iMac 8,1 2008 8gb ram upgrade

In a sense....what more RAM will do is prevent your machine from running slow.

deafwarrior, 8gb? really? I just chatted with crucial & OWC. Crucial's rep said 4gb max, with a good risk of instability if I went to 6gb (I've got 4gb). OWC said 6gb was tested and works. (I would need to replace a 2gb mod with a 4gb mod). I don't think crucial will warranty out of spec use.

Are your serious about trying a push to 16gb? The 8gb sticks are the same specs (except for size)?

I want to run windows 7 pro in VMware Fusion. That needs/consumes a lot of ram and my 4gb isn't doing it well at all.

My one is working like a charm. I've also added an SSD and the system feels snappy and happy. Couldn't wish for more. Haven't restarted for a month, have done some extensive PhotoShop work and it just flies.

I am not sure that you can take it to 16GB, early 2008 iMac should not be able to support that configuration due to limitations of the chipset.

And VMware recommends increasing the ram. 16gb ram recomended, 8gb total is also fine. I'm eager to know asap because this is a work machine and I need to work.

To (partially) echo this sentiment, not going by Apple's RAM specifications is one thing. You should not increase your RAM above the Maximum specifications listed at Crucial for your specific model.

"I don't think crucial will warranty out of spec use."

They will not (though this could be easily bypassed by simply stating you installed the modules on a compatible machines).

Even using 8gb worries me, despite deafwarrior's positive experience. Still 8gb total at a cost of ~$220 is better than buying a new machine (?-maybe, unless the mac gets totally f'd).

"Since it is an old machine I really have nothing to lose"

$400

I love apple computers...

"You should not increase your RAM above the Maximum specifications listed at Crucial for your specific model."

Crucial does not recommend even what OWC tested and suggests (6gb total, a 4gb mod and 2gb mod). Even OWC does not mention trying to get to the 8gb total that deafwarrior has.

Yet deafwarrior seems very happy. I'm nervous to try it.

OWC thoroughly tests Macs to see if they can take more RAM than Apple's recommended specs.

Even with installing 8 GBs of RAM won't brick your iMac.

It'll either run the a total of 8 GBs of the correct RAM, only run with 6 out of the 8 GBs of RAM or your iMac will beep in 3 beep increments and not start up indicating failed, defective or wrong type or amount of RAM.

This is only a temporary thing and putting in either the recomended 4 or 6 GB of actual RAM, total, would return your iMac to normal working order.

I will take this under advisement.

Hello, today I tried to upgrade my imac 2008, from 4gb to 8gb, I bought SAMSUNG M470T5267AZ3-CF7 0926.

I put two moduls of 4gb inside, but when I turn on my IMAC it beep 3 times.

Now I put 2gb + 4gb and it works fine, more quick than 2gb+2gb but it doesn't increase very much, only few seconds.

Do you thoink that if I try with CRUCIAL CT51264AC800 IT WILL WORK with 8gb?

thank's.

Hi nbar

RE: I am running 16 gb on my MBP 8,2. OWC extensively tests the models beforehand and offers 1 year warranty on their modules.

Can the same RAM be used for an iMac 8,1 Running OSx 10.6.8? If so, what is the exact make & model info of your modules?

I'm intending to upgrade my exsisting 3Gb RAM is anticipation of OS X Mavricks.

Thanks for sharing you knowledge, much appreciated.

Update & fwiw: I tried two 4gb mods to bring the total to 8. The mac registered the ram. The mac ran very badly though. Activity monitor showed extremely high % of CPU use on any particular app running (going as high as 141%!). I took out a 4gb mod and returned a 2gb mod, bringing the total to 6gb. All ram was from Crucial. The mac works fine at 6gb ram.