1GB is fine for regular use. The only reason you need more is if you're doing heavy development or gaming.
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Is 1GB of RAM efficient for general use?
- Thread starter Mr. Eko
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That is one of the most worthless advice I've met on MacRumors. 2 GB for web-browsing? 16 GB for MP? Man are you on crack?
What kind of software you need to run to use all 16? And 2 GB for web browsing is just ridiculous.
I hope you have something to backup your "advice"
Good point,.. 1 gig will allow you to do the simple tasks you need to do,.. web browsing and office work. Ram is very cheap now,.. you can max out any mac (other than Mac Pro) for 100$ so buy the machine with 1 gb, at that point if you need more ram you can purchase the upgrade for a relatively small amount of money.
You don't need 2 or 4gb of ram for most tasks,.. so if you don't run Aperture, Final Cut or Photoshop, you probably don't need it. Then again, it never hurts to have too much ram.
That is one of the most worthless advice I've met on MacRumors. 2 GB for web-browsing? 16 GB for MP? Man are you on crack?
What kind of software you need to run to use all 16? And 2 GB for web browsing is just ridiculous.
I hope you have something to backup your "advice"
I work on a 3.0 Mac Pro with 8gb of ram,.. I do some pretty heavy audio editing with no problems. I watch the activity monitor at times,.. Ive never had less than 3-4GB free at any time. 16 Gb seems like overkill unless you are doing some serious video editing.
You're dogging your system. Look at the Page In
age Out ratio on your Activity Monitor as posted--it's 1.57:1. That's just asking for a huge performance hit. You're sending a HUGE amount of data to the hard drive as swap because you don't have nearly enough RAM. You should have no worse than 5:1, better yet, 10:1 or greater.It doesn't have "plenty of room," it's out of room and sending the bulk of your data to the HDD, not RAM, where you want it.
This is a better indication of what you want to see on the In:Out ratio (notice Ins are in GB, Outs are in MB).
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Efficient, well it depends on your definition, but no, not really. Acceptably usable? Absolutely - unless you're running graphics apps, Parallels or lots of stuff at the same time.
2Gb is a good compromise, though, and worth having for the minimal extra cost - you will certainly notice a speed improvement. If you run a lot of apps, or apps that use a lot of RAM (graphics, audio, virtualisation), then 4gb is very worthwhile, but 2gb is a decent compromise if you want to keep the cost down..
2Gb is a good compromise, though, and worth having for the minimal extra cost - you will certainly notice a speed improvement. If you run a lot of apps, or apps that use a lot of RAM (graphics, audio, virtualisation), then 4gb is very worthwhile, but 2gb is a decent compromise if you want to keep the cost down..
I decide to buy RAM
Ok, I am thinking about getting the ram from www.macsales.com...
Which brand of ram is better...OWC, micron, or Samsung?
can any resellers install them for me?
Thanks guys..
Ok, I am thinking about getting the ram from www.macsales.com...
Which brand of ram is better...OWC, micron, or Samsung?
can any resellers install them for me?
Thanks guys..
Ok, I am thinking about getting the ram from www.macsales.com...
Which brand of ram is better...OWC, micron, or Samsung?
can any resellers install them for me?
Thanks guys..
Six one, half-dozen another. All pretty much the same, really. As long as the RAM has a warranty and the reseller backs it, you're fine. And you can (and should) install it yourself. It's too easy to do to pay someone for it, and you'll learn something in the process. Lots of instructions abound, from Apple and here.
I just upgraded today from 1gig to 2. I'm shocked at how responsive it is now. I have about 1 gig free after I open Safari, Word, Mail, iTunes, NetNewsWire, and iPhoto. Overall, switching between tasks is much faster, and it boots and shuts down quickly. Safari renders pages faster, Word is much more responsive....honestly, for $50, that's not too shabby.
I say go for it!
I say go for it!
1 gig should be sufficient if you are going to do simple stuff anything thats labor incensing on the computer then you should get more ram!
dont buy what you dont need. the whole apple setup is based around the fact that 'for only a little bit more' you feel like your getting a lot more.
with ram, its all about how you use your machine. I myself am waiting for a mac pro that will have 8 gigs of ram, and that isn't even really enough for what i need it for, however when buying my folks a macbook a year ago, i left it with 1GB of ram and upgraded their hard drive. They use the internet and word and (sometimes) itunes at the same time and have no problems whatsoever.
with ram, its all about how you use your machine. I myself am waiting for a mac pro that will have 8 gigs of ram, and that isn't even really enough for what i need it for, however when buying my folks a macbook a year ago, i left it with 1GB of ram and upgraded their hard drive. They use the internet and word and (sometimes) itunes at the same time and have no problems whatsoever.
Completely ignoring everything that's been learned and developed about computing, storage, memory usage and allocation in the last fifty years, just ask yourself this:
What will give you greater regret and/or cause more problems, too much or too little RAM?
The top 19 processes on my machine right now are taking 1.1 GB of RAM, and there's another 50 processes running behind that. Keep in mind that I don't have too much open at all right now.
If I had but a Gig of RAM, could I run all that stuff? Yes, but the majority of that would be sent to the hard drive as swap, which means that I have to exchange data between physical storage and RAM, slowing everything down. The more RAM you have, the more that can be maintained in active memory, keeping things running quickly & smoothly.
There is no such thing as too much RAM, period.
Look, you spend easily $1000-$2000 for a great computer, and cranking it up to 4GB is all of 80 bucks right now. You'd spend more than that on any number of accessories that don't provide as much immediate and continual impact on your computing experience.
What will give you greater regret and/or cause more problems, too much or too little RAM?
