Mac OS X forum: Adding ram to an older imac

Adding RAM to your machine would certainly help.
Fortunately it is easy to add RAM to your machine and it takes standard size RAM. PC133 with 168 pins. It can be easily installed by you.
Check the system profiler, under the Apple Menu, for exact memory configuration.
If you have 256MB right now, you almost certainly have two 128MB sticks in the machine. To increase the RAM you will have to sacrifice one or possibly both existing sticks. The next size RAM stick is 256MB ($57)followed by 512MB ($86). This iMac tops out at 1GB of RAM which will set you back $172 (2 x 512). 512 + 256 ($143) or 512 + 128 ($$86)
The site I used to price this RAM is www.memorytogo.com

Hope this helps

P

the website I mentioned carries good memory which has a lifetime warranty.
They will replace RAM without question if there is a suggestion that it is faulty.

P

when buying RAM through eBay. A lot of the stuff is pulled from old machines. Not all of it comes with a lifetime warranty.

Buyer beware

P

thank you all very much. Im definitly going to be upgrading my ram. I've read about using a grounding strap, and i was just wondering if this was necessary. and should i use the instructions on "theimac.com" (http://www.theimac.com/ram_under.shtml) i've used instructions on this site before, and theyve seemed good. sorry to be so annoying, but im nervous about screwing up my computer. Thanks

As mentioned, the grounding strap will not hurt. Avoid touching the connectors on the RAM stick. Handle by the edges only.
"just slides in" is a little over simplification. While the RAM does sit inside a slot, it has to be FIRMLY pushed straight down at each end to make sure the white clips are correctly located. The RAM actually snaps in.

P

the target audience. Reading the whole thread will indicate that this poster is not used to poking around inside their machine, not everyone is comfortable doing that.
By saying that the RAM just slides in, would suggest that once the RAM stick is inside the slot, it is installed.
You and I know that this is not correct. It actually sits in there quite nicely without really being correctly installed. It may even stay in place once the machine is the correct side up, but it will NOT run. Imaging the damage if it falls out. Little gold pins rampaging around a live motherboard! Just being careful



P

Check out NewEgg.com in California for memory also. I recently purchased 512M for $79. Ram gets cheaper every day. Wherever you go try to get free shipping.
Peter suggested 1GB. Go for it. You will love it!

-Kevin

I know I'm just joining in the choir, but I have to chime in.

I'm a print production designer, and I run a number of graphics intensive applications. I have your same system as my ''older'' backup system. Tossing the two 128MB chips and replacing them with two 512MB chips (1GB total) makes my work much faster on that backup box. It's not using swapfiles from the hard drive to make up for RAM deficiencies, so it runs MUCH better.

That box is also the one my daughter uses for the internet (I think Macs are the safest way to go online -- if only because most all the malware online is targeted to infect Windows PCs). With our Time-Warner RoadRunner service, that system streams rich media much more easily and consistently with more RAM installed.

I myself have an even older iMac, believe it or not. It's a G3 266 Mhz. I upgraded that computer from whatever it came with stock, up to 288MB. The speed increase on that machine was drastic. Now of course, it's running OS 9, not OS X. But from what I know of OS X so far (I have a Mac Mini as well), RAM is even more important for OS X. OS X has a feature that automatically uses Virtual Memory. This means that if you're low on memory, OS X tries to use the hard disk as memory. That will slow you down quite a bit. I would highly recommend the RAM upgrade. Also, with some of the iMacs, you can actually go higher than what the instructions say (more RAM per slot). Be sure to do your research, and put as much memory in as possible. I've often read that OS X likes a minimum of 512MB. Good luck!

Two places to check
- To find the specs on your computer:
EveryMac http://www.everymac.com/

- A single source for mac upgrades:
Other World Computing: http://www.macsales.com/

Adding RAM will not speed up the computer,
but will make it run more efficiently.