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4GB ram compromise

L

lonewolf604

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 15, 2012
28
0
My mom and I were splitting the cost of the 13inch MBA. I wanted to follow the advice of the people here and configure it to the 8gb ram online.

But she doesn't want to use her credit card online because of previous experiences (someone, somehow, got a hold of her number).

Should 4gb of ram suffice? The heaviest things I will do are using garageband and playing Valve games (half life 2, left 4 dead etc).
 
Any upgrades to these machines are being made in the factory and shipped out atm according to someone I spoke to at apple today. I bought a 13" 256 base, and have decided to order an i7, 256gb, 8gb ram online. Waiting for it to arrive on the 18th to return this one.

If you are multitasking and doing things like photoshop, coda, have it hooked up to a 1080p screen, play music, etc, I would find the 8gb would serve you well. I was importing/editing photos in Aperture while listening to spotify and only about 700mb of ram was left.

This MBA is replacing a gaming rig and 2010 i5 mbp. If you are getting the 256 go the extra mile and get the i7 and upgraded RAM as well. If you are only able to get the 128 because of its price point, I would hold back and save the cash.
 
Don' forget if you get the 4Gb model the the system only makes 384 Mb RAM available for the Intel 4000 HD GPU, with 8GB it makes 512Gb available, which realty helps if you're interest in any gaming
 
I just bought the AIR yesterday. i was one step of buying the 4gb model when they called and said they had the 8gb. i was thinkin "what i will do the 8gb, i am a moderate user" . I opened the air for the first time yesterday and i did some browsing with 4-5 tabs, dropbox , skype video call and a pdf file open, and i checked my ram usage. there were 3.6 gigs used ! i was glad i took the 8gb of ram. i don't know if the system would slow down with 4gb but i know that i am more confident now to do whatever i want.
 
Question is, you guys mentioning your moderate workload and ~700MB RAM free, if it's really that the air will have to resort to HDD swap when those last megabytes run out or if a lot of the used RAM actually is cached information that it can throw away if needed.

I come from a windows background while thinking this, though.

I'd still say go 8GB for "future proofing", peace of mind, and for productivity application use (heck, if you don't do stuff like that now, you might start!).
 
jmfel1926 said:
I just bought the AIR yesterday. i was one step of buying the 4gb model when they called and said they had the 8gb. i was thinkin "what i will do the 8gb, i am a moderate user" . I opened the air for the first time yesterday and i did some browsing with 4-5 tabs, dropbox , skype video call and a pdf file open, and i checked my ram usage. there were 3.6 gigs used ! i was glad i took the 8gb of ram. i don't know if the system would slow down with 4gb but i know that i am more confident now to do whatever i want.
Click to expand...

Really? I run 10+ programs and have always more than 1 GB free. This includes: Safari, Skype, iTunes, Sparrow, Dropbox, iA Writer, Marked, Pages and some more. I love how everyone thinks they need 8GB RAM just because it's the maximum they can order now. Most people don't, period.

What most people don't understand, if your RAM is full, that's a good thing, because it's not wasted. The only problem would be large page outs.
 
Your inactive + free is your effective available RAM. You need to watch your page outs to determine whether you really need more RAM.
 
lonewolf604 said:
My mom and I were splitting the cost of the 13inch MBA. I wanted to follow the advice of the people here and configure it to the 8gb ram online.

But she doesn't want to use her credit card online because of previous experiences (someone, somehow, got a hold of her number).

Should 4gb of ram suffice? The heaviest things I will do are using garageband and playing Valve games (half life 2, left 4 dead etc).
Click to expand...

If you intend to keep the machine for awhile (which is my guess since you are splitting the cost), the $100 RAM update is probably a good idea. A credit card is far more dangerous in the hands of a restaurant or store employee than on Apple's website, though there is always the risk of a data breach. Credit card companies are pretty good about dealing with it, though.

Can you order the 8GB model from the store? I haven't ordered a BTO in store as they have always had the ones I wanted in stock (though I did get the i7 and 256GB options).
 
You really have to take the advice here with a grain of salt, because it tends to be 'just max out on upgrades' with no regard of the buyer's actual needs. The upgrades may not be that expensive, but it can still be good money poured down the drain if you don't end up maximizing that added horsepower.

For instance, I have a friend with went with the basic 2gb/64ssd MBA last July and it is still serving him very well. :)
 
jmfel1926 said:
I just bought the AIR yesterday. i was one step of buying the 4gb model when they called and said they had the 8gb. i was thinkin "what i will do the 8gb, i am a moderate user" . I opened the air for the first time yesterday and i did some browsing with 4-5 tabs, dropbox , skype video call and a pdf file open, and i checked my ram usage. there were 3.6 gigs used ! i was glad i took the 8gb of ram. i don't know if the system would slow down with 4gb but i know that i am more confident now to do whatever i want.
Click to expand...

Skoopman said:
Really? I run 10+ programs and have always more than 1 GB free. This includes: Safari, Skype, iTunes, Sparrow, Dropbox, iA Writer, Marked, Pages and some more. I love how everyone thinks they need 8GB RAM just because it's the maximum they can order now. Most people don't, period.

What most people don't understand, if your RAM is full, that's a good thing, because it's not wasted. The only problem would be large page outs.
Click to expand...

The reason for these differences is b.c if you have the extra RAM lion will utilize it. If you don't it won't. So if you have 8 gb vs 4 gb and are doing the exact same thing, one computer may say you are using 5 gb while the other might say 2.5
 
Stetrain said:
Because ordering online is the only way to get the base 13" MBA with 8GB RAM.
Click to expand...

FIrst off. I have the 4 GB 2011 Macbook Air and it's been great. I currently don't have a major need for more, and I also am able to run a Windows 7 VM with 1.3 gb of ram dedicated to it. Many people mistake free memory for being your only available memory. Inactive can also be free'd up. Currently I have 3 tabs open in safari, one which is playing Big Brother. I have itunes, Aperture, and Mail all opened with 300 MB free and 1.5 gb inactive.

Now I do get a new laptop every year to two years so I don't mind the 4 GB

If you plan on keeping it for a long time. You should try to get the 8 however, what about getting a Visa gift card.
 
If you go into an apple store you can definitely get a gift card and then purchase online.

Other options but that's first I've thought of.
 
BTW if wishing to play any games on your MBA, be aware that with only 4Gb RAM only 384Mb RAM can be allocated for graphics, whereas 512Mb RAM is allocated if you have 8Gb - this could make a difference for some games...
 
As other people have said, buy Visa or Apple gift cards for your desired amount. Then make your purchase with them - no credit card numbers necessary.
 
Slivortal said:
As other people have said, buy Visa or Apple gift cards for your desired amount. Then make your purchase with them - no credit card numbers necessary.
Click to expand...

This is probably one of the worst ideas ever. The bonuses and benefits you would normally get using a credit card are virtually wiped out.
 
madat42 said:
But then, he'd be able to get the laptop config he wants, right?
Click to expand...

Sure but thats a bad way to do it.

Solution:

1. Order the configuration you want online and buy it all with your credit card.

2. Make mom write you a big check (half the amount).

3. Mom doesn't have to worry about her CC info getting stolen. You get the computer you wanted. And you get the credit card points, etc. Everybody wins.
 
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