I have a 2.33Ghz 24" iMac with 1GB of RAM. Would it be worth the 300$ or so dollars to upgrade to 2GB. I am a graphic design student. I use photoshop, indesign and Illustrator. I know the suite will run slower under rosetta. should I get the 2GB or just wait until Adobe goes universal and that will be enough performance.
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1GB vs. 2GB for 24" iMac
- Thread starter jdl8422
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2G is far better for Photoshop under Rosetta, 1.5 Gb seems to be the minimum for adequate performance.
RAM is very much a key to performance. Photoshop uses RAM for undos/redos. If you want to be able to work with files of some size and/or be able to undo several items from history, etc. this is RAM intensive. I would always recommend plenty of RAM for a Photoshop user, whether Rosetta or Universal. It will run smoother and quicker. It helps for rendering filters, effects, layers, etc.
To me it is a no brainer.
To me it is a no brainer.
It depends on what you're doing - on PPC systems, where it's currently running native, 1GB is still low. Adobe apps crave RAM, and 1GB doesn't give you much to feed them, as the system uses a fair amount of that.
^ get a 2Gb stick and not 2x 1Gb so you can max it later and you'll have 2.5 Gb after the upgrade! Dual channel doesnt work in current iMacs!
A 2gb stick is insanely expensive. Dual channel does indeed work in current iMacs, although the performance benefit is slim. I would recommend 2 x 1GB dimms if you can afford it.
I bought 2 of these for my Mom's mini, and they seem to work fine. I'm sure I'll get a lot of replies from people saying not to buy it because it isn't "Mac compatible" or whatever, but they work fine for me (well, her), ran all the Ramtests I could find, no errors, no KPs. As you can see by the reviews, I'm not alone. If there's a problem, I've never had any issues with their RMA process. Buy 1 now, then get another one later if you can't afford it now.
It's worth it, trust me, even after Adobe goes Universal.
It's worth it, trust me, even after Adobe goes Universal.
That's what I did. And it's better too since with AppleCare you have to keep at least 1 stick of Apple-branded RAM in your computer for it to be still under their coverage.
It's funny, I always hear people asking where to get another gig of ram (so they'll have 2GB) on their iMac before they even buy it... it's like a no brainer to get it from apple.
But the cheapest solution is just to upgrade before purchase.
But even then, let's say you have stock 1GB. 2x512 RAM on ebay will net you at least $100. That makes a ram upgrade $130 after profit from newegg and other resellers. But you lose the ability to have Applecare.
You can get 2GB of G.SKILL RAM from Newegg for about $200 shipped. Works great in my Macbook, my computer is blazing fast now 
I have the same RAM that solvs posted above. Works great in my Macbook, the improvement is definetly noticeable from 512MB. Can't believe I went two months with 512 after this
I have the same RAM that solvs posted above. Works great in my Macbook, the improvement is definetly noticeable from 512MB. Can't believe I went two months with 512 after this