Upgrading Mac RAM

antodeco

Hi all,
Im looking at purchasing a new i7 2.8Ghz Mac. Now, this comes with 4GB Ram as standard. I want to upgrade the RAM to 16GB, but on the apple store its €900. What Im asking is that how much would 16GB RAM be if I didnt go through the store and how easy is it to swap out the RAM to upgrade?

Thanks

marco_polo

antodeco wrote: »

Hi all,
Im looking at purchasing a new i7 2.8Ghz Mac. Now, this comes with 4GB Ram as standard. I want to upgrade the RAM to 16GB, but on the apple store its €900. What Im asking is that how much would 16GB RAM be if I didnt go through the store and how easy is it to swap out the RAM to upgrade?

Thanks

Is is a Mac Pro or iMac, need to know model to exactly match what you need (I would guess it is likely PC3-10600 DDR3).

It is very easy to install RAM and you should be able be able to pick up 4 X 4 GB of DDR3 RAM for somewhere between 400-500 euro max. Crucial and Kingston seem to be amongst the most popular third party RAM for most Mac users.

antodeco

marco_polo wrote: »

Is is a Mac Pro or iMac, need to know model to exactly match what you need (I would guess it is likely PC3-10600 DDR3).

It is very easy to install RAM and you should be able be able to pick up 4 X 4 GB of DDR3 RAM for somewhere between 400-500 euro max. Crucial and Kingston seem to be amongst the most popular third party RAM for most Mac users.

Its an iMac, apologies. I am actually looking at getting a refurbished unit from the apple store, and just upgrade the RAM separately. I can upgrade the RAM over time, so thats what I wanted to know if its fairly straight forward.

Also, how easy is it to have multiple screen running on a MAC? I had a mac in the past, but cant remember if it had multiple monitor ports!

thecelt

its generally easy enough to fit extra ram, def worth it as buying it installed is so expensive. I have found in the past that sometimes you can be lucky on adverts, i needed ram last year and i stuck a wanted ad on there and got it cheaper than i would have got it in a store

Deano12345

antodeco wrote: »

Its an iMac, apologies. I am actually looking at getting a refurbished unit from the apple store, and just upgrade the RAM separately. I can upgrade the RAM over time, so thats what I wanted to know if its fairly straight forward.

Also, how easy is it to have multiple screen running on a MAC? I had a mac in the past, but cant remember if it had multiple monitor ports!

Its very easy to do a RAM upgrade, on the older C2D iMacs ( up to late 2009) there is a slot at the bottom, unscrew that, pull down the tab that will be there and remove the ram, a slight bit of pressure will be needed. It also helps if you can lay the Mac down on its screen (on a towel, cloth or the like) for ease of use. Repeat the steps in the opposite order for installing new sticks.

Multiple monitors will need a display port to DVI/VGA (etc) adapter, you can buy them from apple themselves or in any apple retailers around

Hope this helps

antodeco

Perfect, thanks for that. I will stick with the 4GB for now, and upgrade as funds come in :pac: Where would be the best place to get RAM, or would eBay be fine to use?

I will need to run multiple monitors, so at least I have that option.

Thanks for all the help!

thecelt

Like I said try adverts first,

dont wait too long to get it ,

I bought an ibook a few years ago and it took me like 2 years to finally get around to ordering ram lol

antodeco

2 years? haha.

Well I havent picked up the Mac yet. Will do within the next 2 or 3 weeks I would say. Been looking at this one:

http://store.apple.com/ie/product/G0GF0B/A?mco=MTU0MzQ1NjE#overview

marco_polo

antodeco wrote: »

Its an iMac, apologies. I am actually looking at getting a refurbished unit from the apple store, and just upgrade the RAM separately. I can upgrade the RAM over time, so thats what I wanted to know if its fairly straight forward.

Also, how easy is it to have multiple screen running on a MAC? I had a mac in the past, but cant remember if it had multiple monitor ports!

Ok be careful though the type of RAM you need is what you need actually DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) SO-DIMM. (Not regular Desktop DIMM memory)

For example two of these would do the job. Link is just as a guide I am sure you could get it cheaper elsewhere, by all means shop around for the best deal. (And google to make sure the brand of RAM you ultimately select has no majoor common problems with Macs)

Unfortunately the one you are buying has 2X2Gb modules rather than 1 X 4GB so to upgrade to 16G you would need to sell them both and buy 4 X 4GB modules instead of just buying another 3 X 4Gb. Shame as it would have been a little cheaper.

Deano12345

marco_polo wrote: »

Ok be careful though the type of RAM you need is what you need actually DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) SO-DIMM. (Not regular Desktop DIMM memory)

For example two of these would do the job. Link is just as a guide I am sure you could get it cheaper elsewhere, by all means shop around for the best deal. (And google to make sure the brand of RAM you ultimately select has no majoor common problems with Macs)

Unfortunately the one you are buying has 2X2Gb modules rather than 1 X 4GB so to upgrade to 16G you would need to sell them both and buy 4 X 4GB modules instead of just buying another 3 X 4Gb. Shame as it would have been a little cheaper.

8GB is the max on them you could on them from what I know, theyve only got 2 memory slots