Page in's are 2x page outs... more RAM?

[NStocks]

Hello,

I'm been debating on the idea whether to upgrade my 2010 i7 Macbook pro from 4GB RAM to 8GB ram, which is less than £40 from crucial.

Firstly, Looking at the attached, would you say that I will benefit from upgrading? I've read somewhere that is page ins are 10% more than page outs, then an upgrade is "needed".

Typically my "free" ram is less than 300MB, but we know that this along doesn't realise the need for a ram upgrade.

My main problems are opening and saving large illustrator pages as well as Safari always reloading, which may be du to RAM too?

I typically run the following each day: ArchiCAD, iTunes, Mail, Safari, Photoshop, Illustrator. Plus with Illustrator CS6, Adobe recommend 8GB ram...

Also, if an upgrade is greatly beneficial, would crucial be a good option to buy from? They are very cheap, but I don't want some cheap poor quality RAM (that's assuming RAM has some differences between suppliers?)

Thanks!

 

[\-V-/]

Get as much RAM as you can afford. RAM is the cheapest upgradable component to see immediate performance gains. OS X loves RAM. I'd say go for it.

 

[NStocks]

Is all RAM as created equal? Should I look further to find better quality, which is normally indicates by the price?

What are the chances that this RAM would work in the next MBP? Is there a new RAM than the current 'generation' DDR3?

 

[\-V-/]

Is all RAM as created equal? Should I look further to find better quality, which is normally indicates by the price?

What are the chances that this RAM would work in the next MBP? Is there a new RAM than the current 'generation' DDR3?

Crucial is a well known and quality brand. Their RAM also has a lifetime warranty. The next gen MBP may or may not use the same RAM, but RAM is cheap anyway. At the very least more RAM will make your computer more appealing when you try and sell it,

 

[parish]

Also, if an upgrade is greatly beneficial, would crucial be a good option to buy from? They are very cheap, but I don't want some cheap poor quality RAM (that's assuming RAM has some differences between suppliers?)

I'm in the UK and I always buy from Crucial. It's rarely more than a few quid more than branded memory from the likes of dabs.com - the unbranded generic RAM is cheaper, but you never know what you're getting - and Crucial's Customer Service is excellent so, IMHO, it's worth the extra money.

I've also read that not all RAM works in Macs, even if the it the correct type and speed. For example, I believe that Kingston Value RAM doesn't, even though Kingston is a reputable make.

If your 2010 machine uses the same RAM as the 2011 models - 1333MHz DDR3 - then the price of 16GB has just dropped from £188 to £118 at Crucial

 

[throAU]

Get as much RAM as you can afford. RAM is the cheapest upgradable component to see immediate performance gains. OS X loves RAM. I'd say go for it.

This.

Given the recent price drops, I'd suggest 16gb is the current sweet spot. If you're going to go to the hassle of opening the machine you may as well spend the extra $30 or so to upgrade to 16gb instead of 8gb while you're at it.

 

[lamboman]

Definitely go for 8GB. Overclockers.co.uk sell the Crucial 1333MHz kit for £32, which is the best price that I've seen. Not worth looking at faster kits in the UK as the prices are far higher.

 

[dusk007]

What are the chances that this RAM would work in the next MBP? Is there a new RAM than the current 'generation' DDR3?

Depends on when you will buy the next MBP but the chances are very high. DDR3 will stay for a while to come. DDR4 is ready but no CPU manufacturer currently has any plan on using them. Intel said Haswell will still be DDR3. For the next 2 years DDR3 will carry over after that is unknown territory.

All RAM is pretty much equal. If you have a 13" go for bandwidth as the Intel GPU likes it otherwise everything past 1600Mhz is a waste of money the CPU doesn't need it, which is why there is no move to DDR4 planned.
There is standard 1.5V DDR3 and low voltage DDR3L 1.35V RAM. Get the latter if it sells for the same price but the difference in power consumption is rather small. Not really worth much money. Speed is equal. Compatibility is pretty much a given.

 

[nutmac]

Page ins to out ratio is meaningless. Any amount of page out is what causes your Mac to write to disk instead of RAM, causing extreme slow down (e.g., beach ball).

That said, while large RAM will decrease page out, if you are using Lion, due to a major memory management bug in dynamic pager, which in turn causes inactive memory to be uncollected into free memory, you will probably still experience page out.

 

[Gorge]

8 GB is a lot, but it wasn't enough for Parallels. I'm glad that I upgraded to 16GB. This laptop flies.

I actually find myself using about 13 GB of RAM when I have Photoshop, Indesign, and Parallels open.

 

[PAPO]

8GB should be enough I have 8GB myself and almost never fill it unless I have a bunch of stuff running for about a month strait and get a bunch of memory leaks, but I usually don't use more than 5GB maybe 6GB if I'm doing some heavy lifting, but if you intend on keeping the laptop long term then go for 16GB and you don't have to worry about opening it again

 

[NStocks]

Thanks for all the replies!

I ordered the 8GB kit and it will be with me next week - £37 for faster delivery for 2x 4GB sticks.

16GB isn't actually listed under my model specification, but I feel 8GB is a huge improvement anyway - I wish I upgraded earlier at these prices

Thanks for your help, I look forward to my even faster mac.

 

[\-V-/]

16GB isn't actually listed under my model specification, but I feel 8GB is a huge improvement anyway - I wish I upgraded earlier at these prices.

Did you check http://www.everymac.com/?

Depending on where you look, the max RAM your computer can handle will be inaccurate... such as the RAM Apple displays on their site. I believe only the 2011+ MacBook Pros can handle 16 GB, though (not sure on that).