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16 GB vs 8 GB - Is 16 G overkill?

O

Omar Comin' Yo

macrumors member
Original poster
Does your macbook pro even need 16 GBs?

I understand with the rPro's you can only upgrade once, at the time of purchase, but is 16 GB's overkill? It is only a $180 dollar upgrade with the mid-tier 13", but I'm not sure I really need it.

I am just wary of not being able to upgrade 3 years from now. Is this just a waste of money?
 
I'd go for it. $180 is nothing compared to what you're spending on the computer. Just get the 16GB of RAM and be done with it.

My regrets from past purchases where I did not go all the way have taught me to just max it out and enjoy it for the next several years.
 
How do we metric overkill? The absence of spinning beach balls?

How does a computer get too good performance?
 
It totally depends on what you're doing with your computer and how long you plan to keep it. I have 16GB because I run VMs and do a lot of multitasking and I'm planing on keeping it for 3+ years.
 
simonsi said:
Golden rule: if some is good, more is better and most is best!
Click to expand...

I hope you aren't the main cook in your household. I'd be concerned about your use of salt and sugar. OP, if you don't see yourself using it, what's the point? You cited $180.00 for the upgrade. As luck would have it, AppleCare is about that, with education pricing.
 
Omar Comin' Yo said:
Does your macbook pro even need 16 GBs?
Click to expand...
Yes. OS X needs a lot of RAM for the file read/write cache (UBC or Unified Buffer Cache). Many applications support additional RAM caches: Photoshop, EyeTV, VMware Fusion and so on. RAM caches can decrease the access and load times for certain files, because the RAM is still much faster than the fastest SSD (PCIe).

Omar Comin' Yo said:
Is this just a waste of money?
Click to expand...
Yes, it is a waste of money, if you do not upgrade the RAM to 16 GB. 😛
 
Who knows what you'll be doing in three years.

From the question, I assume you don't need it right now? Then don't get it!

Odds are in three years if you find yourself needing 16GB of RAM, you'll probably want a faster computer anyways.
 
i thought about this, it really depends on what you're going for. do you want a powerful machine (aka spend over 2k?) than get the 16gb memory. if not, get 8gb and try to only spend $1500.

There's really no point choosing to spend the extra for 16gb of memory and maybe not springing also for more ssd and also discrete i mean if we're talking about future proofing here
 
It all comes down to if you can afford it 😉

But seriously, just need to figure out your needs and then ask yourself if that extra headroom is what you will need.

In my opinion, if you are going to get the retina, then just go for the 16gb upgrade
 
Omar Comin' Yo said:
Does your macbook pro even need 16 GBs?

I understand with the rPro's you can only upgrade once, at the time of purchase, but is 16 GB's overkill? It is only a $180 dollar upgrade with the mid-tier 13", but I'm not sure I really need it.

I am just wary of not being able to upgrade 3 years from now. Is this just a waste of money?
Click to expand...

You can't upgrade RAM post-purchase. Max it out if you can afford it.

I have 16GB of RAM in my Haswell 15" rMBP with GT750M, and I didn't regret it. Having Photoshop and a virtual machine running in VMware (with 4GB of RAM dedicated to it) really eats up the RAM.
 
I maxed out my 15-iinch retina MacBook Pro because I have the intention of keeping it for the next few years. I believe it's worth it, even though I obviously don't use up all the 16GB of RAM all at once, but it's still good to know that I have it there and that my computer is flying fast. I say, if you can afford the expense, go for it! You won't regret it!
 
Omar Comin' Yo said:
Does your macbook pro even need 16 GBs?
Click to expand...
Some heavy power users do, but the general public including me don't need it, but since its wired into the logic board you need to decide if you ever will

I am just wary of not being able to upgrade 3 years from now. Is this just a waste of money?
Click to expand...
We don't know what the future will hold and for me, it was cheap insurance, to ensure my rMBP operates optimally.
 
Honestly it wouldn't hurt to upgrade.
Besides, bear in mind that the retina graphics are considerably heavier than in other computers. I'm planning to get a 13" rMBP and doing just that.
 
Doward said:
If you have to ask, then you likely don't need it.
Click to expand...


This. If you can afford it without blinking, by all means get it, but unless you have a specific use case in mind where you would need 16 gigs of ram, you won't notice the difference.
 
Yupieehhhh! 😀 a ram thread.

Havent seen one of those in a while.

And the usual suspects will recommend:
- get more ram, u cant get more later
- u can never get enough ram, get it now!
- its 'just' 200,-
- your macbook will be almost immediatly obsolete if you dont get 16gb ram

Ram is like a medieval wifestale, the holygrail of performance, a myth of computers longlivety.
This goes back to the computer stoneage where ram has worked wonders at times.

Today the truth is:
Your macbook will not last longer because you get 16gb of ram.
The reason: A computers performance does not just depend on ram but on all factors.
If you dont make use of it now you wont need it later.

If you get 16gb you also have to get 1tb ssd, a quadcore 15" and of course max out the cpu.
That just might make it last a bit longer if it doesnt break.

We have a mac mini and mba haswell both with 4gigs ram at home.
My rmbp with 8gb beachballs more often than the mba with only 4gb.
The mba is much snappier.
Why you might ask?
Because the rmbp has to lift the retina. The ram is irrelevant.

Is 16gb ram overkill? Not for everyone of course.
Some people need it. But they need it now! If you dont need it now u wont need it later.

If you dont know what to do with your money get more ram. Y not?
You could also just spend it on strippers. Y not?
You could send it to me. I take it of your hands. (And then spend it on strippers)😀
 
Wait, so you're telling me the amount of ram I need depends on what I do with the computer?
How do I know if I should ask if I need 16GB of ram?


/sarcasm
 
GSPice said:
Wait, so you're telling me the amount of ram I need depends on what I do with the computer?
How do I know if I should ask if I need 16GB of ram?


/sarcasm
Click to expand...

No.
Just buy a maxed out macpro with 64gb ram.
Put it in a trolley.
Connect a screen to it and stick it on the trolley.
Plug both into a very large battery that you can put in a backpack to carry it on your back.
Use your iphone as keyboard and trackpad.

Now you will not have to think about ram anymore and u stay in shape carrying around all this crap.
A true win-win!
 
I have 16GB and every time I check "about this mac" the 16GB makes me feel happy a little bit. That reason only makes it's worth it.
 
Omar Comin' Yo said:
Does your macbook pro even need 16 GBs?

I understand with the rPro's you can only upgrade once, at the time of purchase, but is 16 GB's overkill? It is only a $180 dollar upgrade with the mid-tier 13", but I'm not sure I really need it.

I am just wary of not being able to upgrade 3 years from now. Is this just a waste of money?
Click to expand...
Insufficient data for meaningful answer. What will you be using the computer for?

Doward said:
If you have to ask, then you likely don't need it.
Click to expand...
If they have to ask, then we should help them figure out what they likely need.
 
I hate slow computers, so I overspec as much as my budget allows.

I got the top-end 16GB, but I don't ever expect to need that 16GB. I just have very little tolerance for things like BSODs, crashes and spinning beach balls.
 
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