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

96gb ram... sigh

chfilm

chfilm

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Hey guys,

so I guess like a lot of you I'm really torn on these new configs.
I have the m2ultra with 128 gb of ram and 2tb ssd and wouldve chosen 128gbs again in a new machine if it would’ve been an option. Going down to 96 feels just wrong, especially since I do a lot of after effects work which is super ram hungry.

Then again it might juuuuust work out but it would be tight. On the other hand, 256 feels overkill- unless local Ai image or video stuff would run really well on the machine which is a big maybe if you ask me. Comfy Ui is still super NVIDIA / pc optimized and that would be the main reason for me to get more ram.

So I don’t know what to do.. that 4000€ upgrade price is sick!!
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: arc of the universe and MarkC426
Based on previously published benchmarks of the M5 Max MBp….I think it outperforms all previous Ultra chips.
You could opt for M5 Max with 128GB.

Apple's M5 Max benchmark .png
 
I’m in the exact same boat as you. After effects, premiere, cinema 4d, resolve.

96 gig ram configuration for ultra is not enough for running multiple apps with big ae projects. I’ve tested my activity monitor all morning with ane, cinema 4d annd premiere open and I am exceeding 96. I have 190 now on my 2019 Mac Pro, but 128 would work. But the only upgrade option is to 256, for 4k!!!

The only other choice is going the max chip at 128 gigs. Thus, losing the power of the ultra (and also ram).

From my research this morning, the ultra wouldn’t be significantly better except for 2 areas : 1) redshift rendering in cinema 4d and 2) AI processing, which I don’t do a lot of…..YET. Surely the future of adobe and all these other apps is ai processing, right ??

Still, I’ve suffered a lot of indignities with Apple the past decade, but 4 thousand dollars just for 256 ram will be the worst I’ve had to endure. Might they add a 125 option in near future ? Ugh 😫

Please let me know what conclusion you come to, or data you come across.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bhodinut and chfilm
pprior said:
I’m in Same boat - Ultra with 128GB - SOLD. WHY!!!!!
Click to expand...
Do you regret selling your 128gb machine?

In the memory crisis I’m even considering keeping the m2 just because of the more of ram… then again I really would love the better performance..
if only it wasn’t for the poorly optimized, overly memory hungry adobe apps 🙈
 
I'd love to replace my MBP with a Studio but the macbook I got for only 3000e while a similar Studio (either base Ultra or 128GB Max) is twice the price at ~5900e. MacBook is also in repair which is just awful.
 
The price for 256GB is actually less than I expected. Apple has to be using LPDDR5X ~9600MT/s for the M5 Ultra. To support 256 or 512 these have to be the highest density modules.

These are basically the most-expensive, top-end LPDDR5X chips that are shipping in real volume (although LPDDR6 is imminent). You can't compare it against, say, DDR5 at 6400MT/s.
 
Doing a lot of AE motion work on the M2 Ultra here. With C4D Lite CineWare + a dynamically-linked Premiere timeline + AE RAM previews at 32-bit float I sit around 90-110GB pretty routinely on client jobs. If you can keep the AE comp at 16-bit and drop "RAM reserved for other applications" to about 8GB you claw some back, but I wouldn't downgrade my active ceiling from 128 to 96 for the ultra jump if AE is your bread and butter. The M5 raw perf gain doesn't pay you back when you're paging.

Harder question for me is whether 256 is worth 4k of AI headroom I may or may not use. Kind of stuck on the same fence.
 
chfilm said:
Do you regret selling your 128gb machine?

In the memory crisis I’m even considering keeping the m2 just because of the more of ram… then again I really would love the better performance..
if only it wasn’t for the poorly optimized, overly memory hungry adobe apps 🙈
Click to expand...

Sorry I was unclear - if they offered Ultra with 128gb it was an instant sale was my point. Really pissed that it goes from 98 to 256.

However they won - I bought the ultra/96 yesterday. Time will show if that was stupid or not. Nvidia earnings after the bell today, perhaps that might assuage my pain at RAM costs....
 
  • Haha
Reactions: chfilm
I ran some of my toughest AE projects of last year and fed Istat menues results into claude. It advised me to go with the 30core version but put 256 gbs in, which is what I decided on myself as well. Just placed the order.
 
A touch off topic .... I was a caught off guard by the Studio announcement. I need one pretty badly (my 2020 iMac Intel is beginning to fail with intensive I/O tasks, though it remains fine for routine things), but I don't need it right this second. I could wait 3-4 months, after which I will retire from my day job and have more time. (I will be using it for Pro Audio work.) I also wouldn't mind not jumping in now in the hope that I can register my resistance to the extravagant price increase. (I would like for orders to be on the slow side, to send a message to Apple.) So I wouldn't mind postponing my order for a couple of months, but I'm worried about both the possibility of renewed shortages (and thus availability) and even another price hike. I'm torn between ordering now "while I can" or waiting until I really need it. Thoughts?
 
Menthol said:
A touch off topic .... I was a caught off guard by the Studio announcement. I need one pretty badly (my 2020 iMac Intel is beginning to fail with intensive I/O tasks, though it remains fine for routine things), but I don't need it right this second. I could wait 3-4 months, after which I will retire from my day job and have more time. (I will be using it for Pro Audio work.) I also wouldn't mind not jumping in now in the hope that I can register my resistance to the extravagant price increase. (I would like for orders to be on the slow side, to send a message to Apple.) So I wouldn't mind postponing my order for a couple of months, but I'm worried about both the possibility of renewed shortages (and thus availability) and even another price hike. I'm torn between ordering now "while I can" or waiting until I really need it. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
If you are eventually gonna need it anyways and it's clearly not becoming any cheaper any time soon? I personally would rip the bandaid off. Plus it's a preorder, I think you can cancel those before the 22nd of September, right?
 
Menthol said:
A touch off topic .... I was a caught off guard by the Studio announcement. I need one pretty badly (my 2020 iMac Intel is beginning to fail with intensive I/O tasks, though it remains fine for routine things), but I don't need it right this second. I could wait 3-4 months, after which I will retire from my day job and have more time. (I will be using it for Pro Audio work.) I also wouldn't mind not jumping in now in the hope that I can register my resistance to the extravagant price increase. (I would like for orders to be on the slow side, to send a message to Apple.) So I wouldn't mind postponing my order for a couple of months, but I'm worried about both the possibility of renewed shortages (and thus availability) and even another price hike. I'm torn between ordering now "while I can" or waiting until I really need it. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I recommend checking out the Apple Upgrade program.
 
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