iMac RAM is doing my head in!

Comments

• Reply 1 of 10

  pscates Posts: 5,847member

  January 8, 2002 4:53PM

  From <a href="http://www.apple.com/imac/faq.html"; target="_blank">http://www.apple.com/imac/faq.html</a>;
  
  
  
  [quote]What are the memory configurations of iMac?
  
  There are two memory slots ? an internal 168-pin slot and a user-accessible SO-DIMM slot. iMac comes with 128MB or 256MB of RAM in the internal memory slot. The second slot is open and holds the same industry-standard type of RAM used in the iBook and PowerBook G4. iMac supports a total of up to 1GB of RAM.
  
  
  
  Can the memory in the internal memory slot be changed?
  
  You can easily add as much as 512MB of additional RAM to the user-accessible SO-DIMM slot for a total of up to 768MB (depending on the model), which is more than enough for just about any task. If necessary, the memory in the internal slot can be upgraded by an authorized Apple service technician.<hr></blockquote>
  
  
  
  Hell, I'm confused too!
  
  
  
  
• Reply 2 of 10

  brussell Posts: 9,812member

  January 8, 2002 5:00PM

  [quote]Originally posted by iDome:
  
  <strong>if I buy either model with the standard 256RAM - can I add say, one 512 DIMM later in the 1 extra slot? Or does the RAM have to be paired, I.E. 256 + 256...
  
  
  
  Oh yeah one other dumb question can I back up Mac files onto a DVD and still read them? This would be good for large files and tonnes of MP3's...</strong><hr></blockquote>
  
  You could add a 512 without any problem. See how the SuperDrive model has 768MB RAM.
  
  
  
  And yes, OSX will write data DVDs on the SuperDrive. Toast can do it too.
• Reply 3 of 10

  paul Posts: 5,278member

  January 8, 2002 11:22PM

  What pisses me off most is the fact that I cant use my current iMacs memory in there... I have a 512 mod that I would LOVE to be able to drop in there... FVCKING APPLE! Can't they get anything right?!
• Reply 4 of 10

  murbot Posts: 5,262member

  January 8, 2002 11:31PM

  Jeeeesus, that adds a little price to adding a 512 MB chip in there, doesn't it?
  
  
  
  Well, off I go to eBay to dump this 256 MB chip I have sitting here.....
• Reply 5 of 10

  thegelding Posts: 3,230member

  January 8, 2002 11:54PM

  the question is do you spend 200 bucks to have the INTERNAL ram boosted to a single 512 chip....then spend 2-3 hundred on a 512 so-dimm chip to the area near the airport card??
  
  
  
  i think i will just have them ship the iMac with 256 internal ram and add the 512 So-dimm myself (dang, 256 so-dimm is like 1/3 the cost of 512...maybe the new iMac will drive down the cost since more people will want them....wait, that goes against supply and demand....dang....who knows)---really don't think i will notice the difference from 1 gig ram to 768 ram---especially since i just upgraded to 384 on my current iMac...so 768 is gonna rock....do i need 1 gig for dvd burning or will 768 be fine? or is 512 fine?? g
  
  
  
  [ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: thegelding ]</p>
• Reply 6 of 10

  pscates Posts: 5,847member

  January 9, 2002 12:08AM

  Yeah, I too have been mulling over my RAM options. Too bad they took this approach, because I would've loved to have kept buying iMac RAM for $3 for a gazillion MB.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Oh well. I'm probably just going to have it ship with the stock 256. Then I'll just look around and try my best to find a reasonably priced 512MB chip. If it's totally ridiculous and not do-able, I'll just drop in a second 256MB and dig the 512MB.
  
  
  
  Hell, I've only got 384MB in my current iMac and I've honestly never really hit the ceiling. Usually have IE, mail, Illustrator, Photoshop, iTunes, ATM Deluxe, Acrobat Reader, SimpleText, Applet Runner and whatever else all going with only 384MB, so...
  
