rMBP for multiple users

[dmaxdmax]

[moved from another thread - didn't mean to hijack that]

Should I be concerned with RAM or processor speed for 2 or 3 users? Our new rMBP will be primarily my wife's work laptop and require few resources. However, I will want to use it for iPhoto/iMovie/etc and my kids for games. (when she lets us near it!). Our current MBP is so slow switching users we never do but I want to have the option. I especially want my kids to have access without risking any of her work. Will more RAM or speed make a difference?

 

[GGJstudios]

[moved from another thread - didn't mean to hijack that]

Should I be concerned with RAM or processor speed for 2 or 3 users? Our new rMBP will be primarily my wife's work laptop and require few resources. However, I will want to use it for iPhoto/iMovie/etc and my kids for games. (when she lets us near it!). Our current MBP is so slow switching users we never do but I want to have the option. I especially want my kids to have access without risking any of her work. Will more RAM or speed make a difference?

It really depends on what is running at any point in time. To determine if you can benefit from more RAM, launch Activity Monitor and click the System Memory tab at the bottom to check your page outs. Page outs are cumulative since your last restart, so the best way to check is to restart your computer and track page outs under your normal workload (the apps, browser pages and documents you normally would have open). If your page outs are significant (say 1GB or more) under normal use, you may benefit from more RAM. If your page outs are zero or very low during normal use, you probably won't see any performance improvement from adding RAM.

Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor

 

[AdrianK]

An upgraded CPU would improve render times in iMovie and could potentially game performance (not sure what type of games your kids will be playing...), but really not by any measurable amount.
I can't really comment on RAM usage for iPhoto/iMovie, but I doubt you'll be pushing 8GB, it also wont help for gaming.
I personally wouldn't say that it's enough to justify the price increase in either case, the base model is a very powerful machine.

 

[Interstella5555]

An upgraded CPU would improve render times in iMovie and could potentially game performance (not sure what type of games your kids will be playing...), but really not by any measurable amount.
I can't really comment on RAM usage for iPhoto/iMovie, but I doubt you'll be pushing 8GB, it also wont help for gaming.
I personally wouldn't say that it's enough to justify the price increase in either case, the base model is a very powerful machine.

How will additional RAM not help with gaming?

 

[AdrianK]

How will additional RAM not help with gaming?

Because very few games will max out 8GB of memory?

 

[dmaxdmax]

They don't play serious graphics-heavy games. Right now they are seriously into minequest. My concern is about having a bunch is apps open in multiple user accounts, obviously dormant but needing to come to life quickly with fast user switching. I want zippy changes from user a to user b.