512mb Ram enough?

[Sean7512]

I've decided on the iMac to get for college. I will be ordering it in a few weeks, but I did have a concern. Right now, I don't want to spend the extra money to upgrade the iMac's ram. Right now, I'm using a 1.25ghz G4 with 1GB ram...would a 2ghz G5 with only 512mb ram seem just as fast? I will be upgrading the iMac's ram at x-mas, but should 512 be fine until then? I'm hoping that the faster processor with a WAY better video card should supplement the difference nicely. Anyone know for sure though?

 

[mad jew]

Should be fine. For most things, you'll notice a massive speed up as is but that extra RAM you get later down the track will probably be worthwhile still.

 

[tsk]

IMO, 512MB is marginal. It's enough to get you by, but 1GB would probably be best. With 512, I think you have to be a little careful not to open up too much crap.

So as long as you don't open too much crap or try to edit 5GB files, you will probably notice a nice speed bump.

 

[solvs]

Make sure you get the education discount for your new iMac and upgrade the RAM later when you can third party. It's easy to upgrade. 512 will be fine for now, but you will definetly want to upgrade later. As soon as you can get it, get it. In the mean time, don't forget you qualify for a free mini or $179 off an iPod if you are buying edu.

 

[Sean7512]

Make sure you get the education discount for your new iMac and upgrade the RAM later when you can third party. It's easy to upgrade. 512 will be fine for now, but you will definetly want to upgrade later. As soon as you can get it, get it. In the mean time, don't forget you qualify for a free mini or $179 off an iPod if you are buying edu.

O yes, of course...the iPod deal is what sealed my decision if I should switch to a G5. Thanks everyone!

 

[pubwvj]

512MB is enough. More is fun. Expecially for serious work like Photoshop and X-Plane.

 

[JupiterTwo]

Speed wise, it shouldn't be a problem. Just don't open too many things at once. I bought my G5 iMac with the stock setup and gave it a try. Things ran fine, but with things like Safari being king of bloatness, you'll find that you might start paging after a few days uptime.

I lasted 3 days before I ordered a 1Gb stick. Mind you, I had budgeted for it, so I wasn't too fussed about resisting.

 

[dmw007]

IMO, 512MB is marginal. It's enough to get you by, but 1GB would probably be best. With 512, I think you have to be a little careful not to open up too much crap.

So as long as you don't open too much crap or try to edit 5GB files, you will probably notice a nice speed bump.

Agreed.

Try to go w/ 1GB (one dimm) so that when you decide to max out the iMac's RAM you won't have to throw out any RAM (ie- the 512MB chip)