My Specs are as follows:
Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac10,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 3.06 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM101.00CC.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.52f9
Serial Number (system): W8008JEF5PC
Hardware UUID: EECDACBD-AF6B-5B3E-B382-2702F2AA64AD
Current RAM:
Memory Slots:
ECC: Disabled
BANK 0/DIMM0:
Size: Empty
Type: Empty
Speed: Empty
Status: Empty
Manufacturer: Empty
Part Number: Empty
Serial Number: Empty
BANK 1/DIMM0:
Size: Empty
Type: Empty
Speed: Empty
Status: Empty
Manufacturer: Empty
Part Number: Empty
Serial Number: Empty
BANK 0/DIMM1:
Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR3
Speed: 1067 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x80AD
Part Number: 0x484D54313235533642465238432D47372020
Serial Number: 0x108343E7
BANK 1/DIMM1:
Size: 2 GB
Type: DDR3
Speed: 1067 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x80AD
Part Number: 0x484D54313235533642465238432D47372020
Serial Number: 0x101343E9
- What sort/kind of RAM should I purchase to improve the current RAM capacity?
- Should I buy an extra 2 x 2GB RAM or 2 x 4GB?
- Which Slot should it be inserted to should I purchase the new RAMs?
- Will it have a negative effect on the overall performance?
Best Answer
Getting a performance boost depends on what you actually do with the thing. Run Activity-Monitor (Applications>Utilities) to see how much of your RAM is used. Most Mac stuff runs well on 4GB, but if you run memory intense stuff (Parallels-Windows, Video Editing, editing large pictures with photoshop) you should see an improvement. But even if you don't need the RAM, you should not see a performance penalty (i.e. it may or may not run better, but won't run worse).
Unless your computer is already slowing down to a crawl with the current configuration (when doing memory intense work), adding 2x 2GB should be enough (giving you a total of 8GB).
So, given your configuration, I'd add 2x 2GB to the free slots and keep the memory that is already there in the other slot.