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vitalprogeny · Feb 14, 2007, 02:11 AM

I bought my first mac a couple months ago (see specs in my signature) and i m not familiar with the upgrades apple has every so often and how they work (coming from windows... well u kno the story) so how does the upgrade work? and well will i have to get more ram? i tend to try and run alot of things at the same time and sometimes the mac takes a couple seconds to load this or that (its no mac pro) so if i upgrade the OS (which may have more enhanced effects, visuals, programs, code, i dunno etc...) will i have to upgrade my ram? or anything else for that matter? i mean im not to the point where im gonna upgrade the system to its limits but aslong as the system works smoothly... see vista now requires (usually) 1GB of ram.. its like the new default.. but thats deafult... not good smooth operation... so my imac came with 1GB of ram.. thats the default... for tiger... now when leopard comes out... do i need to spend those crazy $300 to upgrade the apple ram to 3GB? (why cant you just go up to 2? i checked on apple.com and only 2gb upgrade is available...)

idykenano · Feb 14, 2007, 10:49 AM

i can only partially answer your question...
1) Tiger's minimum is actually a measly 256gb ram ( could run it on my g3 imac now that I have a dvdrom).
2) The jump from 10.3 to 10.4 as far as ram went was 128>256gb. If I were legally old enough to bet, I'd say that leopard's minimum will be 512gb ram, and your 1gb ram with an intel core will keep performing beautifully.
3) Windows' Vista is insane. My roomate bought a gaming computer this last summer and its full compatibility with Vista is questionable. Rest assured your iMac won't be outdated for some time after all, I'm posting this from Dino.

gooser · Feb 14, 2007, 11:11 AM

every new operating system apple has introduced in the last few years has required more ram. why would leopard be any different?

Goldfinger · Feb 14, 2007, 11:18 AM

Do NOT buy your RAM from Apple. Unless you don't care about being ripped off.

vitalprogeny · Feb 14, 2007, 11:35 AM

No i know a new OS would mean more ram just wanted to know if i would be fine running with what i have considering the changes that vista is making and not having been a mac user for all that long. But ive read that not alot of ram is compatible with macs or gets the best performance as apple ram... any solutions on RAM that works just aswell as the apple one for a more affordable price?

indigoimac · Feb 14, 2007, 03:06 PM

I expect that Apple will be tightening a lot of code for Tiger in Leopard, especially the intel side of the house, I've been pleased w/ my 1gig w/ 10.4 and am holding off the upgrade until I see how 10.5 will manage, I expect it to do better, as every time a new version has come out its memory management has improved.

ibook_steve · Feb 14, 2007, 03:22 PM

I think idykenano meant 256 and 512 MB, not GB, of RAM, just to clarify.

Steve

vitalprogeny · Feb 14, 2007, 03:31 PM

Does ram affect the start up of the machine? And again, any brand names when it comes to upgrading ram by other means than apple?

JKT · Feb 14, 2007, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by vitalprogeny

No i know a new OS would mean more ram just wanted to know if i would be fine running with what i have considering the changes that vista is making and not having been a mac user for all that long. But ive read that not alot of ram is compatible with macs or gets the best performance as apple ram... any solutions on RAM that works just aswell as the apple one for a more affordable price?

All RAM is "compatible" with Macs (if it is of the right type for the slot). What is more apparent with OS X is that it is less tolerant of poorly produced (i.e. really cheap) RAM and this can lead to instability in the system.

Personally, I buy from Crucial (note that is their UK store - click a different location if you are based elsewhere) as their RAM is guaranteed to work (in any system) and if it doesn't they will replace it. RAM from OWC, Kingston, and numerous other places will also work as could the cheap RAM. However, check the returns policy for cheap RAM if you decide to get it.

vitalprogeny · Feb 14, 2007, 04:08 PM

Thanks for all the help!

tinkered · Feb 14, 2007, 04:13 PM

Well put, JKT.

vitalprogeny · Feb 22, 2007, 11:10 PM

so basically the speed of the ram, that its not poorly produced or "instable"... so i can just pick one up from best buy and install and its all good? i mean... what specific slot does the imac have so i can know when i go to buy...

Goldfinger · Feb 23, 2007, 05:33 AM

PC 5300
DDR2
SODIMM (the small, more expensive, laptop RAM sticks)

chrisdisregard · 06:09 PM

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