Can Someone (with base model 2.3 i5 Mac mini) Confirm/Compare RAM...

[toss002]

Can some please confirm or compare your ram usage for me.

With 2 GB, examining the pie-chart in the "Activity Monitor," with NO application in used, I have only about 45% (green) free.

I am just wondering, why am I left with ONLY less than 1 GB free to use???

Thank you.
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Could this be the culprit: I have "mail5" set for three e-mail accounts,*but I closed it out completely--no light on the bottom...of any app.

Could the e-mail accounts be used in "Wired memory"? A BIG red slice of the pie-chart. (Wired memory--Information in this memory can't be moved to the hard disk, so it must stay in RAM. The amount of Wired memory depends on the applications you are using.)

 

[fa8362]

You're forgetting the operating system.

 

[Vermifuge]

2 GB is the bare minimum to run lion yet alone get anything done. Frankly I don't see using lion with less than 4GB or ram. If it was more affordable i would be running 16 GB right now

 

[Mr.C]

2 GB is the bare minimum to run lion yet alone get anything done. Frankly I don't see using lion with less than 4GB or ram. If it was more affordable i would be running 16 GB right now

I think 16GB is overkill for most people though. 4GB is probably fine for most although 8GB might be worth it as RAM is so cheap. It would probably benefit those with the integrated GPU by increasing the shared memory allocation to it.

 

[Vermifuge]

I think 16GB is overkill for most people though. 4GB is probably fine for most although 8GB might be worth it as RAM is so cheap. It would probably benefit those with the integrated GPU by increasing the shared memory allocation to it.

I runs lot of parallels virtual PCs as part of my business. The CPU has no problem keeping up but I often run out of ram. I could put 16 GB to good use.

 

[Mr.C]

I runs lot of parallels virtual PCs as part of my business. The CPU has no problem keeping up but I often run out of ram. I could put 16 GB to good use.

Fair enough. I'm just saying for most people its not worth it especially at the cost it goes for right now. I would say that the majority of users out there can get by with 4GB.

 

[Vermifuge]

Fair enough. I'm just saying for most people its not worth it especially at the cost it goes for right now. I would say that the majority of users out there can get by with 4GB.

That's why i said "If it was more affordable i would be running 16 GB right now" it wasn't a recommendation just my needs. But with only a $20 price diff between 4 and 8 GB there is no reason not to get 8 GB.

 

[JimDut]

I'm surprised you've got 45% free... I'd have expected only 20-30%.

Very disappointing that Apple are shipping these with 2Gb RAM.

4Gb will do you fine unless you're into heavy gaming or graphical work, then I'd go for 8Gb, of which even then, you'd probably only use up to 6Gb.

 

[philipma1957]

I'm surprised you've got 45% free... I'd have expected only 20-30%.

Very disappointing that Apple are shipping these with 2Gb RAM.

4Gb will do you fine unless you're into heavy gaming or graphical work, then I'd go for 8Gb, of which even then, you'd probably only use up to 6Gb.

4gb will work if you don't use handbrake, game or graphical work. when you do hand brake and have 1 safari window open along with itunes you are at 3.58 used. if you purchased the lower cost mini. you can buy one 4gb stick and use it with 1 of the 1 gb sticks. this will give you 5gb ram for under 35 bucks. the pair of 1gb sticks in the stock mini are most likely hynix or samsung

https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.ph...=Samsung-DDR3-1333-SODIMM-4GB-Notebook-Memory

https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.ph...R3-1333-SODIMM-4GB-Hynix-Chip-Notebook-Memory



the above are good just see what you have if you have hynix get the one with hynix chips. if you have samsung get the one with samsung chips. newegg had some sticks for 20 each sold out. the idea behind this is 5gb ram will do most anything. and in 6 to 8 months 8gb sticks will get cheap pull the 1 gb and put in an 8gb giving you 12 gb which would be more then needed for 90 to 95 % of mini users.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I used 8GB in my 2.3 base mini, and noticed the memory usage did creep up to 4.5GB+ on a few occasions. I was scanning my music collection via Squeezebox software, nothing else really running.

I can't see really getting above 5GB with anything I'd be doing, but since 8GB was within a few dollars more than 4GB, it was a no-brainer.

 

[accessoriesguy]

Very disappointing that Apple are shipping these with 2Gb RAM.

agreed, same goes for the air. Apple just uses its base models as a way to sell you the appropriate models. It should be 4 stock, especially if Lion takes up almost 2GB!

 

[haruspex]

check out my thread ("why is the new mac mini so slow D:")

we seem to have come to the consensus that the main factors are:
- the HD 3000 graphics not having optimal support, as the HD 3000 shares RAM with the system - it is supposed to share about 384MB RAM with the system but some people report it taking up to 1.7GB (just what some people say from a google search, they might be full of crap but who knows). i suspect that's why my mac mini reports about 600MB~ of wired memory instantly after booting
- 2gb just isnt enough to do anything useful with lion other than serious casual grandma usage
- alongside having essentially 1GB of usable system RAM, writing a massive pagefile to a 5400RPM drive is really, really slow

 

[toss002]

...2gb just isnt enough to do anything useful with lion other than serious casual grandma usage

heheh...

I already check your thread...

I took the initiative and ordered 4 GB of RAM, when I posted this. Just arrived to day = installed = happy.

I decided not to go for 8 GB ... since this is my first Mac ... and I might possibly buy the next iteration. The next iteration, if I choose to get, I will get the 8.

 

[haruspex]

awesome, is it running a lot better with the extra RAM? i ordered my ram with free shipping so i won't see it until next week -_-

 

[Pecorino]

check out my thread ("why is the new mac mini so slow D:")

we seem to have come to the consensus that the main factors are:
- the HD 3000 graphics not having optimal support, as the HD 3000 shares RAM with the system - it is supposed to share about 384MB RAM with the system but some people report it taking up to 1.7GB (just what some people say from a google search, they might be full of crap but who knows). i suspect that's why my mac mini reports about 600MB~ of wired memory instantly after booting

Good Point.
Please note- the Intel HD 3000 DOES NOT support the OpenCL framework.

 

[toss002]

awesome, is it running a lot better with the extra RAM? i ordered my ram with free shipping so i won't see it until next week -_-

Yes, it does! I have no worries now. Very happy!