imacmemoryupgrade
I am looking to upgrade the RAM on my Early 2009 iMac from 4GB to 8GB. According to the memory specifications it accepts PC3-8500 204-pin SO-DIMMs. However, will the iMac accept faster RAM (e.g. PC3-10600)? Supposing it does, is there any benefit to doing so?
For reference, here are the two types of RAM I'm considering:
The iMac Mid-2010 supports DDR3 10666 (from the Apple support site)
The first link is to the correct RAM for that Front Side Bus (FSB) speed The second link is to a slightly quicker set of RAM, but runs on a lower FSB.
The differences between the two are characterised by the two notes above, the FSB speed and the clock timings.
In the first, the FSB speed is higher, but the timings for the RAM are slower. In the second, the slower FSB allows the RAM to work at slightly faster timings.
If you want to know about timings, a search for RAS CAS delay is a good starting point.
You can find out the memory summary by going to:
> About This Mac > More Info > Memory
Screenshot example
You can also go to Technical Specifications, click "Browse by Product", and enter the serial number of your Mac to see the specs.
It's always a good idea to read the return policy from the vendors, in case the RAM that you bought was not compatible with your computer.
Best Answer
There's no benefit in going with faster RAM because the speed is limited by what your motherboard supports (the early 2009 iMac has a 1066 Mhz frontside bus.) In theory the faster RAM should be able to work at the lower speeds and should be safe to install, however macs do tend to be fussy when it comes to RAM so I would recommend sticking to the RAM recommended in the system specs.
Edit:
More often than not your mac will accept higher speed RAM. However it can cause problems; one example from the Apple Support Forums. You can find similar stories all over Apple forums. This is why I advocate sticking as closely to the specs as possible.
As to the advantage of possibly installing the RAM in a future computer, in 2 years you'll probably be able to get twice the RAM for the price (and be wanting to install twice the amount too.)
Lastly, if you compare the 2 chips you linked you'll notice that the 1333 memory has a CAS latency of 9, while the 1066 has a lower (better) latency of 7. So you're trading an imaginary upside for a real downside.