Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

2GB enough memory

B

bakechad

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 4, 2008
38
1
I'm a Linux guy (Windows free since 1997!)

But I still have to support the Windows machines in my household.

So I have decided to replace my 8 year old son's Windows XP machine with the new Mac Mini.

My question is: should I upgrade from the 2GB or will it be enough for him to run his current set of applications? I want the machine to be responsive. He has suffered enough using XP.

He mainly uses:

Netflix streaming
MLB.com streaming
Lego.com
Audacity
TuxMath
TuxPaint
LibreOffice
probably will use Garageband with his electric guitar
 
bakechad said:
I'm a Linux guy (Windows free since 1997!)

But I still have to support the Windows machines in my household.

So I have decided to replace my 8 year old son's Windows XP machine with the new Mac Mini.

My question is: should I upgrade from the 2GB or will it be enough for him to run his current set of applications? I want the machine to be responsive. He has suffered enough using XP.

He mainly uses:

Netflix streaming
MLB.com streaming
Lego.com
Audacity
TuxMath
TuxPaint
LibreOffice
probably will use Garageband with his electric guitar
Click to expand...

i would say for the 50 bucks it costs to get 8gb (just got mine this week from newegg) its a no brainer. will defiantly help the machine, anything under 4gb of ram will hold the machine back IMO. 8GB ram also increases the memory available to the HD3000, a double win for those without the 2.5 amd6630 i would think.
 
Agreed with the above. I think 2gb will suffice but it's too cheap not to upgrade. Also, you have the coolest-sounding 8 year-old kid; into baseball, lego, and electric guitar? Maybe save the money you'd spend on ram and get him a stick to fend off the ladies :)
 
Like most have already said... I too suggest you do the upgrade, the cost and benefit it'll give you just too good to pass up.
 
Upgrade the RAM but don't buy it from Apple. It's incredibly easy to upgrade.
 
OS X Lion itself runs better with more memory, and your son will possibly need more 'greedy' software in the future. It is also really nice to able to run Win or Linux virtualized if needed - but Fusion, Parallels or similar takes a big bite of the ressources to run smooth. So you should install 8GB mem yourself, as several have suggested.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Surely said:
Read the rebate info. The purchase had to be made in the month of July.


And yeah, there is no reason to not upgrade. I'll most likely be buying a Mini in the next couple of weeks, and ordering 8GB of RAM is a no-brainer for me.
Click to expand...

There is one from this month too. July is still posted for previous purchases.
 
you should just see how well it performs under 2, then if you see it swapping and needs more go for the 16GB upgrade, because 8GB is too common now :cool:
 
accessoriesguy said:
you should just see how well it performs under 2, then if you see it swapping and needs more go for the 16GB upgrade, because 8GB is too common now :cool:
Click to expand...

When you are dealing with Lion needing 16GB is no joke

miniram8gb.png
 
I just got my 8GB of RAM from Crucial...the difference between 2 and 8 is amazing! For instance, I'd have Firefox and Mail open, then open Word, it would take 45 seconds. After the upgrade, 5seconds.
 
Vermifuge said:
When you are dealing with Lion needing 16GB is no joke

Image
Click to expand...

That's disturbing. I just checked mine and I have 1GB of RAM being used by Safari for the "Reply to Topic" page with nothing else open in Safari. :rolleyes:

Apple needs to get Lion's excessive RAM usage and random crashing under control...
 
theappleguy said:
That's disturbing. I just checked mine and I have 1GB of RAM being used by Safari for the "Reply to Topic" page with nothing else open in Safari. :rolleyes:

Apple needs to get Lion's excessive RAM usage and random crashing under control...
Click to expand...

No Kidding!

I'm really not running anything out of the ordinary with the exception of SIMBL but this was happening before I installed SIMBL. It's more likely a Safari problem but Lion should be doing a better job and memory handling. Also note the over 200GB of Virtual Memory!

Quitting Safai seems to get things under control but I'll still have over 200 GB of virtual memory in use.
 
16 GB is no joke though it is a bit expensive. OWC had it at $1,400 originally and dropped it recently to a little over $900 ($920 at the time of this post). I say the sweet spot (in my view anyway) would be about $500 since it costs that much for HP's laptops (although HP is exiting the hardware market soon).

Having said all that, if you can afford as much RAM as possible at any price, then go for it.
 
Thanks for all the replies

Thanks for all the replies. This is a great forum with such helpful people!

Last night I ordered the Mac Mini from B&H Photo Supply and an 8GB memory kit from Amazon.

Chad
 
bakechad said:
Thanks for all the replies. This is a great forum with such helpful people!

Last night I ordered the Mac Mini from B&H Photo Supply and an 8GB memory kit from Amazon.

Chad
Click to expand...

I was going to ask you why you ordered the Mini from B&H instead of Amazon, but I see that B&H throws in a free copy of Parallels with your order. Very interesting......looks like I may order from B&H now. Thanks for stating where you're buying!
 
bakechad said:
Thanks for all the replies. This is a great forum with such helpful people!

Last night I ordered the Mac Mini from B&H Photo Supply and an 8GB memory kit from Amazon.

Chad
Click to expand...

Chad you have to come back after you get it all setup and let us know how it is going. Congrats on your purchase! :) I love my Mac Mini setup.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back