New iMac, how much Ram should I put in?

[SpaghettiMonster]

I just bought a new iMac with the standard 8 gb ram. I thought I would upgrade, so would increasing by 16 gb, so the total is 24 gb, would that be a substantial improvement? I sometimes have lags in LR, like when I make an adjustment, LR sometimes takes a few seconds to actually do it. Would the ram increase prevent that, or is that another issue?

[Samantha LaRue]

Love your screenname

Yes, increasing the memory up from 8 would be a great improvement. Have you checked out the crucial scanner yet? It's what Brian recommends to make sure you get the right ram for your computer. http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/systemscanner

It's also very likely that is is the ram that is causing the lag too. If you can fill out this real quick though, we can make sure there isn't anything else obvious that could be causing the issue: http://www.damiensymonds.net/thread1.html

[SpaghettiMonster]

Okay, thanks. Here's the questionnaire:

 

I have a Mac desktop running OS X El Capitan and Lightroom CC. It is less than 1 month old, and has 8GB of RAM. Its hard drive has 2.03GB free out of 2.11GB. The last time I shut down was more than 24 hours ago. I have never run a cleanup program.

[SpaghettiMonster]

My computer will not allow me to install the crucial scanner. It says it's unauthorized and I'm not sure how to get around that. I did already buy Crucial RAM from Amazon and all the comments said it went with my late 2015 iMac 27" 5K. Should I just try to install it or verify it some other way?

 

Here's the message:

 

“CrucialMacScanner” can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.

Your security preferences allow installation of only apps from the Mac App Store and identified developers.

 

Safari downloaded this file on an unknown date.

[Samantha LaRue]

1 hour ago, SpaghettiMonster said:

My computer will not allow me to install the crucial scanner. It says it's unauthorized and I'm not sure how to get around that. I did already buy Crucial RAM from Amazon and all the comments said it went with my late 2015 iMac 27" 5K. Should I just try to install it or verify it some other way?

 

Here's the message:

 

“CrucialMacScanner” can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.

Your security preferences allow installation of only apps from the Mac App Store and identified developers.

 

Safari downloaded this file on an unknown date.

You'll have to wait for Brian to explain how to get around that. I'm not familiar enough with Mac OS to be able to help you. Sorry!

[Samantha LaRue]

1 hour ago, SpaghettiMonster said:

Okay, thanks. Here's the questionnaire:

 

I have a Mac desktop running OS X El Capitan and Lightroom CC. It is less than 1 month old, and has 8GB of RAM. Its hard drive has 2.03GB free out of 2.11GB. The last time I shut down was more than 24 hours ago. I have never run a cleanup program.

I think you got your hard drive numbers wrong there. My memory cards for my camera are more than 2gb, and hard drives are much bigger. 

[SpaghettiMonster]

Yes, should have been TB, not GB, sorry  I have a 2 TB internal HD that is mostly empty. It's a new computer. 

[Brian]

To install the Crucial Scanner, head to your system preferences and look for Security & Privacy. Look for a padlock towards the bottom of the window. Click it and it will ask for your admin password (the one you log on with if you are the only user.) Set the security setting to "Anywhere." Close out the Window and reboot. Then try running the Crucial Scanner.
 

24GB is fine. There is a difference between 8GB and 24GB. That said, RAM is cheap now, so if you want to buy two 16GB kits and Max it out to 32GB, go for it. But if money is tight, go with 24GB.

Now I'm sure you are thinking, "Is there a major difference between 24GB and 32GB?" My answer, "Meh." There is a minor difference,  but it's not as earth-shattering as going from 8GB to 24GB.