Choice of RAM - Kingston, Crucial, etc - Who's buying what for new iMac?

I tried 2 of the Crucial 2GB PC2-5300 667MHz modules and the iMac did not recognize them (beeping signal at startup). I made sure they were properly seated and tried them each individually.
I then tried 2 of the faster Crucial 2GB PC2-6400 800MHz modules and the iMac did not recognize them either (black screen, but hard drive was spinning). I returned them all to Crucial (I have used Crucial for years successfully).
Finally, I tried 2 of the Corsair 2GB 5300 667MHz modules and they worked on the first go. Bought them at Fry's.

Hi Jeremy,

I have bought RAM from OWC for my past 3 Macs, and I've always been pleased with their service, knowledge, and guarantee. They guarantee that their RAM will work with your Mac without problems.

OWC's 2x 2GB deal is $229, but for just $10 more they offer a Techworks pair of RAM. I ordered the Techworks as soon as I came home with my new iMac yesterday. OWC also takes your old memory back for a refund. (Techworks is owned by Buffalo, a Japanese company)

Either OWC or Crucial is a good vendor with guaranteed compatibility and a lifetime warranty. Some Kingston ram may be okay, but I sure wouldn't count on buy.com to help you out if you have a problem down the road with Leopard or tabbycat (or whatever else comes after leopard). Each succeeding version of OS X usually is a bit fussier about ram, so it's important to buy from a company that will stand behind what you've got later on.

Hi Jeremy --

This is what I got from the Techworks web page:
Lifetime Warranty
Manufactured with only premier components and materials
100% tested to guarantee compatibility with Apple systems
Designed to surpass all Apple Specifications
ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and RoHS Compliant
Compatibility Guaranteed
http://www.buffalotech.com/products/memory/techworks/
http://www.buffalotech.com/products/memory/

It's marketed as Apple-specific, lifetime warranty, and at OWC the price compares favorably to Crucial and others.

Edit: note that the new iMacs use the same type of RAM as the MacBookPro Core2Duo. (SO-DIMMs) Yes, these iMacs are basically laptop internals stuck in a desktop Mac. So any of these will work:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/Pro/Core2/
Hope that helps.

Message was edited by: Eridium

It looks like crucial is specifying faster spec modules than the requirement which explains why they're out of stock...

DDR2 PC2-6400, DDR2-800

I'm curious why they're going with the faster spec for the iMac versus the current MacBook Pro which uses the same chipset (santa rosa) and memory specification from Apple.

I'm considering purchasing the 4GB (2GBx2 matched pairs) for the MacBook Pro and using it in the iMac (I have a Crucial account which is why I want to stick with them). Does anybody suggest not doing this?

I see no reason not to do this. As far as I can tell it's the same RAM and the specifications match. I noticed yesterday that the RAM Apple is using in all it's machines now (barring the Mac Pro and Xserve) was out of stock at Crucial UK, so perhaps they were recommending memory that was in stock would still work (next specification up that still works)?

I personally always use Crucial. I have never had a bad experience with them, the prices are reasonable, modules stable, website easy to use and warranty good. All round great little memory manufacturer.

I agree in that as long as it meets the specs, it should work. It was just out of curiosity based upon Crucial specifying faster modules for the iMac than what Apple requires that got me thinking. However, since Apple's published requirements are of the "slower" modules (ie. DDR2 PC2-5300, DDR2-667), there should be no problems unless Apple is incorrect (which would've been proven a long time ago). Perhaps Crucial's faster specification is based upon what they manufacture that works for the given machine... as faster modules also work on machines that won't take advantage of the additional headroom.

I always buy Kingston or Crucial depending on price/availablilty and touch wood have never had issues with either. I've got a 2Gb Kingston in my new iMac to go with the stock 1Gb and it only cost around £72 plus taxes from www.cancomuk.com so I guess I've done quite well for a change compared to most of the US prices for Kingston here.

Makes a huge difference to normal everyday usage of machine, highly recommend anyone to go to at least 2Gb.

I purchased the DDR2 PC2-6400 2GB kit from crucial and they did not work. I'm going to send it back and go with the slower spec.
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=859CC7B7A5CA7304

Hi there. I ended up getting two 2gb sticks of A-DATA from NewEgg to max out my new 24" iMac 2.8GHz for $200 + shipping. I have an A-DATA 8GB flash drive that I love, and felt comfortable enough giving them a shot. No problems on compatibility or performance - my machine screams along on 4GB! I decided to upgrade from my beloved PowerMac G5, and couldn't be happier - this iMac is gorgeous and fast! I know that A-DATA may not be the majority's vote, but wanted to let you know that I've had good experiences withe them. Here is the link to the product on NewEgg's website (you'll see my review there also):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820211187

I went ahead and got 2- 2GB PC2-5300 modules from crucial and this time it worked fine.

I have the new aluminum imac 2.4 and have not been able to get two different memory makers chips to work in two different newest imacs.

Put two brand new 2 gig Kingston chips in imac and got the fog horn beeping and no booting. Put original 1 gig Hynix back in and imac was dead.

Took back to Apple store and got a replacement imac (very nice about it and gave me no problem, didn't even test computer). Thought maybe it was chips. Bought two more 2 gig chips from local mac repair place. Same thing. No good. Killed one memory slot. Other slot still works with original Hynix.

Besides the last post, anybody else have success with upgrade and what brand is it? Really need help. And yes, chips put in correctly (this is 9th mac in 14 years and have experience).

After calling Apple they suggested trying Corsair brand memenory. Went to Fry's Electronics and bought two 2 gig Corsair Value Select chips and they worked fine. Even revivied the slot that went dead and would not recognize the chip that came with the computer.

Paid $140 per chip in store but eCost has them for $103. Wanted them right away so paid the extra money.

Just to add my 2 cents. I had a similar problem with my new 24" 2.4 Ghz AL iMac. I ordered the stock amount of RAM, with the intent that I would upgrade myself after I received the unit. I put 2 x 2GB Kingston chips in the computer, and got the fog horn alert on boot. I pulled the right 2Gig module out leaving only the left side installed. Machine booted fine and recognized the memory. I pulled the working 2 gig module out of the left side slot and put it in the right side, rebooted and got the fog horn. Moved the 2 Gig module back over to the left side slot, and reinstalled the Apple factory 1 Gig module in the right side, and everything boots and runs fine...machine sees all 3 Gig or RAM. Bottom line, left side accepts the 2 Gig modules (I have tried 3 different modules, All Kingston) but right side only works with 1 Gig modules that I currently have.


By the way, all of this RAM works just fine in my slightly older, white 24" iMac 2.33 Ghz, which is specd to use the same RAM.