Memory upgrades

borojohn · Oct 21, 2011

Hi.
I am new to the Mac. Just got a 27 inch i Mac with 4gb ram. I am thinking about upgrading the memory with 2x4gb modules. 8gb in total.

Would I benefit with this upgrade? I know windows struggles sometimes when you increase the ram. Some windows os wont recocgnise or use extra memory. Does this apply to the mac? I do a lot of photo editing using photoshop elements 9 and CS5.

Thanks for your help.

John

CrimsonRequiem · Oct 21, 2011

borojohn said:
Hi.
I am new to the Mac. Just got a 27 inch i Mac with 4gb ram. I am thinking about upgrading the memory with 2x4gb modules. 8gb in total.

Would I benefit with this upgrade? I know windows struggles sometimes when you increase the ram. Some windows os wont recocgnise or use extra memory. Does this apply to the mac? I do a lot of photo editing using photoshop elements 9 and CS5.

Thanks for your help.

John

The reason why the extra RAM isn't being recognized is because you need to be running a 64 bit OS.
OS X 10.5 and higher are 64 bit so you won't have that problem.

Chuckoir · Oct 21, 2011

You may aswell keep the 4gb in there, so you have 12gb. Unless you plan on selling the 4gb, there's no need to take it out.

borojohn · Oct 21, 2011

Dont you have to have them in matching pairs? Can you mix the modules, i.e can I have 2 x 4gb and 2 x 2gb modules in the 4 available slots?

bobtomay · Oct 21, 2011

Yes, you can have two sets of matched pairs. In the above scenario, each pair is matched.

...As long as you put each pair in the proper slots.

Chuckoir · Oct 21, 2011

yes you can mix modules as per the example given. Many folk have done that here. As long as you keep the 2x2gb 'inline' and the 2x4gb 'inline' there shouldn't be any problems.

I only know this because I'm planning to do the exact same thing this afternoon. 12gb RAM FTW!

Irishman · Oct 21, 2011

I hope to do this shortly as well.Can anyone take the time to explain what is the correct way to do it.What does inline mean ?If I have only two slots free, does it follow that these are they the two slots into which the 2 X 4GB go?Thanks

bobtomay · Oct 21, 2011

Yes...

As long as the original 2 sticks are still in the same slots it shipped with and you haven't gone moving them around.

Chuckoir · Oct 21, 2011

What Mac do you have?

In my iMac there are four slots, 2 with the current RAM in and 2 empty ones. By 'inline' I mean that the 2 x 2gb should be on the same horizontal plane and the same goes for the 2 x 4gb, like so;

---- || ---- <~ 2 x 2gb
---- || ---- <~ 2 x 4gb

Apologies for the poor diagram, I'm on the iPhone.

As for how to, it's prob easier if you google it as there are videos on YouTube.

SK1 · Oct 21, 2011

borojohn said:
Hi.
I am new to the Mac. Just got a 27 inch i Mac with 4gb ram. I am thinking about upgrading the memory with 2x4gb modules. 8gb in total.

John

As cheap as memory is now a days, why not go for the entire 16GB it can support? That's what I did and it only cost me a little over $100.

borojohn · Oct 21, 2011

Thanks guys, helpful as always. Just ordered my 8gb ram. Cheers.

Irishman · Oct 21, 2011

Thanks bobtomay and Chuckoir.