Imac 2017 Ram Slot Order


My iMac has 4 memory slots on the back with 2 occupied by 8GB RAM cards (i.e.16GB), and I am finding that in Lightroom and Photoshop they are reaching full capacity and slowing everything down. To order 2x 8 GB cards from Apple costs £360 and 2x 16GB cards are £720, however there is a third party seller on eBay who will sell the 2x 16GB compatible cards from one of the same manufacturers as Apple uses for £149.00. Do any computer geeks have any views on the risks of going for the cheaper option?

I just bought a new iMac 3.4 ghz model and need to upgrade the RAM. Right now it comes with two slots filled with 2 x 4 gig sticks for a total of 8 gigs. I'm looking at adding in 2 x 8 gig sticks along with the two 4 gig sticks for a total of 24 gigs of RAM. Apple's new 2017 iMacs can support up to 64GB of RAM, but that's not the whole story. Here's a look at the still perplexing iMac RAM upgrades.


prsjnb
Plus Member

10 years
Wiltshire, U.K.
Look up your exact model using the upgrade advisor on the Crucial or Kingston websites. Both of these produce top quality memory and guarantee comparability with a no quibble warranty (I speak from experience). I checked on the Crucial site and entered the 2017 model as an example. For a 32GB kit, 2 x 16GB, the price was £119.00 inc. VAT and P&P.
If you haven't already done so, in addition to the memory you should consider upgrading to an SSD (the largest you can comfortablly afford and ideally larger than 512GB) for your OS and programmes. As an example, the Crucial MX500 is listed as a compatible upgrade at £65.00.
Other than the above, your looking at a change of computer to one with a similar amount of memory and SSD.
You might also want to consider ditching Photoshop and switching to something leaner and less resource hungry but similarly capable. For example Serif Affinity Photo link
Hope this helps.
Jon😉

Imac 2017 Ram Slot Order Traversal


Bertie54
Plus Member

13 years
South Staffs
I used Crucial to upgrade my iMac to 4x 8Gb several years ago. No issues. Steve
prsjnb wrote:
Look up your exact model using the upgrade advisor on the Crucial or Kingston websites. Both of these produce top quality memory and guarantee comparability with a no quibble warranty (I speak from experience). I checked on the Crucial site and entered the 2017 model as an example. For a 32GB kit, 2 x 16GB, the price was £119.00 inc. VAT and P&P.
If you haven't already done so, in addition to the memory you should consider upgrading to an SSD (the largest you can comfortablly afford and ideally larger than 512GB) for your OS and programmes. As an example, the Crucial MX500 is listed as a compatible upgrade at £65.00.
Other than the above, your looking at a change of computer to one with a similar amount of memory and SSD.
You might also want to consider ditching Photoshop and switching to something leaner and less resource hungry but similarly capable. For example Serif Affinity Photo link
Hope this helps.
Jon😉

Imac 2017 Ram Slot Order Thanks Jon, I am stuck with Photoshop as I have it free for a year. I don’t think it helps that I also run AutoCad software which is hungry and of course the time machine is backing up to a separate hard drive as well.Imac 2017 Ram Slot Order
The machine has a 2.12TB Fusion Drive most of which is available, I think the slots are just for operational stuff and I can free them up with CleanMyMac to an extent so hopefully the extra will sort it. I can also double the capacity of the two existing slots and the eBay seller says he would give me £32.00 for them in exchange.
Last Edited by RobL on 11/02/2020 - 14:00
RobL wrote:
To order 2x 8 GB cards from Apple costs £360 and 2x 16GB cards are £720,

That's outrageous ! barkin wrote:
RobL wrote:
To order 2x 8 GB cards from Apple costs £360 and 2x 16GB cards are £720,

That's outrageous !
I think I paid something like an extra £360 to upgrade from 8GB basic to 16GB when I ordered it directly from Apple. RobL wrote:
barkin wrote:
Quote:
To order 2x 8 GB cards from Apple costs £360 and 2x 16GB cards are £720,

That's outrageous ! Imac 2017 ram slot order traversal
I think I paid something like an extra £360 to upgrade from 8GB basic to 16GB when I ordered it directly from Apple.
And the moral of this story is... barkin wrote:
RobL wrote:
Quote:
RobL wrote:
To order 2x 8 GB cards from Apple costs £360 and 2x 16GB cards are £720,

That's outrageous !

Imac 2017 Ram Slot Order Software


I think I paid something like an extra £360 to upgrade from 8GB basic to 16GB when I ordered it directly from Apple.
And the moral of this story is...
That's Apple for you K-3 II, K-3 and a K-70 from SRS (having now relegated the K-30 /'K-50' to a backup body), & some Sigma and Pentax lenses (and a lot of old 35mm gear!)
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