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how much RAM for powerbook?

Demon

Demon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 17, 2004
150
0
on earth
hi guys.

just wondering what your recommendation is for the new powBook 12" in terms of having "enough" RAM. i usually run 5 to 6 apps simultaneously, from Word, Excel, Mail, safari, iTunes, and often garageband etc. i downloaded America's Army recently and notice it's jumpy and slow to load.
i also get a lot of lag times when switching between programs etc.

so, for the budget minded consumer, how much RAM should i add?

thanks! :)
 
Ozi

Ozi

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2004
193
0
Melbourne, Australia.
with that many aps, and AA as well, the most RAM you can afford is the best idea.

Look at http://www.crucial.com or any other RAM seller to get some prices. I think that as your 12" has 256 built in, at least (bareminimum) should be a 512 chip in the remaining slot. I would up it to 1.25 GB RAM, but its really a financial choice.

Get as much as you can afford.
 
superbovine

superbovine

macrumors 68030
Nov 7, 2003
2,872
0
imho 512 will be enough, if you start using garageband a lot then a 1 gig will be fine. price vs performance isn't worth the 1.25 gb.
 
Ozi

Ozi

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2004
193
0
Melbourne, Australia.
sorry bovine, but 1 GB isn't an option in the 12". There is a 256 MB built in which cannot be changed, and then one other free slot for either 256, 512 or 1 GB chips. Therefore 768MB is possible, as is 1.25GB, but not just 1 GB.
 
Chip NoVaMac

Chip NoVaMac

macrumors G3
Dec 25, 2003
8,888
31
Northern Virginia
Demon said:
hi guys.

just wondering what your recommendation is for the new powBook 12" in terms of having "enough" RAM. i usually run 5 to 6 apps simultaneously, from Word, Excel, Mail, safari, iTunes, and often garageband etc. i downloaded America's Army recently and notice it's jumpy and slow to load.
i also get a lot of lag times when switching between programs etc.

so, for the budget minded consumer, how much RAM should i add?

thanks! :)
Click to expand...

Been thinking about up grading my PB 12" rev. B from 512mb to 1gb. Saw a thread here about the Activity Monitor and the memory usage "dock". Running the main programs you are talking about my breakdown is:

50% blue, 25% yellow, and 12.5% each for green (free memory) and red (locked memory).
 
edesignuk

edesignuk

Moderator emeritus
Mar 25, 2002
19,232
2
London, England
I've just put my DP1Ghz Quicksilver back up to 1GB, after having one 512MB DIMM fail on me I've been running on just 512MB for a while, and let me tell you, putting another 512MB in to get me back up to 1GB again makes a HUGE difference, even for little things like having lots of tabs open in Safari etc. Get as much as you possibly can!!!
 
crees!

crees!

macrumors 68020
Jun 14, 2003
2,015
241
MD/VA/DC
That stinks you can't pop out that first 256 chip and make it higher. Well here I have 512 RAM with my 15" PB and if you're doing basic stuff like you said that should be fine. I use photoshop, FCP, ...and don't see much of a slow down though I'm sure it might help a little to have more. Garageband might need the extra RAM.. so like those who said if you can afford it, get it.
 
Chip NoVaMac

Chip NoVaMac

macrumors G3
Dec 25, 2003
8,888
31
Northern Virginia
crees! said:
That stinks you can't pop out that first 256 chip and make it higher. Well here I have 512 RAM with my 15" PB and if you're doing basic stuff like you said that should be fine. I use photoshop, FCP, ...and don't see much of a slow down though I'm sure it might help a little to have more. Garageband might need the extra RAM.. so like those who said if you can afford it, get it.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about the same thing with the eMac. It has two slots, but it appears that it is designed not recognize 1gb simms. Bummer....
 
Chip NoVaMac

Chip NoVaMac

macrumors G3
Dec 25, 2003
8,888
31
Northern Virginia
Chip NoVaMac said:
Been thinking about up grading my PB 12" rev. B from 512mb to 1gb. Saw a thread here about the Activity Monitor and the memory usage "dock". Running the main programs you are talking about my breakdown is:

50% blue, 25% yellow, and 12.5% each for green (free memory) and red (locked memory).
Click to expand...

Update after doing some websurfing and posting this morning:

50% yellow, 35% blue, 12.5% red, and the balance in green
 
W

Whigga Spitta

macrumors 6502
Apr 21, 2004
256
0
Can you say Chi-City??
Getting RAM for a PB, it's about 3 times as much to get a 1 GB stick compared to a 512 stick. Is there going to be a very noticable difference running with 1 gig rater than 1.5 gigs? I'm plannning to be using a lot of GarageBand, a lot of Photoshop, and probably some FCP. Has anyone had experiences using this much RAM?
 
G

garybooberry

macrumors member
Jan 16, 2004
63
0
Annapolis, MD
"As much as you can afford"

Is the best advice given here, in my humble opinion.

I can't tell you (I know different machine, same OS) how amazing the performance changes were with incremental 512 meg chips I added to my G4 tower...until I maxed it out at 2.0 gigs.

Crucial is an awesome place for Apple RAM - Never had one problem with one of their chips - ever.

Good luck and enjoy your machine! :D
 
J

JonGraves

macrumors member
Jun 9, 2003
52
0
Seattle WA, USA
I recently bought a 1 GB SO-DIMM for my 12" PB from Other World Computing (http://www.macsales.com) for $360. It is a Samsung module - the same as Apple uses. Crucial is currently charging $480 and were charging $600 just last week! I have bought a lot of RAM over the years from OWC and have always been pleased with their service.

Jon
 
Chip NoVaMac

Chip NoVaMac

macrumors G3
Dec 25, 2003
8,888
31
Northern Virginia
JonGraves said:
I recently bought a 1 GB SO-DIMM for my 12" PB from Other World Computing (http://www.macsales.com) for $360. It is a Samsung module - the same as Apple uses. Crucial is currently charging $480 and were charging $600 just last week! I have bought a lot of RAM over the years from OWC and have always been pleased with their service.

Jon
Click to expand...

In a telephone test a couple of weeks ago, I found that Crucial was quicker to answer the phone. With OWC i was on hold for 15 minutes and gave up.

I told Crucial that I had a 1gb module and was having "kernel panics". That my 256mb module did not do it. They asked that i try to get the receipt and make a return. Since i said that it was a "company purchase" they said to call them back if the receipt could not be found.

Just FYI
 
Demon

Demon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 17, 2004
150
0
on earth
thanks.

hey thanks guys.
seems to me that 512MB is the popular vote!
i will go with that. and i do agree that garageband take a lot of RAM to run smoothly. in fact, it's virtually useless to play around when it skips.

unfortunately the built in RAM can not be replaced, so i will go with the 256 + 512. that should be enough.
 
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