Is 8gb enough to run Mavericks

8GB sounds like it's enough for your uses. Best suggestion is see how your system performs after you install Mavericks and then decide on the memory.

8 is more than enough for that.

I do all the things you listed fine on mavericks with 4gb ram.

jmanley1 said:

A few caveats...

I have a 21.5" Mid 2011 iMac with 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5. My main uses are as follows.

• Heavy web browsing
• Streaming video
• DVD playing
• Some writing

Have had 8gb for over a year (2gb sticks x4) and haven't looked back. Just wondering if maybe I shouldn't at least think about getting 16gb or will 8gb be sufficient.

Click to expand...

hahahaha 16 gb for heavy web browsing? HAHAHAHAHAH. Thanks for that

8GB is definitely enough, if not overkill for that usage.

I'm running on 4GB in the system listed in my sig and 10.9 actually feels much better than 10.8 did... much smoother.

My mac has been running with around 2gb free...lags sometimes due to heavy safari use

I'm running Mavericks on the MBP in my signature.
Running fine, and I'm using Logic Pro X and Pro Tools 10/11 on it, as well as web browsing.

jmanley1 said:

A few caveats...

I have a 21.5" Mid 2011 iMac with 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5. My main uses are as follows.

• Heavy web browsing
• Streaming video
• DVD playing
• Some writing

Have had 8gb for over a year (2gb sticks x4) and haven't looked back. Just wondering if maybe I shouldn't at least think about getting 16gb or will 8gb be sufficient.

Click to expand...

You could get by fine with 4GB. You have to be working with media files (audio, video or images) before the computer needs a bunch of RAM.

The best way to see if RAM is needed is to look at Apple's Activity Meter. You shoud have it on your Mac right now in /Application/utilities If you typically are low on RAM or you see any "page outs" then you can use more RAM. If none of that is happing more RAM will not do much.

4gb is totally ok. My girlfriend just got a 2013 mba with 4g and I put Mav GM on it and it runs great. She does what you describe.