2gigs will run nicely. Although unless you are using a lot of apps at once or a few apps in rosetta, you may not notice a huge increase. look at your VM stats. see how many page outs you've got.
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1gb of ram vs. 2gb
- Thread starter Hobodale
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I wonder what kind of improvement one would see with 2GB vs. 1GB of RAM, with World of Warcraft (on a G5 iMac). Anyone? I've already got 1GB, didn't know if doubling it would allow for a bit smoother experience. Purely academic, really, since I'm on a tight budget.
The MacBook supports an interleaving memory access when two identical memory modules are installed. While this kind of access doesn't provide a huge performance gain for normal applications on normal notebooks with a dedicated graphics card, it does improve the overall performance of the MacBook with it's shared memory.
So if you have 1GB in only 1 memory module then you definetly should go for another GB. Otherwise you won't really notice much of a difference unless you run applications that use tons of memory.
We have both, a white MacBook with 2 x 512 and a black one with 2 x 1GB - both are equally fast. Only applications load a little faster on the black one, but I think that's due the different types of HD which are installed (Toshiba on the white one and Seagate on the black one).
So if you have 1GB in only 1 memory module then you definetly should go for another GB. Otherwise you won't really notice much of a difference unless you run applications that use tons of memory.
We have both, a white MacBook with 2 x 512 and a black one with 2 x 1GB - both are equally fast. Only applications load a little faster on the black one, but I think that's due the different types of HD which are installed (Toshiba on the white one and Seagate on the black one).
Don't worry too much about the amount of 'free' RAM space left. Instead, focus on 'inactive+free', since I imagine you've got programs that have set aside RAM that's not being used and is in fact available to other resources.thechris69 said:ive got 6mb left... i need ram fast
As others have said, the pageout rate is a better indication, since it tells you when the system has to write to the HD because RAM wasn't available.
Well i always think of it this way. When you spend a lot of money on a new computer, I think it is just normal that you pay some more and get the best ram you can. Even if you don't need at the moment, you may need it desperately sometime later, and get it from the beginning...
Right now there's 1.5 gb free ram for me But this page and itunes are the only programs running.
Get 2 GBs of RAM, you won't regret it
Right now there's 1.5 gb free ram for me
But this page and itunes are the only programs running.Get 2 GBs of RAM, you won't regret it
DJMastaWes said:
Unfortunately, the advice you were given was useless.
Memory that is "free" is memory that the Mac hasn't found any use for. For example, if you open a file, all the data that is read will be kept in RAM somewhere just in case it is needed again (unused RAM is useless). If you looked at a GB worth of files, one GB of RAM will be filled with this data. As soon as you need memory for something else, that data is thrown out, and it doesn't cost any time to do that.
It's like asking Bill Gates how much money he has and he shows you that he only has ten dollars in his wallet. It may be true that he only has ten dollars, but that doesn't give you the whole picture.
Here is what you do: Open "Activity Monitor", click on "System Memory". Write down the two numbers after "page ins/outs" and quit Activity Monitor. Use your Macintosh as normal. Exactly 24 hours later, do the same thing again The numbers will have increased. Each "page in" or "page out" is a harddisk access that wouldn't have happened with infinite memory. Each costs lets say ten milliseconds. So calculate how much the numbers increased, divide by hundred. That is how many seconds you would have saved if you had infinite memory, so you get an idea how much faster your Mac would be with more memory.
nevrozel said:
That's not much. Every pageout takes maybe 10 milliseconds, so that is 500 seconds in four days. Quite often this goes unnoticed anyway.
I upgraded from 1.25GB to 3GB of RAM and it has a made a HUGE difference when I use my G5. I hardly if ever hear the disk thrashing when I have more than 3 major apps open. I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to upgrade. I think the sweet spot with OSX 10.4.7 is 2GB or more.
Expect it to go to 3GB when Leopard comes out. By summer 2007, I think 4GB would be the norm. When FB-DIMMs drop in price by half, I'm going to pick up the Mac Pro rev.b and upgrade to 8GB or 16GB of RAM.
Expect it to go to 3GB when Leopard comes out. By summer 2007, I think 4GB would be the norm.
When FB-DIMMs drop in price by half, I'm going to pick up the Mac Pro rev.b and upgrade to 8GB or 16GB of RAM.yellow said:
Just the usual stuff: Safari, Mail, NetNewsWire, Adium, iChat, Skype, Page, iTunes, Stickies, Calendar - all opened. Some QuickTime movies and iPhoto form time to time.
Sometimes i also encode video in iMovie and QuickTime and it takes a hell of a lot time to do it. You think RAM upgrade would help here?
Get the RAM. If you plan to keep your computer for any length of time, you'll need it eventually, so you might as well get it sooner than later. And yes, you will notice a difference when you open that third or fourth big app. [Owner of a PBG4 with 2 gigs of RAM]
You will definitely appreciate the extra ram. When my MBP comes I'm going to stick a 1gb stick in it so it will be 1.5 sweeet
sweeet
Reboot
The pageouts are meaningless unless you reboot and do a normal work cycle to see if you incur any significant numbers of pageouts during your normal workflow.
Seems high uptimes, and letting the machine sleep wildly distort pageout numbers -- and it is really how the machine reacts to normal use that matters most.
1 GB might be fine for someone that keeps a lot of apps open, but doesn't change channels as much as a spastic monkey on meth hogging the remote. For that monkey, even 2GB might not be enough.
The pageouts are meaningless unless you reboot and do a normal work cycle to see if you incur any significant numbers of pageouts during your normal workflow.
Seems high uptimes, and letting the machine sleep wildly distort pageout numbers -- and it is really how the machine reacts to normal use that matters most.
1 GB might be fine for someone that keeps a lot of apps open, but doesn't change channels as much as a spastic monkey on meth hogging the remote. For that monkey, even 2GB might not be enough.