New Intel iMacs Thirsty for RAM

[davidwsica]

I just upgraded my new 17" Intel iMac from the stock 512MB RAM to 2GB RAM (from OWC) and let me tell you it's day/night performance. This thing is much more responsive with the extra RAM. And right now my system is using a little over 1.5GB with only a couple apps running. I definitely would recommend upgrading to at least 1.5GB to appreciate the speed of these machines.

David

 

[BakedBeans]

Thanks for the update David.

I would think its down to the dual core - them there cores are thirsty

 

[MRU]

I just upgraded my new 17" Intel iMac from the stock 512MB RAM to 2GB RAM (from OWC) and let me tell you it's day/night performance. This thing much more responsive with the extra RAM. And right now my system is using a little over 1.5GB with only a couple apps running. I definitely would recommend upgrading to at least 1.5GB to appreciate the speed of these machines.

David

Hence the reason Steve maxed out the display worlds at macworld expo...

Ordered 2gb for mine from apple, seeing as crucial have sold out and we don't get the good prices you do in the states... Cant wait

 

[bousozoku]

That's not a whole lot of difference from Mac OS X on the G4s and single G5s except that the Core Duo has the power to show the difference.

Adding RAM is the easiest way to minimalise the effect the hard drive has on performance due to virtual memory.

 

[jhero]

1.5 GB with only 2 apps???

Aperture and photoshop???

 

[generik]

1.5 GB with only 2 apps???

Aperture and photoshop???

Textedit and Terminal

 

[tomacintosh]

It's not just the new Intel iMac's that are thirsty for RAM, all Mac's are full stop

 

[Jay42]

That's for sure. I'm currently debating over adding 512mb or 1gig of ram to my stock powerbook. The 512 is almost a quarter the price of a 1gig stick.

 

[XIII]

Which apps were you running? What size was the VM? Thanks

 

[mvamato]

Great Ram Great $

check out Approved memory. their ebay store is toycove. You can sve arounf $5 by sending a paypal payment directly to the the e-mail address. I have purchased 3gig of Samsung ram for g4 powerbooks over the last year. they are great, fast, and I've never had any problems with the ram (I always by what Apple puts in. I believe I got 1gig stick for the 1.5ghx 15" powerbook for $137. I assume the new ram for mactels are more $. I hope this helps.

 

[faintember]

1.5gb of RAM used with a couple of applications open?
Unless you have a memory leak, I smell something...

 

[tomacintosh]

Nah, OSX always shows to be taking nearly all your RAM, no matter how much you have in there

 

[Ashapalan]

That's for sure. I'm currently debating over adding 512mb or 1gig of ram to my stock powerbook. The 512 is almost a quarter the price of a 1gig stick.

im in the exact same position!

I do need to upgrade from stock but yeh, the price between a 1gig and a 512 is huge!

Im ordering on friday, so i have two more days to ponder, however, i am now leaning towards the 1 gig, as i wont waste money if i need to upgrade again in the future.

 

[davidwsica]

1.5gb of RAM used with a couple of applications open?
Unless you have a memory leak, I smell something...

OK, OK, I do have more than a couple apps open. The big ones running are Safari (102MB), iTunes(43MB), VersionTracker Pro, (48MB) QuickSilver (36MB). Then I have several other programs (<30MB) running in the background/menubar like Konfabulator, BOINC and Missing Sync.

The point is I don't think my profile is that unusual. I mean who's running just 1 or 2 apps with nothing in the background? Bottom line is that I don't think 512MB is sufficient for the "average" user. I think at least 1GB is required and more if you can afford it and want to run several apps simultaneously.

David

 

[Aimee Doe]

4GB memory for Macbooks?

Crucial sells a 2GB 240pin DDr2 PC2-5300 memory chip, is that compatible with the Macbook? It would be nice to have 4GB memory, given that I'll be using mainly Roseta-based aps.

 

[revisionA]

Crucial sells a 2GB 240pin DDr2 PC2-5300 memory chip, is that compatible with the Macbook? It would be nice to have 4GB memory, given that I'll be using mainly Roseta-based aps.

Hmm... if they were 64bit then maybe... but the 2 gig from 2.5 gig cap on iMac's tend to make me wonder if 2 gig is all that the core duo can access.

if they can run 4 gig, than you would get some nice performance from universal binaries.

$

 

[Revlimit Punk]

Hmm... if they were 64bit then maybe... but the 2 gig from 2.5 gig cap on iMac's tend to make me wonder if 2 gig is all that the core duo can access.

if they can run 4 gig, than you would get some nice performance from universal binaries.

$

I don't know if the ram stick will work, but in theory any 32bit processor (like the core duo) can address up to 4GB of ram

 

[faintember]

OK, OK, I do have more than a couple apps open.

Thats more like it.

The point is I don't think my profile is that unusual. I mean who's running just 1 or 2 apps with nothing in the background? Bottom line is that I don't think 512MB is sufficient for the "average" user. I think at least 1GB is required and more if you can afford it and want to run several apps simultaneously.

I tend to agree, at least 1gig, but more if needed above that. Many have said that 1.5gig is the sweet spot for OS X. I dont have any ram problems with my Ti PB G4 running 1gig of ram, but then i have things i have no use for (like dashboard) disabled.

 

[johnnybluejeans]

1.5 Gb Sweet Spot

Glad to hear that 1.5Gb is the sweet spot. I've got 512 now with a gig on the way!

 

[Dr. Dastardly]

Crucial sells a 2GB 240pin DDr2 PC2-5300 memory chip, is that compatible with the Macbook? It would be nice to have 4GB memory, given that I'll be using mainly Roseta-based aps.

Why not just get a PPC iBook instead of spending over $5000 on a laptop with an insane amount of RAM?

 

[Josh396]

Hence the reason Steve maxed out the display worlds at macworld expo...

Ordered 2gb for mine from apple, seeing as crucial have sold out and we don't get the good prices you do in the states... Cant wait

I too ordered 2 GB from Apple because I got a hell of a deal through work so it was pretty much free. I'm anxious to see if it's any faster than my Rev. B G5 iMac. I only have 512 MB of RAM so I'm guessing it should be faster.

 

[bigfib]

I agree

My 512 17" imac core duo is a bit clunky esp when rosetta is running...

Will go buy an extra gig on monday and let you know how it goes.

xx

 

[davidwsica]

My 512 17" imac core duo is a bit clunky esp when rosetta is running...

Will go buy an extra gig on monday and let you know how it goes.

xx

I'm confident (based on my experience) that you will see a noticeable improvement with another gig.

 

[surroundfan]

Crucial sells a 2GB 240pin DDr2 PC2-5300 memory chip, is that compatible with the Macbook? It would be nice to have 4GB memory, given that I'll be using mainly Roseta-based aps.

Nope - Laptops (and the new iMac) take 200 pin SODIMMs...

 

[boombashi]

Nope - Laptops (and the new iMac) take 200 pin SODIMMs...

Exactly don't buy that for you new machine. However I don't think there is any limitation about putting in 2GB sticks if anyone ACTUALLY MADE 2GB 200pin SODIMMS. When and if they do sometime this year or so, I'm guessing at least $1100 a chip at that size and speed.