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How much difference does RAM make?

hob

hob

macrumors 68010
Original poster
Oct 4, 2003
2,004
0
London, UK
being quite new to macs, I was wondering... how much difference does ram make? I was assuming with my G3 900mhz being quite top spec (for a g3 =P) that OS X would be running quite fast... I currently have 256MB of ram, and was wondering if replacing one of the 128s with a 512 would be worth the £90 investment?

Hob
 
In a word...YES! OS X loves memory and IMO 256mb is not enough, you need at least 512mb, more if possible. It will be £90 well spent if you ask me.
 
Originally posted by edesignuk
In a word...YES! OS X loves memory
Click to expand...

That's an understatement. :)

We have a Dual 2 here as a demo unit and the other day we tossed 8GB of RAM into it.

I'll let you imagine the rest. Hehe.
 
It's my understanding that 384 is the magic number for OS X but given the price of RAM these days there is no reason not to max it out.
 
Originally posted by Calliander
That's an understatement. :)

We have a Dual 2 here as a demo unit and the other day we tossed 8GB of RAM into it.

I'll let you imagine the rest. Hehe.
Click to expand...


I'm imagining..... and DROOLING. WOW.
 
I did some testing on application load times on my 800Mhz G3 iBook. The stock 128MB vs. 768MB.

There was an average 40% increase in speed. In geek-fashion, I timed the applications before and after :D
 
Originally posted by iShater
I did some testing on application load times on my 800Mhz G3 iBook. The stock 128MB vs. 768MB.

There was an average 40% increase in speed. In geek-fashion, I timed the applications before and after :D
Click to expand...

I got an iBook G3/900 with 128 MB a few days ago. Man, was this painfully slow with 128. Never saw the beach ball so much, even with 10.0.

Just finished installing my 512MB crucial module and it's like a totally differnet animal.

I bought the iBook cheap for S&G but just may replace my iMac 600 Mhz with it while I pine for a G5 to come out. Hmm, now I need to buy a monitor.
 
I have 768MB in my Mac now. Think bumping that up to 1024MB will give it a BIG boost?

Cause I was thinking of giving the 256MB module back to my friend and getting 512MB eventually.
 
Originally posted by neoelectronaut
I have 768MB in my Mac now. Think bumping that up to 1024MB will give it a BIG boost?

Cause I was thinking of giving the 256MB module back to my friend and getting 512MB eventually.
Click to expand...

If you have Panther run the Activity monitor and watch Memory Usage. The will give you a better idea. You can run it as a pie chart in the dock.
 
i've got a 512 SO-DIMM on route to me that i ordered last night. I am hoping for a performance increase on my 17" powerbook going from 512 to a gig because i've got a term project on Final Cut coming up, and I want as much performance as possible (I also picked up a Firewire 800 drive for a scratch disk). here's hoping my already speedy machine is faster than ever :D i'll get some before vs. after benchmarks ready when it arrives :cool:
 
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