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Memory on iMac

Central Audio

Central Audio

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Hi Guys,

Can I upgrade the memory from 4 to 16g on my iMac, this would involve replacing the 2 original memory cards, would this cause any loss issues ?

Best Regards Anthony
 
No loss issues! RAM memory gets erased and written in real time, and lose data when the computer is turned off.
 
If it has a traditional spinning hard disk a better improvement would be to replace that with an SSD.

For the price of them these days I'd do it anyway if you are opening the case to replace the RAM.
 
Indeed, an SSD will bring it right up to date. I did the same with an old MacBook Pro, SSD and doubled RAM to 8GB, was like a new machine.
 
I did all this with a MacBook and agree the real speed benefits are achieved by fitting an SSD. But isn’t this much more of a faff with an iMac (screen off etc.) If you don’t have the stomach for getting to the HDD inside the iMac and you don’t mind an additional little box on your table top, your system files on a SSD in a USB3 cradle from which you boot will likely switch the machine on faster than it currently does from the internal HDD, which can be given over to your ‘stuff’ (if it only has USB2 then it won’t go any quicker).
 
Thanks for all the advice guys, it wouldn’t be easy to open it up but I’m going to change the memory cards.
 
Another vote for an SSD too. I’m running a 7 year old MBP (i7) that still feels really fast and snappy due to my having retro-fitted 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. In its original (4GB & slow spinning HD) it would be hopeless running the current OS X and modern software.
 
What model iMac is it? Will have a bearing on the maximum RAM you can put in.

More RAM means the iMac will need to read the internal HD less, so I reckon max out the RAM first and if that doesn't improve speed enough then look at an external.

I've found booting up speeds up a lot with an SSD but not a great improvement in the general speed in day-to-day use of browsing, emails etc. I rarely reboot mine though.

If you're doing HD-intensive stuff, say video encoding then the speed increase may be more noticeable.

On every Mac I've had I've always installed MenuMeters*, to give disk usage, memory and Internet connection data easily available from the menu bar. It also shows how many pageouts and memory swap files there are/have been, which is a key indication of how often your Mac is running out of free RAM and so using the HD to temporarily store data.

A bit like having a really small workbench and having to keep putting your tools back in the drawer between use to allow you room to work in.

* Free but I think it may be only installable on older versions of OS X than the current or need a bit of tinkering to install. Can't remember exactly but seem to remember it not being installed when I last updated.
 
Central Audio said:
My Mac only has USB 2, would it be worthwhile adding an external SSD ?
Click to expand...

Yes it’ll be worth it but only if done internally. The caddy method I described above would only provide benefits via USB3. It would work with a FireWire caddy but they’re rare and quite expensive. But USB2 is too slow to confer any benefit in these circs.
In case you haven’t investigated, the RAM change is easy-peasy - accessed via little flaps. Getting to the HDD is a whole other project. I have the same iMac as you, studied the process on iFixit and bottled it.
 
First of all, go into Everymac.com and research your computer. There you will find out everything that can be upgraded and also links to how to do the job.

I did my 21" iMac (late 2012 model) earlier this year. New SSD and 8GB RAM. Lots of videos on line and you can buy a kit of tools to help you split the screen from the frame and then fix it back again. Took me about an hour to do the job. Before then, I backed it all up onto a spare HD, then I cloned the internal HD onto the new SSD (used Carbon Copy Cloner). The backing up and cloning took more time than the swap. Put it back together and switched it on - brilliant! Loading things like MS Word takes about 8-10 secs as opposed to the 90-odd it was taking before. It will run Mojave with ease, so it should be good for another 4 years or so.

Very straightforward - go for it!
 
+1 for everymac - they know everything about every model. And I do this stuff all the time.
 
Again thanks for all the advice and the nod to Everymac, I’ve found out from there that although officially it only supports 16gb it actually supports 32gb, so I’ve ordered 4x8gb cards.
 
Not iMac specific but I've been slowly upgrading our laptops with SSD's using a hardware disc cloner and it's been a straightforward and effective process so far. My old Alienware laptop is up next. I've already chucked 16GB of RAM into it, which has helped, but I'm hoping the switch to an SSD while keep it useable with some of the larger games for a couple more years despite it only having an i5.
 
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