GB Kit (16GBx2) DDR4 2400 MT/s (PC4-19200) SODIMM 260-Pin"

However, when I try it in my late-2013 iMac (because my 2017 hasn't arrived yet) it seems not to fit by about 2 or 3 millimeters. So it's not a huge amount, but definitely enough that it won't go in. Is there some difference between the 2013ish models and the current ones?

 

[SaSaSushi]

So I'm a bit worried, maybe someone can clue me in: my Ballistix RAM arrived today (link) which is called "Ballistix Sport LT 32GB Kit (16GBx2) DDR4 2400 MT/s (PC4-19200) SODIMM 260-Pin"

However, when I try it in my late-2013 iMac (because my 2017 hasn't arrived yet) it seems not to fit by about 2 or 3 millimeters. So it's not a huge amount, but definitely enough that it won't go in. Is there some difference between the 2013ish models and the current ones?

The Ballistix are 260-pin SO-DIMMs. The Late 2013 iMac uses 204-pin SO-DIMMs. They are not compatible and you risk damaging the memory slots in the Late 2013 and/or damaging the Ballistix if you attempt to force them into the slots.

 

[Bob418]

My oder of "Corsair Vengeance Performance Memory Kit Unbuffered SODIMM 32 DDR4 2400 MT/s DRAM CMSX32GX4M2A2400C16" arrived today. I installed it and did some quick tests (GeekBench and CineBench).

The Corsair is CL16, different from Apple's CL17. They are quite close, so the system has no problem to mixed them. But it did cause worse latency. At the end, using Corsair RAM alone resulted the best score in GeekBench and CineBench.

Anyway I think it's safe to buy the Corsair RAM for 2017 iMac 27 inch.

(Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G26166W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

1. Original Apple 8GB:

Single-Core Score: 5288
Crypto Score: 3464
Integer Score: 5391
Floating Point Score: 5572

Memory Score: 5086
Memory Copy: 4429 12.3 GB/sec
Memory Latency: 6597 65.6 ns
Memory Bandwidth: 4504 24.1 GB/sec

Multi-Core Score: 15223
Crypto Score: 13135
Integer Score: 18302
Floating Point Score: 17717

Memory Score: 5075
Memory Copy: 4626 12.8 GB/sec
Memory Latency: 6312 68.6 ns
Memory Bandwidth: 4478 23.9 GB/sec

CineBench OpenGL: 113.39 fps
CineBench CPU: 648cb


2. Mixed 40GB:

Single-Core Score: 5455
Crypto Score: 3492
Integer Score: 5475
Floating Point Score: 5627

Memory Score: 5644
Memory Copy: 5643 15.6 GB/sec
Memory Latency: 6130 70.6 ns
Memory Bandwidth: 5198 27.8 GB/sec

Multi-Core Score: 16365
Crypto Score: 16580
Integer Score: 19225
Floating Point Score: 18864

Memory Score: 6127
Memory Copy: 6710 18.6 GB/sec
Memory Latency: 6098 71.0 ns
Memory Bandwidth: 5623 30.0 GB/sec

CineBench OpenGL: 112.99 fps
CineBench CPU: 652cb


3. Corsair 32GB: (Removed Apple 8GB)

Single-Core Score: 5480
Crypto Score: 3534
Integer Score: 5466
Floating Point Score: 5629

Memory Score: 5773
Memory Copy: 5750 15.9 GB/sec
Memory Latency: 6517 66.4 ns
Memory Bandwidth: 5135 27.4 GB/sec

Multi-Core Score 16461
Crypto Score 16652
Integer Score 19215
Floating Point Score 19064

Memory Score 6312
Memory Copy: 6933 19.2 GB/sec
Memory Latency: 6446 67.2 ns
Memory Bandwidth: 5629 30.1 GB/sec

CineBench OpenGL: 115.00 fps
CineBench CPU: 654cb

 

[JVNeumann]

The Ballistix are 260-pin SO-DIMMs. The Late 2013 iMac uses 204-pin SO-DIMMs. They are not compatible and you risk damaging the memory slots in the Late 2013 and/or damaging the Ballistix if you attempt to force them into the slots.

Legend, thanks. When I saw they weren't lining up I didn't event attempt to force it, so no concerns there.

I'll just wait for my 2017 iMac to arrive.

 

[Neo999955]

So I just swapped my very hot and loud i7 with the i5 model and 8gigs of ram. I will upgrade it, but was wondering if anyone had used a new 27" with 8 gigs and if I could get by for a month or two if I don't plan on doing any serious video or editing work or even gaming beyond Civ VI and Hearthstone? I'm nervous 8gigs will slow the whole computer down.

 

[SaSaSushi]

So I just swapped my very hot and loud i7 with the i5 model and 8gigs of ram. I will upgrade it, but was wondering if anyone had used a new 27" with 8 gigs and if I could get by for a month or two if I don't plan on doing any serious video or editing work or even gaming beyond Civ VI and Hearthstone? I'm nervous 8gigs will slow the whole computer down.

You will find many opinions regarding this question in this thread.

 

[killermike2178]

Once I plugged the USB cable into the magic keyboard it worked the first time. I think the wireless keyboard wasn't connected until after the moment had passed to press the option key.

I ended up getting 64gb of the hyperx ram. Hopefully the memtest will go smoothly!
[doublepost=1499745564][/doublepost]Do I need to be worried about screen burn in image retention if I leave memtest to run overnight?

Can you post your Geekbench scores when get that HyperX memory installed? Thanks!

 

[Trebuin]

What memtest is everyone using? I've tried x86 but that doesn't seem to boot.

 

[SaSaSushi]

What memtest is everyone using? I've tried x86 but that doesn't seem to boot.

I made a boot USB thumb drive from the ISO image of Memtest86 and it boots/works fine.

 

[Arctic Moose]

What memtest is everyone using? I've tried x86 but that doesn't seem to boot.

Did you create a bootable USB drive according to the instructions, using dd in Terminal? Is the partition map type set to GUID? Are you hitting the option key at the right time to get the boot menu? It can be tricky with the wireless keyboard, and for whatever reason it isn't possible to set the USB drive as the startup disk in System Preferences.