Should I get more RAM?

[CTYankee]

dual 867 MDD
currently with 1024mb of ram

I am thinking of getting one or two 512MB sticks to boost RAM to 1.25 or 1.5GB. What performance inprovements can I expect? I do a lot of FCP, Boris RED, photoshop, and similar work.

I know there was a big difference going from stock 256 to 1024 (768 even), but have I reached the point of diminished returns?

Any XBench data from the same maching running 1024, 1280 and 1536MB (I know I run XBench whenever I upgrade hardware or the OS).

tia

 

[macstudent]

There is no such thing as too much RAM

 

[beatle888]

i know photoshop will appreciate it. but still...
you should be fine with what you have. although i would never turn down more ram. also have you gone into the photoshop preferences to the memory section and turned the ram percentage slider up?

 

[crazytom]

Maybe, maybe not....

If you do a lot of multi-tasking, I'd get more memory..that way you can have a FCP movie rendering and still do things quickly on photoshop. If you only use one program at a time, then the benefits of more memory would be negligible. I heard somewhere that over 1G of memory, the benefits are unclear (but tests were done running a single program).

 

[LethalWolfe]

If you work w/big files in PS and AE while cutting in FCP then more RAM will give you more head room. But if you aren't feeling "crunched" now then I don't know if more ram will make anything go faster.

crazytom: rendering in FCP, or AE and PS for that matter, is more of a proc heavy task than a memory heavy task.

Lethal

 

[FelixDerKater]

True, there is no such thing as too much RAM, but the performance increase drops exponentially once you get over 512MB. You would probably be better off saving the money. At some point down the road, your video card will need 1GB of RAM, but that is in the future.