im considering buying 8gb of ram for my 2011 13 in. i mainly play the sims and run word/excel/powerpoint plus some other light programs such as internet. i also watch a lot of video content and listen to a lot of music. is 8 gb worth it?
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is 8gb of ram worth it?
- Thread starter bearcats087
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For how cheap it's become, sure. But I haven't even bothered upgrading my new MBP to 8GB yet. I don't even use all 4GB, let alone 8GB.
I just did this as part of a mid life kicker for my 2009 MBP. I really needed more internal disk space so I got a just released 1 TB internal drive. Upgraded the memory to 8 GB. I didn't need to do it but with the price as low as it is... why not pamper myself.
For me, if I got the Macbook Pro 13, I absolutely would get 8gb. And not because of the poster above. There is no Safari memory leak. It keeps a lot of it's cache in memory, which is a great place to keep it. You have it, use it.
Anyways, 8gb opens a few more doors. One thing you could do is give a nice chunk to Parallels and run Windows well in a VM.
However, if you haven't invested in an SSD yet, that is something I would consider first. You'll see a lot more real world benefits with that.
Anyways, 8gb opens a few more doors. One thing you could do is give a nice chunk to Parallels and run Windows well in a VM.
However, if you haven't invested in an SSD yet, that is something I would consider first. You'll see a lot more real world benefits with that.
4GB falls kinda short for me. I only do regular browsing but my memory usage after a day is around 4.5 to 5 GB.
With the prices of 8GB(which is what I currently have installed) I really see no reason not to buy 8GB.
With the prices of 8GB(which is what I currently have installed) I really see no reason not to buy 8GB.
New apps and OS are always more memory hogs in general; I always buy more ram right from the start to increase the useful life of my computer...
This week Fry's Electronics is selling Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333 SODIMMs for $34.99 after a $10 mail in rebate. From the reviews I've read about this memory they work fine in MBPs. For $35 how can you go wrong?
What's wrong with Corsair memory? These SODIMMs get excellent reviews on Newegg and other places and there are many reports of them working fine in MBPs.
Besides, $35 is a sale price. You think spending an extra $30-$40 will make a difference in performance or reliability? It won't.
I got my Corsair memory from Amazon for about 50 I think? Plus a 10 dollar mail in rebate, which I'm going to get around doing tomorrow if I remember.
I can max out the 4gbs on mine without using a virtual machine; right now I have 8 firefox windows open, 15 Chrome windows open, 4 Excel, one Word, iCal, two more productivity apps like that, iTunes, and a plethora of background productivity applications.
I'm waiting on the screwdrivers so I can get this thing open. If you use less than me, chances are, you don't need the extra RAM.
I can max out the 4gbs on mine without using a virtual machine; right now I have 8 firefox windows open, 15 Chrome windows open, 4 Excel, one Word, iCal, two more productivity apps like that, iTunes, and a plethora of background productivity applications.
I'm waiting on the screwdrivers so I can get this thing open. If you use less than me, chances are, you don't need the extra RAM.
you don't need it
You don't need it, very few people truly need 8 gigs, But at the current memory prices, its priced where if you just want it, you can buy it, and it won't hurt your wallet. Consequently, I now have 8 gigs. Just go for it.
You don't need it, very few people truly need 8 gigs, But at the current memory prices, its priced where if you just want it, you can buy it, and it won't hurt your wallet. Consequently, I now have 8 gigs. Just go for it.
At the price point RAM is at now, just get it. I've seen 8GB as low as $26, that's dirt cheap. Can't go wrong with more RAM.
Since it is such a cheap upgrade, just buy it.
Based on what you use your computer for I wouldn't expect a noticeable performance increase, but there's always the placebo performance increase from knowing what's inside your computer.
Also, you might be running more demanding software in the future. I wouldn't be surprised if the combination of Safari 6+iTunes 11+Office 2013+OS X Lion would benefit from having >4 GB to work with.
Based on what you use your computer for I wouldn't expect a noticeable performance increase, but there's always the placebo performance increase from knowing what's inside your computer.
Also, you might be running more demanding software in the future. I wouldn't be surprised if the combination of Safari 6+iTunes 11+Office 2013+OS X Lion would benefit from having >4 GB to work with.
