Ram and OSX

Discussion in 'PowerPC Macs' started by L Oquence, Mar 30, 2015.

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  1. L Oquence, Mar 30, 2015

    L Oquence macrumors regular

    L Oquence

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    Jul 10, 2014
    #1
    Just out of curiosity, for various tasks, what would you say are the mininum ram requirements on powerpc?

    For me personally I find usability of Leopard to start around 1 gb of ram, maybe slightly less. 2 GB is when it feels properly responsive.

    I got what I think to be a decent deal (6 1gb sticks for $20) for my G5 awhile back and I've been thinking about it recently. I don't think I REALLY needed the extra ram beyond the 4 gb I had, but being at 8 is a good feeling. But this machine just doesn't hiccup now. For whatever reason it feels super responsive.

    I'd like to be able to justify that ram amount with the fact that I have projects easily exceeding 30+ tracks in music but sometimes I wonder. :rolleyes: Although I want to start using Blender and Final Cut Pro and it will sure help there.

    I think with Leopard 1 GB is the min and 2 GB is preferred, as well as the fact that anything above 4 seems to be pushing it as the ram at the point seems to be diminishing returns. But in my case it was a "why not" price.

    I'm just curious about other peoples "ram guidelines" if you will. :)
     
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  2. eyoungren, Mar 30, 2015

    eyoungren macrumors Core

    eyoungren

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    #2
    For a G4, no less than 1GB ram for Leopard. You can use less (and I have) but don't expect instant response.

    Having worked with a G5 at work since 2005 I can say that I'd feel comfortable with 8GB or more in ram. I'm often doing multiple tasks with all of the major design and production apps open as well as a browser. 4GB was doable and the max that the G5 at work is capable of using, but for me I'd feel more comfortable with double that.
     
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  3. bunnspecial, Mar 30, 2015

    bunnspecial macrumors 603

    bunnspecial

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    #3
    My home G5 has 6gb, and my work one has 10gb. The one at work is a lot faster and more responsive, but then I'd say it has a lot more going for it than the one at home(specifically a 2.0 dual core vs. a 1.8 single).

    Leopard runs okay on my TiBooks with 1gb(the max) as well as with 1.5gb, which is the max in many G4 towers(specifically the Cube, Digital Audio, and Quicksilver series). My 12" Powerbooks have 1.25(both have 255mb soldered to the board, and a 1gb stick in the expansion slot) and also do okay.

    I can tell you that when I took my iMac G4 from 1gb(the configuration it shipped with) to 2gb(not officially supported, but works fine) it made a huge difference in the usability of the computer.
     
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  4. tom vilsack, Mar 31, 2015

    tom vilsack macrumors 68000

    tom vilsack

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    #4
    I have leopard on my PB 667 Ti (dvi with L3) with only 768mb ram,and it run's pretty good.
     
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  5. Dronecatcher, Mar 31, 2015

    Dronecatcher macrumors 68020

    Dronecatcher

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    #5
    On my Quad (when I still had it) and my 2.3DP I'd be working in Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator, be playing iTunes and have Safari open all day long - I don't ever remember the menu meter showing more than 4Gb used.
    It's nice to have 8 or 16 but it really is overkill.
     
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  6. MatthewLTL, Mar 31, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 31, 2015

    MatthewLTL macrumors 68000

    MatthewLTL

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    #6
    Actually, My eMac has been running on 512MB RAM for the past couple months after my 1GB Stick died. It works just fine however it IS slow. Although Leopard is perfectly responsive with 512MB, I agree with you that anything under 1GB. Using DreamWeaver 8 on the eMac slows the computer to a snail and that is not even a RAM hungry program.
    ----------

    My eMac can also take 2GB and i plan to get some RAM for it soon. But I have ran it the past 3 years on between 512MB (past 2 months) and 1.5GB of RAM. I just recently put 2GB in my MDD and with its full motherboard and DP 1.25 upgrade its super fast.
     
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