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How to decide 8GB and 16GB of RAM on rMBP?

C

cmm

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 30, 2006
842
36
NYC
I don't game. Anything high performance (mathematica, matlab, etc), I have a dedicated linux box for. I've always had just 8gb of ram and got by just fine. I was wondering when is it worthwhile to go with 16gb of ram? Or, rather, am I missing out by not having 16gb of ram? When do you get the benefit of 16gb of ram?

Thanks!
 
I'd say 8GB is more then enough for those stated needs, and OSX is really excellent at memory management so I'd say you'll be good with 8GB.

With that said if you'll be agonizing over this and continuing to question the decision after the fact, it may be worth the 200 for peace of mind.
 
cmm said:
I don't game. Anything high performance (mathematica, matlab, etc), I have a dedicated linux box for. I've always had just 8gb of ram and got by just fine. I was wondering when is it worthwhile to go with 16gb of ram? Or, rather, am I missing out by not having 16gb of ram? When do you get the benefit of 16gb of ram?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Save the money, get the 8gb.
 
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I just bought a 15 rmbp 2.3ghz and added the 16 Gb RAM.

when I opened Safari, iDraw, Pixelmator, iPhoto, iTunes, and Mail, the system said I used 9 Gb already.

I don't find the 16Gb RAM to be a luxury anymore.
 
For today get 16GB: you can run virtual machines and keep it running fine. So you can get you Linux or any other OS running without issues without having to turn on the other box.
For the future get 16GB.
If you can pay it get it.
 
mr.bee said:
I just bought a 15 rmbp 2.3ghz and added the 16 Gb RAM.

when I opened Safari, iDraw, Pixelmator, iPhoto, iTunes, and Mail, the system said I used 9 Gb already.

I don't find the 16Gb RAM to be a luxury anymore.
Click to expand...

Free ram is wasted ram with sox. You need to look at swap outs or memory pressure (if on mavericks). In windows if you run low on free ram things slow down. Wi osx free ram is a wasted resource
 
cmm said:
I don't game. Anything high performance (mathematica, matlab, etc), I have a dedicated linux box for. I've always had just 8gb of ram and got by just fine. I was wondering when is it worthwhile to go with 16gb of ram? Or, rather, am I missing out by not having 16gb of ram? When do you get the benefit of 16gb of ram?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Use the search function on this forum.
 
cmm said:
When do you get the benefit of 16gb of ram?
Click to expand...

Good test here that shows almost zero difference between 8 and 16 when using standard desktop apps. You start to see some difference once you get into things like manipulating 500MB images in Photoshop.
 
TechZeke said:
Every. Single. Day.
I think the admins/mods just like looking at or getting off to new RAM threads. That can be the only reason why they refuse to make a sticky RAM thread.
Click to expand...
Ram threads are fun I admit.
They are like an artmovie. Repeative.
Watch Jim Jarmusch: The Limits of Control.
Deja-vu.
 
You know, you can ignore threads you don't like/don't have any interest in/don't want to answer.
 
cmm said:
You know, you can ignore threads you don't like/don't have any interest in/don't want to answer.
Click to expand...

Its simply that this topic has been discussed ad nauseum already and there is tons of information available.

Here is my rule of a tumb: if you are not sure if you need 16GB RAM, you don't need 16GB RAM ;)
 
I assume most questions have been discussed ad nausem. MR isn't going to regulate it as it helps them for SEO purposes and it helps users get answers to their questions quickly. Not to mention, each user can, but not necessarily, have slightly different use cases.
 
cmm said:
Or, rather, am I missing out by not having 16gb of ram? When do you get the benefit of 16gb of ram?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

With computers, a general rule of thumb is: if you need to ask what it does, you don't need it.
 
8GB would be better for you

I think 8GB will be perfect for you however depending on the amount of RAM OSX uses a certain amount of RAM. I though 8GB would be perfect for me but I find that if you use a lot of Adobe Programs and lots of programs open you suck up RAM quickly... so beware if you plan on using professional programs in the future go with 16GB
 
Seems you are running close to the 8GB Ram you have, would suggest you get the 16GB Ram upgrade.
 
cmm said:
You know, you can ignore threads you don't like/don't have any interest in/don't want to answer.
Click to expand...

It's the morbid fascination that keeps most of us coming back for more.
 
cmm said:
I don't game. Anything high performance (mathematica, matlab, etc), I have a dedicated linux box for. I've always had just 8gb of ram and got by just fine. I was wondering when is it worthwhile to go with 16gb of ram? Or, rather, am I missing out by not having 16gb of ram? When do you get the benefit of 16gb of ram?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

definitely 16G since it is not upgradable.
 
accountforit said:
Not true. That is a general overly used answer on this forum; nothing more.
Click to expand...

You must be joking. Sorry, but if you have any clue about what you are doing, you know what it takes to run the software you want to run. Also, on too many of these of threads, you have half of the people saying stick with 8GB and the other half get 16GB. Half the time, the poster really just wants 16GBs and shoots down any person that tells him/her to get 8GB or vice versa.

I use AutoCAD, some photo editing software, and parallels. Other than the fact I would I get 16GB anyway because it's un-upgradeable and I could afford it, I know that if I'm going to use VMs 16GB is a must. If I'm happily running 16GB and a quad core processor and I have to wonder about the benefits of 32GB of RAM and a 12-core Mac Pro, I don't need it. The pro doing hard-core 4k video rendering/editing/music production knows he needs 32GB of RAM and a 12-core processor and there is no mystery or question.
 
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