mcsys

Q: Problem with 16GB on 2010 iMac 27" i5 & i7.

I've 8 X 4GB 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM, latest 2010 iMac i5 & i7.
Trying to install 16GB on each iMac.

1. Both work well with 2X2GB.
2. After installing 4 X 4GB RAM , they freeze, cursor spinning ball or kernel panic within 10 to 15mins.
3. Removed all RAMs & installed another batch of 4X4GB, same problem.
4. Installed 2 X 4GB RAMs, they work well.
5. Repeat step 4 with the rest of the 6 pieces of 4GB, they work well with 8GB.
6. Also tested with 4 X 2GB, they work well.

I can only conclude that the new 2010 iMac 27" does not support 16GB well. No doubt it recognizes 16GB at "About This Mac" but it freezes after 15mins. I suspect is due the firmware issue.

Anyone else have the same issue?

Found similar problem at http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2567543&tstart=15

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.4), iMac

Posted on Sep 4, 2010 3:13 AM

Close

Q: Problem with 16GB on 2010 iMac 27" i5 & i7.

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 9 of 9
  • by DylanRhea,

    DylanRhea DylanRhea Nov 17, 2011 11:46 PM in response to petran81
    Level 1 (105 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 11:46 PM in response to petran81

    Has anyone successfully installed 4x4 (16gb Total) OWC RAM on a new 27" iMac i7, late 2011 model? Have the issue been resolved as per the posts from 2010 and early 2011?

  • by jujudellago,

    jujudellago jujudellago Dec 28, 2011 9:29 AM in response to mcsys
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 28, 2011 9:29 AM in response to mcsys

    Same issue here with a 27'' i5 mid 2011

     

    I got 4 x 4gb and the 2x2gb original ram, works fine with any combinaison using 8 or 12 gb ram, but it just won't start with 4x4gb plugged....

     

    I'll see what will be less frustrating between using only 12gb ram instead of 16, or talking to someone at the apple care

  • by Art as art,

    Art as art Art as art Jan 21, 2012 12:10 PM in response to Clif123
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 21, 2012 12:10 PM in response to Clif123

    I read your post about buying 16 GB of Samsung memory from OWC last year. You had just installed it at that time. Has it worked for you--ie. no intermittent crashes?

  • by Jonathan Mortimer,

    Jonathan Mortimer Jonathan Mortimer Feb 18, 2012 6:51 AM in response to mcsys
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Feb 18, 2012 6:51 AM in response to mcsys

    I have an iMac 11,1 - Late 2009 iMac.

     

    I have just purchased 16GB RAM from Crucial using their Memory Advisor tool - it told me I should buy PC3-8500 4GB 204-pin SODIMM CL7 DDR3 512Mx64.  Right now memory is at silly cheap prices, 16GB cost me just £70.

     

    I received the RAM the next day (amazing delivery time!), fitted all of it (taking out all of the 8x 2GB modules) and everything is working fine.  I have been testing it by running VMs in VMWare Fusion - I got to seven VMs running at once before the physical RAM ran out (a couple of the VMs have more than 1GB allocated).  I ran it like this for several hours without any problems, the iMac was still zippy and responsive and all of the VMs worked fine too (bottleneck was the hard drive as the VMs did their own updates etc).

     

    This PC3-8500 is what Apple recommend for my Mac, so I would ignore what the latest RAM is and just buy what Apple recommend, or what the Crucial Memory Advisor tool tells you for your precise model.  If it turns out to be slightly more expensive then that is the price you pay for reliability.  I have seen newer RAM fail in PC hardware designed for older RAM, this is not just an Apple thing.

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Feb 18, 2012 9:59 AM in response to Jonathan Mortimer
    Level 7 (31,893 points)
    iPad
    Feb 18, 2012 9:59 AM in response to Jonathan Mortimer

    The point of this thread was the problem that the Macs did not work with 16 GB third party RAM; it had nothing to do with the RAM specs. That problem was addressed some time ago with OWC working with Apple.

     

    I would trust Apple's and everymac.com's RAM specs any day (these should be yours if I picked the right 11,1 model):

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/SP576

     

    http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/stats/imac-core-i7-2.8-27-inch-alumin um-late-2009-specs.html

     

    And, out of curiosity, why are you resurrecting several old threads (one being more than 6 months old)?

  • by Jonathan Mortimer,

    Jonathan Mortimer Jonathan Mortimer Feb 18, 2012 10:37 AM in response to babowa
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Feb 18, 2012 10:37 AM in response to babowa

    When looking into a 16GB RAM upgrade I came across these threads, and as there was no concrete answer as to whether or not the full 16GB has been shown to work in my iMac model (at least, I couldn't find one), I decided to add my findings.  As my iMac is more than six months old this thread is still relevant.  If one person finds only one of these threads looking for an answer and finds my post useful, it will surely have been worth my effort.

     

    This has everything to do with the RAM specs - get the incorrect RAM and you run the risk of it not working, as some posts in this and other threads prove (those that said they bought 1333MHz RAM for a Mac that originally had 1067MHz).  People seem to act like OWC are the only people able to supply RAM for Macs, I have always found that Crucial RAM works perfectly and they have US and UK sites and distribution.

     

    I don't recall anyone saying that they fitted the full 16GB in PC3-8500 SODIMMs and had problems.

first Previous Page 9 of 9