How much RAM is enough?

[dbomb7]

I'm looking into getting a 12" Powerbook or a 15" Powerbook to use for my Flash Development. I also use Photoshop and Illustrator and find myself multitasking alot. How much memory is enough and would I be able to tell the difference between 1GB of memory and 2GB of memory? Thanks all.

[cyks]

I've found, in my own use... that the amount of "enough" RAM is limited only by how much I can afford to buy at the time. There is no such thing as too much.

Yes, if you plan to be using Photoshop and Illustrator- especially at the same time... you will notice a difference between 1 and 2G. (depending on how many and how big your documents are)

[Daveman Deluxe]

Q: How much RAM is enough?
A: More.

[Bhennies]

I'm looking into getting a 12" Powerbook or a 15" Powerbook to use for my Flash Development. I also use Photoshop and Illustrator and find myself multitasking alot. How much memory is enough and would I be able to tell the difference between 1GB of memory and 2GB of memory? Thanks all.I just overcame that same dilemma and settled on a 12". Remember, it's 1.25 GB in the 12" versus 2 in the 15" (not 1 versus 2). I got it primarily for Flash and Photoshop, although I will be using it for Pro Tools as well (which loves RAM). i think that 1.25 should be Ok. 2 would certainly be better- but the 15" in my opinion is not as portable (in fact it is just barely considered portable- I took my book bag into the store today and it didn't fit...the 12" fit with room to spare- the 17"...forget it). If this is your primary machine, which it is not for me, then I would go for the 15". However- the 12" is SO much cheaper and vastly more portable. In case this helps- the 1.5 ghz 15" is not really xbenching all that much better than the 1.33. Go figure.

[Chip NoVaMac]

With my 12" PB 1ghz I have 512mb. In most cases it has served me well. The only time I havehad issues (which will cause me to to look at 1.2gb) is for Photoshop CS and my Canon 10D RAW files at max res. I am hoping going to 1.2gb will give the performance that I normally see.

[Grimace]

Seriously, for what you want to do, 1GB is plenty. 2GB is always nice if you have money lying around, but you will be very satisfied with 1GB. With only two RAM slots, your options are limited. Try this:

1. 512MB comes in the Powerbook.
2. Add a 1GB chip - now you have 1.5GB
3. If that is too slow, sell the 512MB chip and buy another 1GB chip for 2GB total.

[mms]

I have 384 and it generally works fine for me. But more is always better, since OS X loves RAM. However, if you do get some, get it from a respectable dealer, even if it means paying a bit extra. Generic RAM has been known to cause problems. Try crucial.com

[appleguy]

God I remember the days when I got a mac (Performa 580) that had 8MB's of RAM and people asked what I done with all that RAM. (and no I am not that old im only 24)
But now I have an eMac 1GHz Super Drive with 768MB. and have two eMac 1.25GHz Super Drives each with 1Gb or RAM....
anyone else remember the days when RAM was $100 per Meg :eek:
Thank god those days are gone :rolleyes:

[~Shard~]

God I remember the days when I got a mac (Performa 580) that had 8MB's of RAM and people asked what I done with all that RAM. (and no I am not that old im only 24)
But now I have an eMac 1GHz Super Drive with 768MB. and have two eMac 1.25GHz Super Drives each with 1Gb or RAM....
anyone else remember the days when RAM was $100 per Meg :eek:
Thank god those days are gone :rolleyes:

Yep, I totally hear you on that one! Ah, the days... As it stands now, I have a nice 17" 1.25 GHz iMac with 1 GB of RAM, and my friend, who hasn't bought a computer in AGES, still has a Pentium-133 with a 900 MB hard drive. I took great joy in explaining to him the other day that I could store his entire computer's hard drive in my RAM. :cool:

Yah, the first computer I ever used was a Apple ][e with a blazing 64K of memory, if I remember correctly... And man, talk about the enormous capacities on those 5 1/4 floppy discs.. ;) :)

[Counterfit]

Q: How much RAM is enough?
A: More. Or: your current RAM x 2

[JFreak]

for anyone that needs to ask that question, 512MB will be enough and 1GB will be plenty. anyone who NEEDS more than a gigabyte already knows how much is enough.

