more Ram

hi all. Im looking at adding more RAM to my imac 27". I right now have 2gb. I m looking at buying maybe 8 gb more. Im thinking that this will help my mac run smoother. Is there any one type of RAM that I should buy or does it not matter. And is ther anything that I have to do ? I see that the RAM port is at the bottom of it but is there anything else that I need to do for software to be transported to the new RAM or is that something separate?

fire2007 said:

hi all. Im looking at adding more RAM to my imac 27". I right now have 2gb. I m looking at buying maybe 8 gb more. Im thinking that this will help my mac run smoother. Is there any one type of RAM that I should buy or does it not matter. And is ther anything that I have to do ? I see that the RAM port is at the bottom of it but is there anything else that I need to do for software to be transported to the new RAM or is that something separate?

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There's nothing to be done in the software... just swap out the RAM and be done with it. You didn't say which exact model year iMac you have, but I recommend looking over iFixIt's guides to be sure you are well prepared before you start.
iMac Intel Repair - iFixit

As for the RAM... it's best to be sure your modules are all matching sets. Don't keep your existing sticks and use something different from another vendor. Also don't buy direct from Apple, unless you like overspending. OWC and some other sources have much better prices and are perfectly reliable. Just be absolutely certain you are getting the right ones for your model.
Memory for iMac 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, & now 32GB - OWC Certified RAM for Apple iMac with Lifetime Warranty

thanks lifeisbeach I have iMac 7,1 from 2010 or so. I have looked at the owc site and that is where I was thinking about buying the RAM. I was really looking at making the mac faster and after reading up so more I have found that change the processor is the way to go. I am not going to do that being that I just use it to pay bills and surf the net, but adding the RAM will allow me to add more photos of our trips around the world. Thanks again.

fire2007 said:

thanks lifeisbeach I have iMac 7,1 from 2010 or so. I have looked at the owc site and that is where I was thinking about buying the RAM. I was really looking at making the mac faster and after reading up so more I have found that change the processor is the way to go. I am not going to do that being that I just use it to pay bills and surf the net, but adding the RAM will allow me to add more photos of our trips around the world. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Adding RAM doesn't necessarily make the computer "faster". It does in the sense that the cache on the hard drive is hit less often, especially for activities that need a lot of memory, but it doesn't improve processing power. For what you are doing, you would in fact be better off with more RAM, not a faster processor. I have a mid-2010 iMac i3 and it's still a great computer. I did go from 4 GB RAM to 16 GB (which was overkill... 8 GB would have been plenty) and added an SSD in place of my optical drive. In your case, you only have 2 GB RAM which really isn't enough for even Snow Leopard, much less Lion/Mountain Lion. Go ahead and upgrade the RAM and you'll see a huge difference.

fire2007 said:

I was really looking at making the mac faster and after reading up so more I have found that change the processor is the way to go. I am not going to do that being that I just use it to pay bills and surf the net...

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In case you didn't know. The processor in your iMac is not upgradeable...so if you needed a faster processor/faster computer in the future...this would require the purchase of a faster computer.

- Nick

thank you all for you help.

fire2007 said:

I was really looking at making the mac faster and after reading up so more I have found that change the processor is the way to go...

Click to expand...

There are different kinds of "faster":
- Calculating huge spreadsheets, flight simulators and other games, math-intensive applications would be helped by a faster processor, which means a new computer
- Having a bunch of open applications and files and web pages and switching between them probably would be helped by more RAM
- Sitting around waiting for Microsoft Word etc applications or files to open would be helped by a Solid State Drive (SSD). Sped up my old iMac a LOT. But pricey, and not much storage.