New iMac i3 Crashing After RAM Upgrade

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Level 1

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New iMac i3 Crashing After RAM Upgrade

I have a new iMac 3.2Ghz i3 machine. Love it.
It worked well, but as soon as I increased the RAM ot 16Gb it inadvertently shuts down. Its just goes black and everything is off. Is anyone else having this problem. There is no one application that is causing this.
I have had the RAM replaced with new ones, bought them from OWC Macsales. Their tech support are telling me that they are hearing of a lot of customers who maxed out their macs are experiencing the same problem.
Would love to hear from anyone who might be having similar problems and if anyone knows of any fixes?
Oh over the weekend I replaced the 4GB that the machine came with and this problem never occurred.

Mac i3 3.2Ghz 27, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Nov 22, 2010 6:03 PM

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Answer 1

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Nov 22, 2010 6:30 PM in response to Dennis_S

I'm about to order some RAM and after reading the various posts here, it appears that things work well with 12 GB, so that is what I am going to do (order 2 x 4 GB)and would recommend to anyone else as well.

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Answer 2

Dennis_S Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 23, 2010 5:03 AM in response to babowa

I've had it running on 12Gb all night and it seems to be stable. Gonna try dropping in the 2Gb stick that came with it and see what happens.
Not sure if to return one of the 4Gb sticks or hold on to it to see if Apple are going to fix this problem.

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Answer 3

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Nov 23, 2010 8:23 AM in response to Dennis_S

Let us know what happens. As for the possibly extra 4 GB - if they'll take it back, I'd probably return it, but that is my personal opinion.

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Answer 4

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Nov 23, 2010 12:41 PM in response to babowa

I'm at 12 GB, since the machine came w/two 2 GB modules and there was only two spare ones, so those are two 4 GB ones from ChipMerchant. No issues since April when i got the machine.

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Answer 5

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Nov 23, 2010 12:45 PM in response to baltwo

Yep, that's what I will be doing.

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Answer 6

Nov 23, 2010 3:47 PM in response to Dennis_S

I've got the same problem. New iMac with 16g of macsales memory shuts down completely at random. As if someone has pulled the power plug. The thing is it was fine for a month or so. Now it shuts down 6 to 8 times a day and it's doing my head in.

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Answer 7

baltwo

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62,362 points

Nov 23, 2010 4:03 PM in response to darrylseanparsons

Call AppleCare after pulling modules and testing them with AHT, extended tests, and Rember.

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Answer 8

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Nov 23, 2010 4:04 PM in response to darrylseanparsons

Have you tried removing one (I'm assuming you have 4 x 4 GB) of the modules and running it with 12 GB?

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Answer 9

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Nov 23, 2010 4:16 PM in response to baltwo

Of course you'd come up with a great idea; I was going by previous threads such as this one:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12369997&#12369997

It appears to be a perplexing problem and oddly enough usually solved by using 12 GB.

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Answer 10

baltwo

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62,362 points

Nov 23, 2010 4:46 PM in response to babowa

Testing first, then if all pass them, calling AppleCare for the 16 GB problem and running w/12 GB until it's fixed.

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Answer 11

Nov 29, 2010 1:27 PM in response to baltwo

I've taken my iMac i7 down to 12gb from 16gb. It's been three days and so far I haven't had one shutdown. With 16gb I was getting 8-10 a day.

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Answer 12

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Nov 29, 2010 1:36 PM in response to darrylseanparsons

Then, contact macsales.

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Answer 13

Dennis_S Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 30, 2010 9:45 AM in response to baltwo

After lengthy discussions with MacSales and pulling each RAM and doing some kind of elimination it seems there is a problem with the Mac at 16GB. For some reason it is causing the machine to crash. I am currently running at 14GB to see what happens.
I have searched the Apple support website about this and cannot find anything. Hopefully Apple knows about this problem and working on a fix.

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Answer 14

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Nov 30, 2010 10:37 AM in response to Dennis_S

I believe I read somewhere that people are experiencing the problem if the added 12 GB (total of 16 GB) is from a third party rather than the original or same RAM as supplied (whatever brand Apple is using).

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Answer 15

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Nov 30, 2010 11:59 AM in response to Dennis_S

Then, contact AppleCare and have them resolve the issue. If the Macsales RAM is compatible and passes all tests, then it's in Apple's court to resolve.

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