sabarooni

Q: Adding New RAM to 27" iMac Mid 2011

Hi,

 

My iMac is running very slow. I have 4GB internal RAM and need to upgrade. I am not sure (without opening things up) if the 4GB RAM is in 2 x 2GB or just the single 4GB card.

 

Can I add 2 x 8GB to the existing RAM to give me a total of 20GB? Or can I add 2 x 4GB to the existing RAM to end up with 12GB.

I am suing my mac to run photoshop CC, illustrator and indesign (usually all open at the same time).

 

What anti static precautions should I take?

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Jun 8, 2016 6:10 PM

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Q: Adding New RAM to 27" iMac Mid 2011

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  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Jun 20, 2016 2:22 PM in response to pokey b
    Level 10 (141,095 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 20, 2016 2:22 PM in response to pokey b

    TH.png

    I believe John is referring to the Memory Pressure graph in Activity Monitor.  As long as it's in the green and steady you're OK.

    Activity Monitor002.jpg

  • by pokey b,

    pokey b pokey b Jun 20, 2016 2:31 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 3 (582 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 20, 2016 2:31 PM in response to Old Toad

    I agree & understand what you and John are saying. What I don't have a feel for is... with having 2 MB of swap memory (virtual memory), what is the magnitude of the lag that will introduce.

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Jun 20, 2016 2:48 PM in response to pokey b
    Level 8 (49,100 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 20, 2016 2:48 PM in response to pokey b

    The Apple Support document I referenced tells you all you need to know. As it states, "swap used" is "the space used on your startup drive by OS X memory management." That in itself means next to nothing.

     

    In the absence of other factors affecting a Mac's performance, "swap used" is not useful. The file in itself causes no lag whatsoever. You must consider the unitless "memory pressure" indication. It's very simple.

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Jun 20, 2016 2:57 PM in response to sabarooni
    Level 8 (49,100 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 20, 2016 2:57 PM in response to sabarooni

    Google products including Google Chrome are notorious resource hogs. In Google's zeal to harvest your personal information with utter disregard for your privacy or your Mac's performance, Google will greedily use all the resources it can claim for itself. The degree to which it's doing that is obvious from the report you posted.

     

    At a minimum, you're going to need more RAM. A lot more. As in about this much:

     

    iu.jpg


    If you are required to use Google Chrome, you will have a commensurate need to upgrade your hardware frequently, at your expense. It's your Mac, your money, and your own personal information that you're freely giving away so that Google can sell it, so do with each of them as you please.

  • by sabarooni,

    sabarooni sabarooni Jun 21, 2016 7:31 AM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 21, 2016 7:31 AM in response to John Galt

    John Galt, it is usually Chrome that is the biggest culprit in hogging up my CPU usage, however for my work, I need to have around 10-20 tabs open for research.

    Do any of you guys have any suggestions how I can limit chrome's invasive tendencies? Any extensions or is there a better browser I can use?

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Jun 21, 2016 8:34 AM in response to sabarooni
    Level 8 (49,100 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 21, 2016 8:34 AM in response to sabarooni

    Chrome is invasive by design. Installing it modifies OS X extensively, and in much the same manner as a "computer virus", if such a thing were to exist on a Mac, which it doesn't. Google also insists upon continually pushing more resource-demanding modifications to its code as a background task, again in a virus-like manner. Not even Apple does that. That fact can make it difficult to correlate poor performance to anything you might have done yourself.

     

    A Mac modified by Google might appear to be working fine one day, and poorly the next. When that occurs, a lot of Mac users prematurely conclude their Mac is just too old, just like their PCs that required replacement every year or two, so they go buy a new Mac which of course works fine. Google won't care if you do that, and I'm sure Apple doesn't mind either.

     

    ... is there a better browser I can use?

     

    Apple designed Safari exclusively for use on Apple products. While it's not as nearly as easily or extensively modifiable as Chrome, that fact limits unpredictable effects on performance. It's also designed to keep your private information secure, and limits certain web browser features to prevent the kind of intrusiveness that Google survives upon. If Safari doesn't suit your needs consider using Firefox, which requires no OS X modifications. Opera is another example, though I have no personal experience with it. There are other browsers, but if you must use Chrome you might as well buy a Chromebook.

  • by sabarooni,

    sabarooni sabarooni Jun 21, 2016 8:44 AM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 21, 2016 8:44 AM in response to John Galt

    Oh my gosh this sounds awful! If I uninstall chrome will this revert my mac back to how it should be or are these modifications by chrome permanent?

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Jun 21, 2016 4:28 PM in response to sabarooni
    Level 8 (49,100 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 21, 2016 4:28 PM in response to sabarooni

    As far as I know if you uninstall Google Chrome according to its instructions, all of its components of it will be effectively removed. Please read https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95319 and click "Mac computers".

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