Imac late 2012 upgrade or not?

[hakofred]

Hi. I have found out that my imac can be upgraded to 16 GB ram. Today its only 8, and seems to start struggeling sometimes. I,m using an external SSD disk for PT and it works pretty well. I also want to swap my old HD for a SSD, 1 TB disk at the same time.
I have a guy that can do this for me.
Would this upgrade make my Imac able to run a little longer with protools or is it time for new hardware?

[Southsidemusic]

More RAM and a SSD will make the Mac faster and able to run more VI and other operations but all depends on what that will cost as I would probably put in 32GB if the computer can handle that and a 1TB or even a 2TB SSD and run all the sessions off that drive. Both PT / OS and Sessions as it will be faster than using any external drive for sure.

[hakofred]

The limit on my Imac is 16 GB ram. The macine has been running flawlessly all these years and and the cost of this upgrade vs a new machine with the same wanted performances will be 80% saved money

[hakofred]

Only concerned of the limited ram capasity

[Southsidemusic]

16GB will be OK on the newer PT versions with disc cache and freeze/commit functions as long as you plan ahead a bit if you are going to use heavy VI with many big sample libraries.

We have made sessions of songs you all heard and got tired of hearing on the radio the past 5-6 years with 8GB ram and the last year 16GB with many VI and lots of plugins and automation no matter what others say and it works and worked great. As I said a bit of planning and no issues at all.

The SSD will also make a HUGE difference in helping your iMac work so if you can't get more RAM I would absolutely go for it.

As you said a new comparable iMac is a LOT more money and might not even do what you think it would in terms of (better performance) than updating the one you got.

It says i7 which is great and new ram and ssd ... I say go for it.

Save up some money a few years and get a new shiny computer when you REALLY need one, not when you WANT one

[hakofred]

Yes, i hope it will do. A Samsung evo 850 SSD 1 tb would maybe do the job?
I already use an external Evo 850, 250 GB harddrive without any problems.

[SigFriedChicken]

I have a 2015 iMac with 24GB of RAM (8GB original, 16GB aftermarket).

A few months ago, one of the aftermarket memory sticks failed, forcing me to step down to 8GB, temporarily, while I waited for a replacement to arrive. During this time, there was a noticeable decline in PT performance. Based on that, I'd recommend upgrading.

[musicman691]

To the op:
If you decide to upgrade your current iMac I suggest watching this video from OWC on how to install new ram. Essentially it's almost a complete disassembly of the computer. https://eshop.macsales.com/installvi...late_2012_mem/
The page this was linked to is the product page for the upgrade ram. Nice thing with OWC is you can also get the ram with the necessary toolkit to do the job. https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memo...012_21.5/DDR3L

Watching the ram upgrade video you see how relatively easy it is to change out the hard drive - it's one of the first things to remove when getting to the ram.

[hakofred]

Yes i know that it´s a big job. I have a professional doing it for me. I wouldn´t start on it myself
Since i also use the computer, (believe it or not), live with Mainstage, i belive this upgrade will run everything faster and safer. Looking foreward to get it done

[hakofred]

Got it back now and wow....it´s a completely new world. The speed is incredible!
Its worth every penny.

Thanks