2007 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac and Upgrade

Hi,

I am currently running OS X 10.5.8 on the above iMac and am thinking about upgrading to Snow Leopard and then possibly Lion. Have ordered a 2Gb memory upgrade to take the system to 3Gb of RAM, but just looking for any advice on the merits/pitfalls of upgrading. Is this device too old to upgrade to Snow Leopard and then Lion? Would anyone recommend going to 4Gb RAM?

Many thanks

According to MacTracker your machine can take up to 6 GB of memory, however, Apple states 4 GB is the maximum. I would upgrade to 2 x 2 GB modules for a total of 4 GB. You don't want 3 GB as it's best to keep the memory in matched pairs for speed and efficiency.

As far as upgrading it to Snow Leopard, why not? I would probably not go to Lion but the machine is capable of running it.

Upgrade significance:

10.5.x first release that supports both architectures from same disc. Though 10.4.x supported intel platform. users could not purchase it after market. Only on new Macs that shipped with intel versions of 10.4. The second step of the transition away from PPC.

10.6.x first release that only supports intel architecture.

10.7.x first release that does not support PPC binaries. The final step from PPC.

Be sure all your critical apps are universal binaries before moving to Lion. Hence they won't work post update.

RAM is very inexpensive these days. I would also get the 4GB upgrade. I've seen it as low as $36 on NewEgg. Usually in the $43-50 range.

Since the processor is dual core the memory banks are tied to the processor channels. To maximize the RAM and CPU capabilities always install RAM in matching pairs that coincide with CPU channels. Since there are only tho slots in the iMac this is pretty foolproof. The Mac Pros have several more memory banks and installation of matching pairs is more of a concern.

Thanks for the feedbacks folks!
Have ordered another 2Gb DIMM and a copy of Snow Leopard.

belhaven71 said:

Thanks for the feedbacks folks!
Have ordered another 2Gb DIMM and a copy of Snow Leopard.

Click to expand...

Unless I'm missing something...ordering a single 2gig stick of ram may not have been the best idea.

Your iMac has two ram slots. The stock ram configuration for this iMac was 1gig of ram (2 x 512meg). If you ordered a single 2 gig stick of ram...then you will have to remove one of the 512 meg sticks. This will leave you with 2 gig + 512meg = 2.5 gig's.

I would have recommended (as mentioned above by "chscag")...getting 2 x 2gig sticks for a total of 4 gig of ram (instead of purchasing just a single 2gig dimm).

- Nick