Ram memory question

[Denis Kolar]

I will be receiving my new iMac sometimes next week. It comes with 2x2GB of ram memory and it has 4 memory slots.
I want to upgrade that up to a 16 GB.

Is it better to get 2 of the G.SKILL 8GB sticks or would it be better to get 4x4GB Kingston memory sticks?
I believe that Kingston is a better brand.

Thanks

[Gilligan]

8 gig sticks are probably a bit cheaper (if you shop smart "non-mac" ram).  Plus that leaves you room to grow.

That said, it is possible that the 4 sticks might run a tad faster.

I'd go with the 8 gig sticks though.

[Denis Kolar]

4X4GB is actually cheaper than 2x8GB. For some reason, they have changed the price on "Apple" RAM and that one is cheaper now.
I'm not a huge "computer" person, I like to use them but not to fix or mess with them.
So this might be a stupid question but here it comes:

Would it be OK to keep those 2 sticks of 2GB RAM in the iMac and just ad additional 16? That would put me up to 20 GB of RAM.
Should I have all the sticks at the same size or two 2GB and two 8GB will work OK?

[Gilligan]

You are right it is cheaper.  I just assumed.  Desktop ram is cheaper for 2 8's vs 4 4's I think (hate to make that assumption again).

I assume this is laptop sized ram.

Yes, you could do that, really nothing wrong with it.  You do have to make sure you put them into the correct slots.  It also might be better to put the 8's into one slot over the other.

There SHOULD be a manual that explains this to you... if not I'm sure you can find the info online.

You don't even NEED to install them in "pairs" you could do a 1 gig 2 gig 4 gig and 8 gig if you wanted... BUT, it is most likely dual channel ram which means that it benefits from having it installed in matching pairs per channel.  Basically in dual channel mode it read/writes to both sticks simultaneously, which is obviously much faster than one at a time.

They now have triple channel as well.

[Alex M]

I have a slightly older MacBookPro... still intel though and my mother board made be install to of the RAM cards into it... any reason why? I tried to use a 2+4 but it would not let me I had to use 2+2 or 4+4...

[Gilligan]

Doesn't make sense to me.

It's been a LONG time since we had to install memory in matching pairs.

I know I had a laptop the other night (pc) that was being finicky about adding an EXTRA 2 gig stick to the one that was already in there.  It wouldn't boot... moved them around and got one to boot then popped in the other and it booted with them both.

Sometimes dust, sometimes it's not in there right... some times it just doesn't like the ram.

I had a call to one house and she said the only thing she did was install some ram and now it won't boot.  I immediately popped open the panel and saw that it wasn't seated correctly.  Fixed that and said "ok, that will be $75 bucks!"

I then stayed a little longer and did some cleaning up and optimizing on the computer since I couldn't walk away after having just done that for $75 bucks.

[Denis Kolar]

I got 4 x 4GB. It is Kingston brand, that makes me feel a bit better that G.SKILL brand
4GB less will not kill me

Thanks Gilly for being nice and helpful 

[Gilligan]

The real question is did you go through Newegg and buy the same ram much cheaper because it isn't labeled "mac" or did you buy through that link that you shared last time and pay through the nose for the same thing?

G.Skill is pretty respected as well.  I have used their Ripsaw stuff (have some on order right now for a system in fact) and it's done well.  It's all lifetime warranty but I still don't mess around with off brand stuff.

The truth is there isn't very many RAM manufactures and they all just rebrand different manufactures stuff... I think Kingston and Corsair or actual manufactures though... I could be wrong.  In the end they probably all use the same chips (likely samsung).  But there is talk of different QC procedures leading to a better/more reliable product with one "brand" over another.

[inkbrigade]

Yeah I think there's only actually two memory manufacturers I know Samsung is one. It's all just rebranded.

Most memory has a lifetime warranty. When I get ram I put it in my machine and put a memory tester on it to run overnight.

Ram has no moving parts, so usually it will not go bad over time. That is unless you have a static electricity issue.

So by the cheap stuff. Test it really well with a memory tester, and if it passes you're good to go.

[Gilligan]

Hmm... I've got a pile of dead ram at my shop that will beg to differ with you.  All went bad just sitting in the machines.

Heat kills electronics... maybe some that are in better tolerances handle it better than those that are marginal. *shrug*

[inkbrigade]

Hmm... I've got a pile of dead ram at my shop that will beg to differ with you.  All went bad just sitting in the machines.

Heat kills electronics... maybe some that are in better tolerances handle it better than those that are marginal. *shrug*

I agree about the heat. I didn't think about that. It shouldn't be an issue if your machine is engineered correctly and has the right amount of cooling.

But if you're overclocking or something, all bets are off.

I manage about 3000 computers here at the school district. After an initial burn in, ram going bad is never an issue.

[Gilligan]

But you are buying good quality RAM right?

[Denis Kolar]

It is finally here
I will be installing the RAM tomorrow and I'll fire it up and install CS6 tomorrow too.

Can't wait