  
  
  Tell me something: with OS X and how it handles memory and all, it's not like OS 9 where, say, you allocate 128MB to Photoshop or whatever, and as long as Photoshop is running, that 128MB can't be used for anything else. You quickly "hit a ceilng" if you have a bunch of apps open and running.
  
  
  
  With X, you don't really allocate or assign RAM to an app, so the system does it for you, directing it to whatever X-native program currently needs it?
  
  
  
  Is that close to how it works? Am I even anywhere near correct on this? I never truly understood or got the lowdown on OS X's memory management. Seem to have gotten several conflicting stories/explanations.
  
  
  
  Since you're not assigning RAM/memory amounts in OS X, what governs the amount of programs you can launch? In OS 9, you soon room out of room when you hit the RAM ceiling.
  
  
  
  How does X go about this?
  
  
  
  In short, is it essentially true that 512MB RAM in OS X goes farther than the same amount in OS 9?
• Reply 7 of 10

  ghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member

  January 9, 2002 12:27AM

  [quote]Originally posted by pscates:
  
  <strong>With X, you don't really allocate or assign RAM to an app, so the system does it for you, directing it to whatever X-native program currently needs it?
  
  
  
  Is that close to how it works? Am I even anywhere near correct on this? I never truly understood or got the lowdown on OS X's memory management. Seem to have gotten several conflicting stories/explanations.
  
  
  
  Since you're not assigning RAM/memory amounts in OS X, what governs the amount of programs you can launch? In OS 9, you soon room out of room when you hit the RAM ceiling.
  
  
  
  How does X go about this?
  
  
  
  In short, is it essentially true that 512MB RAM in OS X goes farther than the same amount in OS 9?</strong><hr></blockquote>
  
  I guess you haven't used X at all yet, have you?
  
  
  
  Yes, OSX will manage everything memory-related without your intervention. It dynamically allocates memory and virtual memory. Even if you don't have enough RAM, it'll start swapping virtual pages on disk to keep up.
  
  
  
  Does 512 MB go farther in X than 9? Well, not necessarily. Remember that in X, the window server double-buffers nearly everything, thus keeping a copy of every window in RAM. That's a LOT of memory that adds up QUICKLY. However, the ingenious Andrew Welch (aka. "moki") of Ambrosia Software found a way to enable window buffer compression in OSX. This will save a whole lot of memory when you've got lots of windows open. Yet, it's still important to understant that X may have to allocate several megs of RAM to hold a window as opposed to 9 using only a few bytes. This also explains X's "slow" feeling, but that's a whole other topic.
  
  
  
  You can get a great explanation from Arstechnica's John Siracusa <a href="http://arstechnica.com/reviews/01q4/macosx-10.1/macosx-10.1-6.html"; target="_blank">in this part</a> of his 10.1 article.
  
  
  
  edit: added more info and link.
  
  
  
  [ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>
• Reply 8 of 10

  pscates Posts: 5,847member

  January 9, 2002 12:41AM

  I've been using X for about three months, but I've never really thought about, nor truly understood, that particular aspect of it.
  
  
  
  It's why I asked.
• Reply 9 of 10

  ghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member

  January 9, 2002 12:51AM

  Ah, no problemo. Just be sure to read the link I added to the end of my last post. That should clear things up a lot. Feel free to ask more questions if that article isn't enough for ya... I'll try to use my limited cereberal abilities to explain some more.
• Reply 10 of 10

  bondservant Posts: 10member

  January 9, 2002 2:32AM

  the question is do you spend 200 bucks to have the INTERNAL ram boosted to a single 512 chip....then spend 2-3 hundred on a 512 so-dimm chip to the area near the airport card??
  
  ********************
  
  
  
  I just ordered a 512 so-dimm lowprofile for my ibook for $147 and $7 airborne at datamem.com
  
  should come in tomorrow(Wish my Imac 256 dimm would fit wife and I love what the new imac can do will probably sell Presario 1400, remember just got my ibook, :} and the 500 mhz snow with dvd and 30 gig drive to buy the SUPERDRIVE new imac...she promoses to let me use it and I promised she can have the ibook when and if I get a titanium He He..