6GB or 8GB RAM for iMac 27"?

Hello all, I will be honest with you. When it comes to memory I don't know very much. I currently have 4GB in my iMac and am looking to upgrade but what should I upgrade to? 6GB or 8GB. I thought that the higher the better. Is this true? I see many people with 6GB of memory in their iMacs and I ask myself why not 8GB? The cost difference is very small. Am I missing something here? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Alex Wedlake

upgrade apple 32bit ddr2 ddr3 64bit ram 8gb imac windows mac 16 64 6gb memory bit 32 16gb gb

asked Oct 06 '10 at 16:37

Fish
7.3k●109●144●215

8 Answers:

oldest newest most voted

2	What sort of things do you do on your iMac... if you have loads of apps open like tens of hundreds... well probably not hundreds but still. If you have a lot of apps open then I think you should opt for the 8GB instead of the 6GB answered Oct 06 '10 at 16:41 thecomputergeek01 1.9k●37●48●74

1	8GBs all the way, you never know when you'll need it. answered Sep 02 '11 at 20:07 DJ Scooby Doo 9.5k●232●279●379

with ram bigger is always better or really more is better the only time its not better is if the os your useing doesnt support that much ram then its a waste of money but i have heard osx can use up 64 gigs of ram or something like that so go for 8 gigs of ram

answered Oct 06 '10 at 19:21

Monkinto
721●8●13●21

"with ram bigger is always better" ... unless current RAM runs at a clockspeed too fast for the additional RAM, in which case your current RAM may run at a lower clock speed.

(Oct 06 '10 at 19:50) Seb

While the cost for RAM is very small, ask yourself this: Do you currently use 4GB of RAM? Without telling us what it is you do with your computer that requires more than 4GB, this question can't be answered. We can only assume that you're an average user who will never actually use 4GB of RAM, thus it's not even worth upgrading to 6GB of RAM. Think about it: Is more RAM "better" if you don't use all of your current RAM?

answered Oct 06 '10 at 19:54

Seb
(suspended)

I do heavy video editing. I am a visual effects artist and compositor as well as an editor and graphics designer. I use Adobe After Effect's, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, On Location, Encore, Flash, Illustrator and sound booth. I sue final Cut studio and express sometimes. I also use The Foundries Nuke as well as Autodesk Maya, Mudbox, Composite and MatchMover. Blender occasionally. All video I work on is a minimum of 1080p, sometimes 4K but very rarely. I think I use the machine quite a lot with heavy usage. Hope this helps.

(Oct 07 '10 at 14:48) Fish

Definitely go for 8GBs then

(Sep 02 '11 at 20:05) gtgm_110

If you need the extra memory, and can afford it, I'd get the 8GB. The reason for this being that in dual-channel mode (which the iMac uses), you will get better memory performance if you use an even number of RAM sticks that also match each other. I know this is true for PCs, and since they use similar hardware, I assume it's true for the Mac.

answered Oct 06 '10 at 21:46

Gorkon5567
2.5k●27●37●68

0	For Full HD 1080 pixel editing the more memory you have for processing the better! answered Oct 07 '10 at 05:39 robabdul 1

Lots of bad answers here. It's not simply a question of a bigger number being better. As almost always is the case when you are talking about computers, the technology makes it a little more difficult than it should be. In this case though, a little knowledge goes a long way...

It depends on the RAM your machine uses. DDR2 uses a dual-channel mechanism whereby RAM is installed in pairs. DDR3 however, uses a triple-channel mechanism whereby RAM is installed in threes.

In the DDR2 days, you always used 2, 4, or 8 GB of RAM. Nobody EVER installed 6GB, because memory sticks don't come in 3GB varieties.

With triple-channel DDR3, most people install three, 2GB sticks for a total of 6GB of Ram. While it seems like 8GB would be better than 6GB, that's not true. 8GB of Ram in a triple channel system is unbalanced and therefore slower, and less desirable than 6GB.

answered Oct 07 '10 at 06:36

pblanton
1●1

edited Oct 07 '10 at 06:38

The iMac uses DDR3 RAM. Can you please check out this: 16GB The iMac Memory has 4 memory slots or sockets This iMac Memory module upgrade PIN count: 204-PIN The memory speed: 1066MHz, DDR3-1066 The Apple DIMM module type for your iMac Memory is: SODIMM, SO-DIMM, Small Outline DIMM

Is this right? IS 6GB better or 8GB?

(Oct 07 '10 at 14:53) Fish

Q: Do I have to install matching pairs? A: No. No, you can install modules one at a time, and you can mix different densities of modules in your computer. But if your computer supports dual-channel memory configurations, you should install in identical pairs (preferably in kits) for optimal performance. Q: Does my computer support dual-channel memory? A: No. Your system does not support dual channel.

Hope this helps.

(Oct 07 '10 at 15:50) Fish

0	Well you want 8 gigs in the long run so just get it now! answered Sep 02 '11 at 21:17 Randy 891●69●82●92

Your answer

toggle preview

community wiki

Follow this question

By Email:

Once you sign in you will be able to subscribe for any updates here

By RSS:

Answers

Answers and Comments

Markdown Basics

*italic* or __italic__
**bold** or __bold__
link:[text](http://url.com/ "title")
image?![alt text](/path/img.jpg "title")
numbered list: 1. Foo 2. Bar
to add a line break simply add two spaces to where you would like the new line to be.
basic HTML tags are also supported

learn more about Markdown

Join Us in the Chat Room

Tags:

apple ×2,368
mac ×1,971
windows ×1,937
imac ×321
ram ×265
upgrade ×210
memory ×151
64bit ×43
gb ×38
bit ×30
32bit ×28
64 ×28
8gb ×19
ddr3 ×19
ddr2 ×18
32 ×15
16gb ×10
16 ×8
6gb ×4

Asked: Oct 06 '10 at 16:37

Seen: 8,495 times

Last updated: Sep 02 '11 at 21:17

6GB or 8GB RAM for iMac 27"?

Follow this question

Related questions

Lockergnome.net

Lockergnome