I have an iMac that was from the first generation of aluminum iMacs. The reported model is "iMac 7,1".
This iMac's manual says I can put 2 2GB modules, but when this manual was made we don't have modules with more than 2GB and also we had Leopard then, that I suppose can handle less memory than Snow leopard.
Today we have 4GB modules, so can I put two 4GB modules and make it 8GB?
thanks.
No.
The iMac 7,1 (20 and 24 inch models) support a maximum of 4GB
According to OWC, your iMac 7,1 can take up to 6GB (2+4GB).
When I have questions about the specification or capabilities of a Mac the first place I usually look is www.everymac.com. (FWIW, the site is sponsored by OWC which was mentioned in another answer to this question.)
I believe your iMac should be one of the ones listed below. All of them have this note:
Apple officially supports 4 GB of RAM, but third-parties have been able to upgrade the system to 6 GB of RAM using one 2 GB and one 4 GB memory module.
Apple iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 20-Inch (Al) Specs
Apple iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 20-Inch (Al) Specs
Apple iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 24-Inch (Al) Specs
BTW, there really is no difference between Snow Leopard & Leopard in terms of how much physical memory can be (usefully) installed into a Mac. What matters is the hardware, the memory controller used, not the operating system.
Yes, in theory, Snow Leopard on some Macs allows the kernel to use more than 4GiB of RAM. In practice, most Macs will still use the 32-bit kernel and so have the same kernel address limits as Leopard. (IMO, Snow Leopard is still "better" though for other reasons.)
I have an iMac 7.1 running snow leopard. I have hyperX Kensington memory installed & I have 2 x 4GB sodimms in and the iMac reads 8GB matched ram installed :-) they said it shouldn't work but it does for me...
Though it couldn't hurt to find out. My guess is the chip set will only support 4GB and you won't be able to put 4GB chips in.
