Can I add more RAM to my MAC or is it a waste of time

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Can I add more RAM to my MAC or is it a waste of time

Hi, I was wondering if someone would be able to answer my question for me.

I have a 27" iMac Running Mac OS X 10.6.4. It is running on 2.66 GHz Intel Core i5 Processor with 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 RAM and has a 1TB Hard-drive.

My Mac seems to run really good but my question is this! Actually my question is three fold.

1: Can I add more RAM to my MAC, and
2: If I can add more RAM, do I need to, and
3: If I do add more RAM will I see any performance increases based on adding more RAM to the above setup or will I just be wasting my time and money

iMac 27", Mac OS X (10.6.4), iPhone 3G (iOS4), iPad 3G / WIFI

Posted on Oct 26, 2010 5:29 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Oct 26, 2010 5:43 PM in response to Jason G Telford

It all depends on how memory intensive the applications you typically run are. Go to Activity Monitor in Utilities and have a look at System Memory. At the bottom of the page, you will see "page outs." If you see a number there more than 0, it means you've run out of memory and some of the Hard Drive space is being used to store the excess demand for memory. Having any page outs means the drive has to be kept busy with memory and the overall performance and speed of the computer will suffer (depending on how much that extra demand is.)

Yes, you can add more RAM quite easily. Just check in your user manual.

If you never see any page outs, you will probably be wasting your money.

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Answer 2

BobHarris

Level 9

53,147 points

Oct 26, 2010 5:42 PM in response to Jason G Telford

I have a 27" iMac Running Mac OS X 10.6.4. It is running on 2.66 GHz Intel Core i5 Processor with 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 RAM and has a 1TB Hard-drive.

My Mac seems to run really good but my question is this! Actually my question is three fold.

1: Can I add more RAM to my MAC, and

Yes. From the iMac technical specs - Standard 4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; four SO-DIMM slots support up to 16GB

2: If I can add more RAM, do I need to, and

If it isn't broke, don't fix it. You can always throw money at your Mac. If you have unlimited funds, go for it. Otherwise, wait until you have a demonstrated need for more memory.

3: If I do add more RAM will I see any performance increases based on adding more RAM to the above setup or will I just be wasting my time and money

Serious lack of memory causes extreme pageout activity. The best way to monitor pageout activity is using the Terminal command:


sar -g 60 100

Which will display your pageout activity once a minute for 100 minutes (adjust values to suit your tastes). An occasional pageout in noise. Only if you have sustained high pageout values are you experiencing memory starvation.

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Answer 3

Oct 26, 2010 10:41 PM in response to Jason G Telford

Thanks guys, you helped me make up my mind. I dont have any page outs and I ran the Terminal test for page outs like directed and I didnt get any at all over 1000 minuets, so I guess I dont need to upgrade my RAM at all

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