Adding RAM to 2011 Mac Mini

[ramblo93]

I've got a Mac Mini i7 2.7Gz mid 2011, 4GB RAM.

I recently replaced the corrupt hard drive (and regret not putting an SSD in), so has been reformatted and has about 4/5 the capacity free.

It is solely used to work from home (remote in to my work pc) and browse the web in Chrome. Recently i've noticed that it is slow , even when just remoteing in to my work PC. SOmetimes everything freezes for a few seconds...gets to be really annoying!

I've checked in Activity Montior and it seems to be quite often (but not always) the RAM is near maxing out so I'm inclined to buy another 4GB of RAM for £30/40 and see if that makes a difference. Questions I have are:

1 - Do i need to buy a new pair of 4GB RAM? i.e will it matter if i have one old and one new? I read somewhere (but can't find it now) that hving a matching pair might help performance wise for certain tasks?

2 - Do you think it is worth going for 16GB? That would cost £110 which seems a bit much for an old machine near the end of its life.

[gregs656]

It probably has 2x2gb sticks in at the moment, but you can check.

I'd shop around and see what's available, I paid a lot less than that for 16gb but prices do fluctuate. I've not regretted doing 16gb ever though.

[paulguitar]

I have a similar machine, to run smoothly you need 8GB of RAM AND a SSD.

[300bhp/ton]

I’ve just upgraded the RAM in my 2012 Mini to 16GB. I’ve got 2 x 4GB RAM that I’ve taken out (8GB total). It’s yours for tenner if you want it. PM if interested.

[ramblo93]

gregs656 said:

I'd shop around and see what's available, I paid a lot less than that for 16gb but prices do fluctuate.

Where from?

[mmm-five]

What OS are you running?

If it's Mohave, then I'd take it apart again and fit a decent SSD - although it's SATA-connected so whilst it will be much better than a HDD, it won't match the latest NVME ones.

[ramblo93]

mmm-five said:

What OS are you running?

If it's Mohave, then I'd take it apart again and fit a decent SSD - although it's SATA-connected so whilst it will be much better than a HDD, it won't match the latest NVME ones.

El Capitan

[mmm-five]

ramblo93 said:

El Capitan

Much less pressure on needing an SSD then

My uncle has just presented me with his 'suddenly slow' late 2012 MacMini (2.5 i5). It wasn't slow last week!

Seems he's decided to update it from Sierra to Mojave (despite me telling he not to, unless he buys more RAM and an SSD) - and now he's asking me to buy/install another 4GM RAM to speed it up again

[gregs656]

ramblo93 said:

Where from?

I honestly don't remember, it was a little while a go now.

[Phunk]

SSD is the answer here, you can pick them up dirt cheap now too.

My 2006 (Yup - 13 year old) base spec Mac Pro still boots up in sub 30 seconds and never hangs.

[ramblo93]

300bhp/ton said:

I’ve just upgraded the RAM in my 2012 Mini to 16GB. I’ve got 2 x 4GB RAM that I’ve taken out (8GB total). It’s yours for tenner if you want it. PM if interested.

Did you get my pm?

[300bhp/ton]

ramblo93 said:

300bhp/ton said:

I’ve just upgraded the RAM in my 2012 Mini to 16GB. I’ve got 2 x 4GB RAM that I’ve taken out (8GB total). It’s yours for tenner if you want it. PM if interested.

Did you get my pm?

Yes, sorry just replied. Wasn't really online much over the weekend.