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Is 4gb of Ram Worth it

D

dlamin517

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 12, 2008
487
0
I will be buying my first mac this weekend and i want to know if 4gb of ram is really worth it. I use a vista desktop right now with 2gb of ram and everything seems fine

I mainly just use firefox, itunes, light photoshopping, light video editing(very light), aim, and office

would 4gb really make that much of a difference?
 
If you like to keep all kinds of apps open at once, it'll help. If you only keep one or two apps open at a time, 2 GB will be sufficient. I use my macbook mainly for email, itunes, web, and word processing. 2 GB is plenty for that.

Since you use photoshop, upgrading to 4 GB would make sense. but if you're really strapped for cash, you could hold off.
 
If you're fine with 2GB under Vista, you'll do even better with it under OS X.
 
HoldFastHope said:
You'll be fine for now dude, get 4gb later on when DDR3 is cheaper (assuming you have one of the newer notebooks).
Click to expand...

i have to agree that the current DDR3 price is crazy... :( i will be waiting for the price to drop.. :(
 
I bought the 4gb of ram only because I am running vista on vmware. it was dreaded slow without the extra 2gb handy. Although vista runs perfectly fine in bootcamp with just 2gb of memory.

I suckered the $130 to get the upgrade.
 
crazyxzer0 said:
I bought the 4gb of ram only because I am running vista on vmware. it was dreaded slow without the extra 2gb handy. Although vista runs perfectly fine in bootcamp with just 2gb of memory.

I suckered the $130 to get the upgrade.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't feel bad, $130 is still pretty good. Way better than the highway robbery that Apple used to charge for RAM upgrades.
 
If you're considering the 2.0 model + 4GB RAM, don't do it. Spend nearly the same amount of money instead on a stock 2.4 model. If you're planning on keeping your MacBook for a couple of years, it will make a significant difference. Memory will be cheaper the longer you wait. Furthermore, Snow Leopard will allow for the addressing of much more than 4GB.

At this time next year, it's likely that you could buy 8GB for cheaper than you can buy 4GB today. But you will never be able to upgrade the CPU in your MacBook.

In four years from now, there might be a piece of important software that lists 2.4 as the minimum required CPU speed. You don't want to be stuck having to replace your whole computer just to run it.

Oh, and never buy RAM from Apple, regardless of the price. Buy it from Crucial.com. There is a hidden cost with Apple: The price they charge for the upgrade PLUS the confiscation of your stock RAM cards. Crucial's memory is also of higher quality than Apple's. Apple tends to use different manufacturers.
 
Happy with RAM

I coughed up the dough for the 4GB of RAM and I'm glad I did. I can run tons of apps at the same time and everything works great. I think the price of the RAM is very competitive. If I remember correctly, in generations past a 4GB upgrade was much more than $130. Worth it IMO, but your Mileage, of course, may vary.
 
ThomasJL said:
If you're considering the 2.0 model + 4GB RAM, don't do it. Spend nearly the same amount of money instead on a stock 2.4 model. If you're planning on keeping your MacBook for a couple of years, it will make a significant difference. Memory will be cheaper the longer you wait. Furthermore, Snow Leopard will allow for the addressing of much more than 4GB.

At this time next year, it's likely that you could buy 8GB for cheaper than you can buy 4GB today. But you will never be able to upgrade the CPU in your MacBook.

In four years from now, there might be a piece of important software that lists 2.4 as the minimum required CPU speed. You don't want to be stuck having to replace your whole computer just to run it.

Oh, and never buy RAM from Apple, regardless of the price. Buy it from Crucial.com. There is a hidden cost with Apple: The price they charge for the upgrade PLUS the confiscation of your stock RAM cards. Crucial's memory is also of higher quality than Apple's. Apple tends to use different manufacturers.
Click to expand...

im planning on using it for college next year but i do not have the dough to buy the 2.4 version. i already have to buy a dvi adapter, new keyboard/mouse. i dont need that extra hdd space either so it would only be for .4 ghz which isnt worth it for me
 
dlamin517 said:
im planning on using it for college next year but i do not have the dough to buy the 2.4 version. i already have to buy a dvi adapter, new keyboard/mouse. i dont need that extra hdd space either so it would only be for .4 ghz which isnt worth it for me
Click to expand...

Most keyboards and mice work fine from Windows to OS X (if you can get by with the ctrl/alt/command/option differences). I use the same Logitech RF mouse I had but I bought the Apple wired keyboard since it is quite slick.

http://www.macworld.com/article/42446/2005/01/doublecommand.html
 
i got the 4gb upgrade from apple under the student discount for 90 bucks I think? so i think it's worth it. I use it my comp a lot at work and it runs cooler than my previous pro which also had 4GB. I run a lot of programs at the same time too. I'm going to try to run two external monitors which I was told was doable with the new macbooks , but thats something completely different than what the post asked. my bad lol
 
if you can find a good deal on ram somewhere (its cheap almost everywhere you look) then why wouldnt you upgrade. just dont buy it straight from apple they charge too much.
 
groovdudeyo said:
if you can find a good deal on ram somewhere (its cheap almost everywhere you look) then why wouldnt you upgrade. just dont buy it straight from apple they charge too much.
Click to expand...

because if i dont need it then why would i waste 100 bucks on ram that i will never use
 
clyde2801 said:
1. Do what you normally do.
2. Open activity monitor.
3. Notice how much ram is left.
4. Observe how many page outs you've had.
5. Then go ahead and buy more ram anyway.
Click to expand...

I am using 1.2 gb of ram with firefox, itunes, and photoshop open, and utorrent, and aim. i think ill do fine with 2gb
 
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