Yosemite RAM

Asparagus Jones said:

Just a quick question from a total Mac newbie..

I've recently bought a new Mac Mini i5 base model and was wondering if the 4GB of RAM that it came with would be enough to run Yosemite well or would I need to upgrade it to get better performance..?

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Were you intentionally making a reference to Yosemite Sam? If so, bravo, my friend. Bravo.

Best to upgrade to 16GB. 4GB these days barely works well for anything. Shame on Apple for selling one with less than 8GB in this day and age.

Cape Dave said:

Best to upgrade to 16GB. 4GB these days barely works well for anything. Shame on Apple for selling one with less than 8GB in this day and age.

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Nonsense.

1 GB plus 4 GB (so 5 GB in total), and the original 120 GB HDD work just fine for my needs on and early 2009 Mini…… Which has the specs to run Yosemite. I will probably go to an SSD when the new OS X comes, but go up to 8 GB of RAM? Maybe, maybe not.

Sure there are apps where 8 or 16 RAM will bring significant benefit, but for many folks doing undemanding tasks 4 GB is ample and likely to remain so. Going for a SSD, or Fusion Drive is likely bring more noticeable improvement, though still not essential for the average Joe or Jill……

The average cynical geek, however, may have a different point of view.

I would suggest stick with the 4GB, and add more should the need arise.

squirrrl said:

Were you intentionally making a reference to Yosemite Sam? If so, bravo, my friend. Bravo.

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Duh, now I see it Good one!

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Micky Do said:

Nonsense.

1 GB plus 4 GB (so 5 GB in total), and the original 120 GB HDD work just fine for my needs on and early 2009 Mini…… Which has the specs to run Yosemite. I will probably go to an SSD when the new OS X comes, but go up to 8 GB of RAM? Maybe, maybe not.

Sure there are apps where 8 or 16 RAM will bring significant benefit, but for many folks doing undemanding tasks 4 GB is ample and likely to remain so. Going for a SSD, or Fusion Drive is likely bring more noticeable improvement, though still not essential for the average Joe or Jill……

The average cynical geek, however, may have a different point of view.

I would suggest stick with the 4GB, and add more should the need arise.

Click to expand...

With RAM, it is always better to have a little more than a little less.

Asparagus Jones said:

Just a quick question from a total Mac newbie..

I've recently bought a new Mac Mini i5 base model and was wondering if the 4GB of RAM that it came with would be enough to run Yosemite well or would I need to upgrade it to get better performance..?

Click to expand...

You will be just fine, an SSD will make a much bigger difference. I am running Yosemite just fine on my iMac 2007 with 4 GB.

I can run Windows 95 just fine on my Pentium with 512K but folks, this is 2014.

Future proof your computer a little bit by adding some RAM. You will be happy you did. This is my opinion.

Do not spend the rent on it. Duh.

The fact that someone somewhere is running an old computer with 4GB is what it is.

Cape Dave said:

I can run Windows 95 just fine on my Pentium with 512K but folks, this is 2014.



Future proof your computer a little bit by adding some RAM. You will be happy you did. This is my opinion.



Do not spend the rent on it. Duh.



The fact that someone somewhere is running an old computer with 4GB is what it is.

Click to expand...

I agree and you dont know you need it until you use it. I used my mbp with 2 gb rams and it seemed fine until i bought a 4 gb stick and made it 6 gb. It started to fly. I cant go back to less. New software bring new requirements.

Asparagus Jones said:

Just a quick question from a total Mac newbie..

I've recently bought a new Mac Mini i5 base model and was wondering if the 4GB of RAM that it came with would be enough to run Yosemite well or would I need to upgrade it to get better performance..?

Click to expand...

It will run OK but more would be better I suspect.

You can buy 2x4GB or just a single 8gb stick, people will recommend matched pairs but for me I think 2+8=10 works better than 4+4=8 and IME its cheaper. too (FYI I have 2x4 in my 2009 Mini and the GF has 2+8 in her MBP)

Asparagus Jones said:

Just a quick question from a total Mac newbie..

I've recently bought a new Mac Mini i5 base model and was wondering if the 4GB of RAM that it came with would be enough to run Yosemite well or would I need to upgrade it to get better performance..?

Click to expand...

I have been running Yosemite Beta for a month straight and can tell you that it does use more RAM.

I have 8GB and it's on the edge if you have more than 3 apps open. I would suggest going the 16GB rout.

Cape Dave said:

I can run Windows 95 just fine on my Pentium with 512K but folks, this is 2014.

Future proof your computer a little bit by adding some RAM. You will be happy you did. This is my opinion.

Do not spend the rent on it. Duh.

The fact that someone somewhere is running an old computer with 4GB is what it is.

Click to expand...

How do you "future proof" a mac mini?
The ram is upgradable.

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Asparagus Jones said:

Just a quick question from a total Mac newbie..

I've recently bought a new Mac Mini i5 base model and was wondering if the 4GB of RAM that it came with would be enough to run Yosemite well or would I need to upgrade it to get better performance..?

Click to expand...