[Apple //e]

Yah, the first computer I ever used was a Apple ][e with a blazing 64K of memory, if I remember correctly... And man, talk about the enormous capacities on those 5 1/4 floppy discs.. ;) :)

please get the spelling right:

apple ][
apple ][+
apple //e
apple //c

my apple //e had 576kb
;-)

[Ozi]

I took great joy in explaining to him the other day that I could store his entire computer's hard drive in my RAM. :cool:


That is just being mean... we should look kindly on the poor deluded pentium fools. :D And i figure 1 gb will be enough for me... i will be gaming, and doing internet browsing. Occasional photshop and graphics convertor stuff, but nothing major.

[Mav451]

God I remember the days when I got a mac (Performa 580) that had 8MB's of RAM and people asked what I done with all that RAM. (and no I am not that old im only 24)
But now I have an eMac 1GHz Super Drive with 768MB. and have two eMac 1.25GHz Super Drives each with 1Gb or RAM....
anyone else remember the days when RAM was $100 per Meg :eek:
Thank god those days are gone :rolleyes:

haha reminds me of when Pentiums were overpriced (well...pretty much until AMD came along). Remember getting a 90mhz Pentium 1, with a blazing 32MB of RAM (most only came with 24MB, but my dad had demanded they give us 32). Needless to say, that system cost us 4 grand! But it had SVGA (finally) :)

[~Shard~]

please get the spelling right:

apple ][
apple ][+
apple //e
apple //c

my apple //e had 576kb
;-)

Well, who better to correct me than the man who named himself after the machine itself! I stand corrected, thanks for that.

Incidentally, do you just browse through all the forums as an "Apple cop", making sure erveryone is spelling the systems corrrectly? That would be a fun job! ;)

[~Shard~]

That is just being mean... we should look kindly on the poor deluded pentium fools. :D

Mean? I prefer being called a bastard instead. :cool:

[Chappers]

How much RAM?
Which digital camera?
Have you ever been drunk?
Will my Mac start without electricity?

I think I'll start a thread on my favourite questions to appear on the forums.

[Drew01]

Take a look at crucial.com (or wherever) and note that getting RAM in the 512MB flavor is much cheaper than getting the 1 GB kind. So, while it's always "the more RAM the better," the increased speed-per-dollar is much greater with two 512 MB ram modules than it is once you start looking at Gig modules. (Obviously, if you actually need the speed, or have too many hundred dollar bills laying around, then this observation is irrelevant.)

[iPC]

Your issue will not be the amount of RAM. It will be the slow system bus and slow hard drive that will be your performance bottleneck.

http://barefeats.com/pb11.html <--- good example

[Chip NoVaMac]

Take a look at crucial.com (or wherever) and note that getting RAM in the 512MB flavor is much cheaper than getting the 1 GB kind. So, while it's always "the more RAM the better," the increased speed-per-dollar is much greater with two 512 MB ram modules than it is once you start looking at Gig modules. (Obviously, if you actually need the speed, or have too many hundred dollar bills laying around, then this observation is irrelevant.)

For us PB 12' 1ghz usewrs; it is tougher to decide on the 768 vs 1gb route.

[~Shard~]

How much RAM?
Which digital camera?
Have you ever been drunk?
Will my Mac start without electricity?

I think I'll start a thread on my favourite questions to appear on the forums.

Don't forget about "Will there be updates next Tuesday?" ;) :cool:

[PowerMacMan]

I think the best to go with if you are an average user is 1GB RAM

[aswitcher]

I think the best to go with if you are an average user is 1GB RAM


2 512MB sticks is the bets price to performance ratio. 1Gig sticks are very expensive (about 5x the cost of a 512 in Oz, or more than twice as expensive for the same ram) and you have to really know the price you pay will be worth it.