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I currently have 3 slots in use with 4 GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 Memory. I can install one more. Or.. can I purchase higher GB ram for the slots? As long as I use the 1333 MHz DDR3? Or do I need to keep it to 4 GB?
iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.13
Our Mid 2011 iMac 21.5 runs fine with 12GB RAM. It never reports being starved for RAM. You can evaluate RAM usage easily, keeping in mind that since os 10.9 in Late 2013, "RAM used" is no longer a viable metric for Macs:
See memory usage for your Mac in Activity Monitor - Apple Support
If Pressure is in the green and Swap is trivial (under about 500MB), you do not have a RAM issue.
Why are you wanting to add RAM? Slowness? If so, and based on long history here, you could be wasting your money on RAM.
Take this quiz:
Three "yes" answers say at you do not have a RAM issue but a hard drive issue.
The entry-level drive in that model is actually about 30 percent faster than the entry-level drives Apple used in 2012-2019 iMac 21.5s. However it still feel slow, and there is not much tou can do about it without gutting the computer to install an internal SSD. The labor change could easily be more than the cost of a compatible 500GB SSD.
Had you a 2012 or late model, there would be a cost-effective external SSD option, but it will not help yours. Your iMac has USB2 ports, not the required USB3 for the external option. The external on yours would be slower than it is now.
That said, if your computer is slow and you desire a data-driven evaluation to confirm my suspicion or find other causes here where we cannot see, touch, nor remotely access your iMac, you can post a system configuration snapshot. Fortunately there is a safe, secure way to do that without our playing a protracted game of "20 Questions" that could go on for days.
We can quickly and within the confines of these forums help you determine what issues are at play if you use EtreCheck Pro, available here:
The free version will do nicely for this purpose, although the app is worthy of our financial support.
We can see hard data about drive performance, software issues, and RAM usage. Etrecheck is the development of a long-serving and trusted contributor here expressly for displaying information in these forums to help us help you. It will not reveal any personal or secure information.
To be able to successfully post the long report here, please see this excellent user tip:
How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community
Our Mid 2011 iMac 21.5 runs fine with 12GB RAM. It never reports being starved for RAM. You can evaluate RAM usage easily, keeping in mind that since os 10.9 in Late 2013, "RAM used" is no longer a viable metric for Macs:
See memory usage for your Mac in Activity Monitor - Apple Support
If Pressure is in the green and Swap is trivial (under about 500MB), you do not have a RAM issue.
Why are you wanting to add RAM? Slowness? If so, and based on long history here, you could be wasting your money on RAM.
Take this quiz:
Three "yes" answers say at you do not have a RAM issue but a hard drive issue.
The entry-level drive in that model is actually about 30 percent faster than the entry-level drives Apple used in 2012-2019 iMac 21.5s. However it still feel slow, and there is not much tou can do about it without gutting the computer to install an internal SSD. The labor change could easily be more than the cost of a compatible 500GB SSD.
Had you a 2012 or late model, there would be a cost-effective external SSD option, but it will not help yours. Your iMac has USB2 ports, not the required USB3 for the external option. The external on yours would be slower than it is now.
That said, if your computer is slow and you desire a data-driven evaluation to confirm my suspicion or find other causes here where we cannot see, touch, nor remotely access your iMac, you can post a system configuration snapshot. Fortunately there is a safe, secure way to do that without our playing a protracted game of "20 Questions" that could go on for days.
We can quickly and within the confines of these forums help you determine what issues are at play if you use EtreCheck Pro, available here:
The free version will do nicely for this purpose, although the app is worthy of our financial support.
We can see hard data about drive performance, software issues, and RAM usage. Etrecheck is the development of a long-serving and trusted contributor here expressly for displaying information in these forums to help us help you. It will not reveal any personal or secure information.
To be able to successfully post the long report here, please see this excellent user tip:
How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community
Couldn't find Trusteer or Antivirus One. Trusteer is still showing up as on my computer as is Malwarebytes which I deleted already. Not sure where these files might be. Here's a new report. The "Hard Drive is failing" is gone now. Yay!