The top 19 processes on my machine right now are taking 1.1 GB of RAM, and there's another 50 processes running behind that. Keep in mind that I don't have too much open at all right now.
If I had but a Gig of RAM, could I run all that stuff? Yes, but the majority of that would be sent to the hard drive as swap, which means that I have to exchange data between physical storage and RAM, slowing everything down. The more RAM you have, the more that can be maintained in active memory, keeping things running quickly & smoothly.
There is no such thing as too much RAM, period.
Look, you spend easily $1000-$2000 for a great computer, and cranking it up to 4GB is all of 80 bucks right now. You'd spend more than that on any number of accessories that don't provide as much immediate and continual impact on your computing experience.
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i'd buy the 2gigs....but as a single stick...(like i did) which is by far more than enough for simple needs...everything seems a little tight with 1gb.
1 gig is fine. I upgraded to 1.5gigs and it's really good. I'm sure 2 gigs would be even better.
but I did video editing with 1 gig and it was fine. you don't NEED more then 1 gig (yes it's nice) but you don't need it. It's like with a fresh install of Windows.. it'll run on 256 megs of RAM, but 512 is the peachy minimum. OS X will run fine on 1 gig, but 2 gigs is the peachy medium.
but I did video editing with 1 gig and it was fine. you don't NEED more then 1 gig (yes it's nice) but you don't need it. It's like with a fresh install of Windows.. it'll run on 256 megs of RAM, but 512 is the peachy minimum. OS X will run fine on 1 gig, but 2 gigs is the peachy medium.
My powerbook on Panther runs like a dream with 1GB, even with photoshop and other heavy apps open and 20 tabs on firefox.
My Macbook with Leopard and 1GB runs like a dog with bricks tied to its bollocks under the same load. Each app runs fast enough once its loaded, but swapping between them took several seconds.
I put in 4GB last month, and it's like a whole new computer all over again. I never get slow downs now. It's like having a dog without bricks tied to its bollocks.
For the money this is one of the best upgrades you can get. My page outs and swap are fixed at 0, even after several days heavy use.
Looking at memory use, it is currently just under 2GB, which suggests to me that 2GB is the minimum Leopard needs to run with a moderate workload.
Because of the (small) benefits of running with matched ram sticks, I suggest going straight to 4 GB of matched ram, rather than putting in a 2 GB stick now and another one later. It only costs a little extra at current prices and you get a huge huge benefit, as you're going to want that second 2GB sooner or later.
My Macbook with Leopard and 1GB runs like a dog with bricks tied to its bollocks under the same load. Each app runs fast enough once its loaded, but swapping between them took several seconds.
I put in 4GB last month, and it's like a whole new computer all over again. I never get slow downs now. It's like having a dog without bricks tied to its bollocks.
For the money this is one of the best upgrades you can get. My page outs and swap are fixed at 0, even after several days heavy use.
Looking at memory use, it is currently just under 2GB, which suggests to me that 2GB is the minimum Leopard needs to run with a moderate workload.
Because of the (small) benefits of running with matched ram sticks, I suggest going straight to 4 GB of matched ram, rather than putting in a 2 GB stick now and another one later. It only costs a little extra at current prices and you get a huge huge benefit, as you're going to want that second 2GB sooner or later.
1GB will be fine. Just don't keep every piece of software you own open all the time.
I have 3GB now. If I want to make it 4GB, is it okay have two different 2GB sticks of RAM from different companies? I didn't know if they had to be the same brand.
That's fine, but unless your using all of your 3GBs, I don't see much of a performance increase coming from 3GB to 4.
1GB = will work, but put unnecessary strain on other components
2GB = will work well, and look after your system better
4GB = great investment, if you can afford it
Mention has been made about Page IN vs Page OUT
is that the best indicator? or is Swap Used a factor?
My 1gig [soon to be 5gig] MacPro shows
381MB IN
21MB OUT
but 160MB swap
is that the best indicator? or is Swap Used a factor?
My 1gig [soon to be 5gig] MacPro shows
381MB IN
21MB OUT
but 160MB swap
I just put 4 GB in my Macbook and for what it's worth I hardly every see more than half of it used even with every app I can think of open. That being said 2 GB is a good working set but for what it costs you might as well spend the extra $50 and go for 4 GB. If you can't afford 50 bux then I think you should have bought a Dell
4 GB is like 107 dollars from Crucial.
4 GB is like 107 dollars from Crucial.
There seems to be a lot of poor advice floating around on this thread.
On 1 GB of RAM, I could have a project on Xcode, Pages, iTunes and Safari open, with a substantial amount of RAM to spare. Yes, it's worth it going from 1 GB to 2 GB on a new computer with RAM being so cheap nowadays, but you probably wouldn't notice much difference, and keeping 1 GB does not put any "strain" or whatever you want to call it, on your system.
On 1 GB of RAM, I could have a project on Xcode, Pages, iTunes and Safari open, with a substantial amount of RAM to spare. Yes, it's worth it going from 1 GB to 2 GB on a new computer with RAM being so cheap nowadays, but you probably wouldn't notice much difference, and keeping 1 GB does not put any "strain" or whatever you want to call it, on your system.
Your experience clearly differs from mine. With 1GB and the same workload, I often had to wait several seconds when changing from app to app.
Interrupted my flow of thought, and frustrating when I'm working on two or 3 apps at the same time and having to move from one to the other several times a minute (e.g. dreamweaver /Word / Photoshop). Not acceptable in a brand new C2D macbook.
Put in 4GB and wow it's like a new computer all over again. Switching is instant. This is what a new mac should be like.
Agree with the other poster, I rarely see actual memory use over 2GB, however, I've not had time to duplicate an intensive work session and look at what ram useage is like. I like to think of the spare 2GB as buffer for the next couple of years.