One Last Question B4 I order more Ram....

I just want to be sure that I am not buying something for a computer that is not worth upgrading. I have the specs as noted below:






I know my computer meets Apple's hardware requirements for the upgrade to Mavericks, but I want to make sure. I have not had any big problems with my mac since I bought it December 2009 with the exception of a hard drive failure which was covered by Applecare luckily 1 month before it expired. I want to finally upgrade the OS from Snow Leopard to Mavericks. Mostly I surf the web, mail, burn CDs and DVDs, convert different formats of files etc. But I do a lot of these things simultaneously and might have 4 different programs running at the same time and I have noted sometimes I am using 3.5+ gb of ram and need to close one program or another depending on what I am doing at the time.

I guess I want to know if I upgrade the ram from 4gb to 8gb, is my cpu fast enough to do all this comfortably? I retired in June and really don't want to spend money on a new mac.

Thanks in advance,
Cathy

Are your memory slots full? If they are at 4GB now, and that is filling up the slots, then you have to ask. But if you have an empty slot...

I'm not an expert, but if the Mac has the slots to expand your ram, then they are as much as giving you permission to do so. Otherwise they would say "NU' AH! NO MORE RAM FOR YOU!"

Mine is maxed out at 8GB, and that's as much as they want me to put in there; and my last mac was maxed out at 4GB.

Also, If you have OSX Mavericks installed (I'm still learning my way around mavericks), if you go to the far left of the top bar: "About This Mac" / "More Information", and open the tab "Memory", it will tell you what you are allowed to put in.

Mine says:

"Your Mac contains 2 memory slots, each of which accepts a 1333 MHz DDR3 Memory Module.

All memory slots are currently in use."

So there you can find what you're allowed to put in. I hope that helped.

MacLicious said:

I just want to be sure that I am not buying something for a computer that is not worth upgrading.

I retired in June and really don't want to spend money on a new mac.

Click to expand...

Nothing really wrong with your computer as long as it's doing everything you need it to do. And if you cannot afford (or want) to purchase a new computer...a ram upgrade is a great idea!

MacLicious said:

I guess I want to know if I upgrade the ram from 4gb to 8gb, is my cpu fast enough to do all this comfortably?

Click to expand...

Just wanted to mention that your computers cpu does not have any bearing on a ram upgrade (unrelated activities).

Sounds like with what you do (multiple apps open at the same time doing multiple tasks)...that a 4gig to 8gig ram upgrade is a good idea.

Go for it.

- Nick

You take out the modules if that is the case and install new ones.

Your machine can go to 16GB RAM. I just checked. Where are you ordering the ram from again?

http://lowendmac.com/2009/imac-late-2009/

If you were considering upgrading to 10.8, I'd say, for sure, upgrade the RAM to 8 GB.

With 10.9 and the new memory compression tech they're using, you may not need the upgrade. MY MBA is maxed out at 4 GB - under 10.8, quite often I was seeing at < 100 MB free - under 10.9, quite often I am seeing > 1 GB free. My usage has not changed.

If you can afford the upgrade, have no problem saying go for it.
You could probably make use of it if your file conversions include re-encoding video.
With 10.9, I no longer have a problem believing 4 GB will be enough for many users.

bobtomay said:

MY MBA is maxed out at 4 GB - under 10.8, quite often I was seeing at < 100 MB free - under 10.9, quite often I am seeing > 1 GB free. My usage has not changed.

Click to expand...

That's quite a difference!

- Nick

Just wanted to add...

Updating to Mavericks is the best thing! My computer never ran faster.

I play MMORPGs, and before mavericks I was getting a lot of computer and in-game lag. If I was downloading something, doing a backup, or had too many other apps running on my computer, it would slow it right down, sometimes to a freeze.

