4GB RAM - Necessary?

[teknikal90]

Hey all,
I'm running a 2008 Penryn MBP on OS X 10.6
Im getting Logic Studio real soon and am considering upgrading my RAM to 4GB.
Is this necessary?
I know that Logic Studio is not a 64bit app, so would it actually utilise the 4gb of ram?
I recall that Windows 32bit can only access 3+gb of ram even when there are 4GB of ram installed, as the 32 bit architecture limits it?
So should I get this 4gb of ram?? Thank you!

 

[tmacdjd]

If you can afford the upgrade definitely do it. Its not gonna hurt one bit and im sure you will reap the benefits nicely.

 

[teknikal90]

thanks for the reply!
my main concern is logic studio though.
Im quite happy with my current performance, and unless this performance increase will apply specifically to logic studio i dont think ill bother with the upgrade!
can a 32bit app take advantage of 4GB of ram?

 

[Corrosive vinyl]

I have a brand new macbook pro with 2 GB, and just running normal apps I have 1GB or a little less free. For something like a big resource hungry app, very useful upgrade. Anything can take advantage of RAM. The more RAM you have, the quicker apps function. Understanding Intel Mac RAM

 

[michael.lauden]

thanks for the reply!
my main concern is logic studio though.
Im quite happy with my current performance, and unless this performance increase will apply specifically to logic studio i dont think ill bother with the upgrade!
can a 32bit app take advantage of 4GB of ram?

yes a 32bit app can take advantage of 4GB of RAM. otherwise 4GB of RAM would be pretty much... useless

 

[iSee]

You could try running Logic with 2GB for a while and see how it goes.

Occassionally, take a look at the "System Memory" tab of Activity Monitor as you use Logic.

If the free (green) and inactive memory (blue) combined shrink to a sliver, then you will definitely benefit from more memory.

Also, if the "Page Outs" value increases continuously then you will probably benefit from more memory. A particular value isn't so much a problem -- if it keeps increasing then it is slowing you down. That means the OS is constantly swapping RAM that is in use to disk because it doesn't have enough.

 

[teknikal90]

thank you
im about to order this:
http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=113&bid=4&sid=47510

is that good enough?

 

[electroshock]

thank you
im about to order this:
http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=113&bid=4&sid=47510

is that good enough?

Some Penryns requires DDR2 RAM and some requires DDR3. But if it's an early 2008 model, would be DDR2. Late 2008 would be DDR3.

To find out what RAM type your Mac has, Apple Menu -> About This Mac -> More Info... -> Memory -> Type

If you do have a 2008 Penryn MBP that takes DDR2, then the umart link looks OK.