The limiting factor is usually the slow hdd, not the ram.

Crosscreek said:

I have been running Yosemite Beta for a month straight and can tell you that it does use more RAM.

I have 8GB and it's on the edge if you have more than 3 apps open. I would suggest going the 16GB rout.

Click to expand...

What apps are you running? Unless you are running a professional program to hit the 8GB cap, your computer probably has another problem.

Just incase, the "memory used" stat in activity monitor doesn't mean anything.

Matt

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Asparagus Jones said:

Just a quick question from a total Mac newbie..

I've recently bought a new Mac Mini i5 base model and was wondering if the 4GB of RAM that it came with would be enough to run Yosemite well or would I need to upgrade it to get better performance..?

Click to expand...

Depends on what you are doing. Considering you can upgrade the RAM or HDD at any point, I would wait and see how your system handles as is.

Just as a suggestion, buying RAM may be useful, you won't notice any difference unless you are using professional programs for at least 4-5 years. If you purchase an SSD, you will notice a significant boost in performance. If you are doing professional work on your device, I would recommend both upgrades right now. If you are a consumer, an SSD is your best investment, especially considering you can upgrade at any time, defeating the purpose of future proofing.

Best,
Matt

Crosscreek said:

I have been running Yosemite Beta for a month straight and can tell you that it does use more RAM.

I have 8GB and it's on the edge if you have more than 3 apps open. I would suggest going the 16GB rout.

Click to expand...

could you post a screenshot of your activity monitor?

Meister said:

could you post a screenshot of your activity monitor?

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I am running I Stat Pro and as you can see I have Safari, Mail, Google Canary and of coarse Finder open with a little more than 2GB out of 8GB.

Mavericks would have around 4.5 GB with the same programs open.

Crosscreek said:

I am running I Stat Pro and as you can see I have Safari, Mail, Google Canary and of coarse Finder open with a little more than 2GB out of 8GB.

Mavericks would have around 4.5 GB with the same programs open.

Click to expand...

That's not a screenshot of the activity monitor.

Meister said:

That's not a screenshot of the activity monitor.

Click to expand...

Here you go.

Crosscreek said:

Here you go.

Click to expand...

1. you are using chrome
2. Your memory pressure is low

Meister said:

1. you are using chrome
2. Your memory pressure is low

Click to expand...

Google Canary Beta

Crosscreek said:

Google Canary Beta

Click to expand...

Google apps are not optimized for
Again: Your screenshot shows low memory pressure.

Meister said:

Google apps are not optimized for
Again: Your screenshot shows low memory pressure.

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Yeh, I know. I just saying that Yosemite uses more RAM than Mavericks by a little over 1GB.

And of coarse when using Handbrake it eats it up in a hurry.

Running Parallels with Windows will eat a lot of ram also.

Crosscreek said:

Yeh, I know. I just saying that Yosemite uses more RAM than Mavericks by a little over 1GB.

And of coarse when using Handbrake it eats it up in a hurry.

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The numbers in the activity monitors are mumbo jumbo unless you are a software engineer.
Green = fine.
Google apps can influence system performance in a bad way.

Meister said:

The numbers in the activity monitors are mumbo jumbo unless you are a software engineer.
Green = fine.
Google apps can influence system performance in a bad way.

Click to expand...

OP was asking about 4GB of RAM and I have 8GB and Yosemite uses more RAM than Mavericks.

I suggested 16MB because I am uncomfortable with 8 depending on what apps I have open at one time before it starts writing out to the drive.

With the price of RAM it is well worth getting 16 as the OS and apps increase in usage.

Out of the box with 4GB and the 5400 spinner it is hardly even a computer.

Immediate SSD and RAM upgrade is the only way to go. Then you have a real computer.

Argue all you want, but I am right and that is that.

You will love your new mini and it will serve you well after these updates.

Crosscreek said:

I have been running Yosemite Beta for a month straight and can tell you that it does use more RAM.

I have 8GB and it's on the edge if you have more than 3 apps open. I would suggest going the 16GB rout.

Click to expand...

Crosscreek said:

OP was asking about 4GB of RAM and I have 8GB and Yosemite uses more RAM than Mavericks.

I suggested 16MB because I am uncomfortable with 8 depending on what apps I have open at one time before it starts writing out to the drive.

With the price of RAM it is well worth getting 16 as the OS and apps increase in usage.

Click to expand...

You are missing the point. Apple posted that Mavericks and Yosemite uses ram differently now in Activity Monitor, and if Your Pressure Point is in the Green, you are doing just fine. No need and never need 16 GB of ram.

Read this dog gone it.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5890?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

ABC5S said:

You are missing the point. Apple posted that Mavericks and Yosemite uses ram differently now in Activity Monitor, and if Your Pressure Point is in the Green, you are doing just fine. No need and never need 16 GB of ram.

Click to expand...

It's not in the GREEN when I have Handbrake running in the background and using other apps at the same time.

If I'm just cruising the web it's fine.

If I try to fire up ACad at the same time it will go red every time.

It depends on what apps your using so saying you never need 16GB of RAM is a fallacy .