Modules should be installed in pairs for the best performance, but it is not required.
The 2011 iMac’s can use 4GB or 8GB modules. You can run 4x4GB=16GB, 2x4 and 2x8 = 24GB or 4x8GB=32GB.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2011/DDR3_21.5_27
Thank you. I'll check out the EtreCheck and see what it says. It could be a hard drive issue. It is slow to open, apps are slow to open. iTunes takes forever if I want to sync my iPhone. The computer also gets very hot when I play games on it with my kids. I know it's an older computer, so it does probably have a hard time with some of the newer games and apps.
Well, that worked great! It does say that my hard drive is failing, which doesn't surprise me as it a 2011. I suppose it's time for a new computer. Any other suggestions? Would it be worth installing a new hard drive?
Any other suggestions? Would it be worth installing a new hard drive?
Well, to answer that with any level of confidence, we need to view the report.
If you post tt here using the instructions in the User Tip I linked, we can see if the "failing" flag is due to real elderly mech-drive issues or caused by unneeded third-party software. I've seen several posts here where removing one over-advertised so-called "cleaning" app improved hard drive performance on drives that were initially flagged as "failing" due to slow speeds.
That's the beauty of EtreCheck. It shows real data that can point to real solutions that may not require binning the computer just yet. Our 2011 is unencumbered by any third-party fear-ware and its drive still posts healthy scores when I run EtreCheck on it.
Etrecheck's developer carefully designed the app to scrub any personal or secure date from your report before posting it here. It is our single best tool for effective helping in this text-based setting.
I said earlier that accessing the hard drive required "gutting" the computer. Not correct. My apologies—I was thinking of the hard drive FAN in that model. Still, safely removing the display is not a trivial task. Replacing the existing hard drive with a quality† SATA 6GB solid state drive would increase your data transfer speed to 500±40MB/sec. If your current mech drive is healthy, its max transfer speeds are limited about 110MB/sec. In my little quiz in my first response, the answers to the first two questions will change from "yes" to "Heck no!" The internal SSD makes a stunning improvement in the user experience.
It's up to you to decide whether to make a significant drive upgrade on a 12-year old Mac whose OS cannot be upgraded past High Sierra and that may lose browser support in the next couple of years. From a hobby standpoint (I'm not a pro even thought one guy tried to pay me once) I am considering doing that to ours once we get Mrs AJ a new iMac.
I have selected this kit if I do it: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/KITIM11HE500/ . It includes tools, the bay adapter sled, and the all-important thermal sensor cable the keeps the fans from running at full tilt all the time. The only other thing you need is a cheap empty transfer drive enclosure to clone the old drive's contents to the the new SSD before you install it. I use this one left over from another project:
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/KITIM11HE500/
US$13 and works great.
Anyway I'd love to see the full report so we can get the full story and not send you on wild goose chases. Those of us who have read thousands of reports here can often spot important clues that a new EtreCheck user may miss.
† — most senior contributors here recommend only Crucial's MX series or the OWC Electra models like the one I linked. My 2012 Macbook Pro 13 has an Electra and it remains a pleasure to use. Can't use "pleasure" when it had the original mech drive which, evne new. was slower than the drive model in your iMac!
Uninstall Trusteer & run etrecheck again to see if it left some hidden files.
Did you uninstall Antivirus One already?
Delete this file & restart...
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist
I have a 2011 21.5 iMac.
I just installed a Samsung 870 Evo from NewEgg.
Very fast, boots in 3-5 seconds..
You will need temperature sensor, tool kit, and 2.5 to 3.5 adapter from OWC.
Hard drive from NewEgg, make sure the seller is NewEgg..
Here you go. Thank you!
👍
Delete this file & restart.
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd.plist
You can use Drive DX to possibly get a better view of Drive health…
Upgrading Ram for 21.5 inch mid 2011 iMac
