4GB to 6GB Worth It for Xcode on MBP?

[skitzogreg]

Since I'm capped at 6GB for my SRMBP, I was wondering if it would be worth the jump from 4GB to 6GB if all I'm doing is basic programming with Xcode, light virtualization, and Photoshop for GUI creation. Let me know what your take is on the potential jump.

 

[MikeinJapan]

I don't think it will be worth it to be honest. 4GB should be plenty

 

[Intell]

Not really sure about this but, wouldn't that slow it down a bit? Because the two ram sticks aren't the same so then they won't work with the double data rate thing.

 

[bobbytomorow]

Not really sure about this but, wouldn't that slow it down a bit? Because the two ram sticks aren't the same so then they won't work with the double data rate thing.

you are thinking of "dual channel", which, correct, typically requires a matching pair. But the performance is negligible and 6GB not in dual channel will have better performance than 4GB in dual channel.

 

[Intell]

you are thinking of "dual channel"

Yea, that's the thing. It does make a difference with shared graphics memory. Which the OP's Macbook Pro most likely doesn't have.

 

[skitzogreg]

Yea, that's the thing. It does make a difference with shared graphics memory. Which the OP's Macbook Pro most likely doesn't have.

Correct. My MBP has 512MB of dedicated video memory. It's not shared.

 

[sth]

As long as your VMs are not using much memory, you should be fine with 4gb.
Check your swap usage in activity monitor from time to time. If it's zero or almost zero, then an upgrade won't give you any improvement at all.

For a real speed boost: Get an SSD drive.