Apple/ Mac Memory

[robfisher]

I have an Apple iMac 24" 2.16GHZ on which I have recently installed Snow Leopard. The machine came with 1GB of memory but Apple recommend 2GB to run Snow Leopard. The machine has a maximum useable memory capacity of 3GB but Apple told me that to maximize the memory I would need to buy 2x2GB cards and not use the 4th GB. Looking on the Crucial Web site it seems to suggest that I could buy a 2GB and a 1GB memory card and that would work. Who is right?

[rpsgc]

Hello,

Both are right. Yes, you can use a 2GB and a 1GB memory sticks together and yes, technically, a matched pair (2x2GB) would be better but in this case, not so much. Considering you already have one 1GB stick, it would be cheaper to just buy a 2GB stick. Go with that.

[dossb]

If Apple actually included a 1GB card, the above reply is correct, just buy the 2GB and enjoy. However, I would suggest (if you haven't already) checking to see how your iMac is configured. I have found they often put 2 - 512MB cards in to fill both slots in the iMac. If that is the case you will need to get the 1GB and 2GB cards.

Another consideration I have read on the Apple Forum is, if you put in 2 - 2GB cards you end up with 3.3GB of memory. While not a significant addition, with the cost of memory these days it may be worth the bit of extra money. 

[rpsgc]

Of course, since the OP didn't specify I assumed he had just one 1GB stick.

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dossb wrote:

If Apple actually included a 1GB card, the above reply is correct, just buy the 2GB and enjoy. However, I would suggest (if you haven't already) checking to see how your iMac is configured. I have found they often put 2 - 512MB cards in to fill both slots in the iMac. If that is the case you will need to get the 1GB and 2GB cards.

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