I noticed an immediate difference with mavericks (though I also got a faster hybrid drive at the same time, but I think the real speed is from the OSX). I was able to put all my game settings on max, and not get any lag. I can be downloading a large file, have my internet browser open, and be in the middle of a crowded area in-game, and it runs smooth as butter. It's like I bought a new machine. (It's not like it was upgrading to Lion where my system was slower after the OSX upgrade.)

Getting more ram is never a bad idea. But upgrading the OS could also help if what you want is a faster, cleaner running machine.

dtravis7 said:

You take out the modules if that is the case and install new ones.

Your machine can go to 16GB RAM. I just checked. Where are you ordering the ram from again?

iMac (Late 2009) | Low End Mac

Click to expand...

I am not sure, but I think you may have checked out the wrong imac. Mine is an iMac 9,1 which I believe is the MID2009 not the LATE2009. When I phoned Apple and spoke to someone there they asked for my serial number and then told me based on my specs 8gb was the max.
Currently I have 2x2gb modules in the 2 slots. So there are no empty ram slots and I would have to get 2x4gb modules to upgrade the ram to 8gb.

I would like to order from Crucial cause they are cheaper, but they are out of stock. So I would be ordering from OWC.

Just ordered 2x4gb modules. Done. Now to decide whether or not to upgrade to Mavericks before I get the ram! Thanks for all the helpful replies!!

That one in the URL said late 2009. Not a big deal as 8 should be plenty. Is it a 24" or 27"? Yours is an early 2009 according to all the specs I just checked. The Late 2009 has 4 slots for RAM.

You can mix the RAM. A 4GB and a 2GB will work.

Mine has 2 slots and is the 24". Love it. Don't want a new computer. Just want this one to be able to last a few more years.

If the computer I was talking about upgrading was a PC with Windows and it was bought December 2009 I would have probably had to buy a new computer by now or at least a year ago!

Ya, I thought about mixing the ram but then decided it was only another 50 bucks and I might as well if I'm spending 50, why not just spend the 100 and get the max. So that's what I did!

I personally prefer matched pairs of RAM so you did good and 8GB is a good number.


I hear you on updating a PC also!

OK, I have finished upgrading my imac to Mavericks. Most of it looks very similar. Still can't get my problem with mail fixed. Not Mavericks problem, I had it before upgrading. Don't like the finder. It is foreign looking and will take some getting used to. I feel that I am not in complete control over my mac til I am comfortable with finder. I am sure it will just take some time and it will be comfortable. Hopefully!

Noticing Mavericks does use more ram. I have 4 and on Apple's website it says the system requirements are 2gb ram. I only have only google chrome and finder running at the moment and I have 1.85gb ram free. I can see how anyone could possibly run Mavericks on 2gb of ram??? It might work if you don't use the computer lol!

Anyway, these are just my 2cents so far after 30 mins post upgrade.

MacLicious said:

Noticing Mavericks does use more ram. I have 4 and on Apple's website it says the system requirements are 2gb ram. I only have only google chrome and finder running at the moment and I have 1.85gb ram free. I can see how anyone could possibly run Mavericks on 2gb of ram??? It might work if you don't use the computer lol!

Click to expand...

Mavericks is actually supposed to be much better at managing ram use. See bobtomay's post earlier in the thread as a real user example:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os...question-b4-i-order-more-ram.html#post1557316

And here's an article explaining how Mavericks manages ram:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_...ression-brings-ram-doubler-to-os-x-mavericks/

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Mavericks is actually supposed to be much better at managing ram use. See bobtomay's post earlier in the thread as a real user example:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os...question-b4-i-order-more-ram.html#post1557316

And here's an article explaining how Mavericks manages ram:

Memory compression brings RAM Doubler to OS X Mavericks | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews

- Nick

Click to expand...

It's OK I figured out the reason that much ram was in use. I failed to notice a time machine backup was in progress. So all is well.

The more I use this new OS the more I like it!

MacLicious said:

It's OK I figured out the reason that much ram was in use. I failed to notice a time machine backup was in progress. So all is well.

Click to expand...

Sounds good!

- Nick