RAM question for Mac mini.

[EM87]

I am getting a Mac mini soon (thanks to the people who helped me out in my first thread) and I am wondering if the standard 512Mb of RAM will be enough or should I go with 1Gb (I can't really afford it though). I know that you will all say that 1Gb is the better option but my Windows PC runs using an average 450Mb-470Mb RAM (when not gaming), and I have a lot of crap running that I don't use and I have Windows XP running which I heard uses far more RAM than OS X. So is it worth it for me to get the 1Gb or will 512Mb be good enough?

PS, I usually only have iTunes, Firefox 2.0, Open Office.org writer and occasionally MSN messenger running at once which going by looking at my RAM usage they should all only use about 120Mb between them.

 

[WildCowboy]

512 MB might be enough, particularly since you aren't going to be running apps under Rosetta, but I still think you'll be a lot happier with 1 GB.

 

[California]

I am getting a Mac mini soon (thanks to the people who helped me out in my first thread) and I am wondering if the standard 512Mb of RAM will be enough or should I go with 1Gb (I can't really afford it though). I know that you will all say that 1Gb is the better option but my Windows PC runs using an average 450Mb-470Mb RAM (when not gaming), and I have a lot of crap running that I don't use and I have Windows XP running which I heard uses far more RAM than OS X. So is it worth it for me to get the 1Gb or will 512Mb be good enough?

PS, I usually only have iTunes, Firefox 2.0, Open Office.org writer and occasionally MSN messenger running at once which going by looking at my RAM usage they should all only use about 120Mb between them.

Dude, sell the 512 chip and buy a 1gig chip I h ave a new PPC mini (1.5 silent upgrade) and it's maxed out with 1 gig and I SURE NEED EVERY GIGIBYTE.

You with an intel mini, are lucky that you can put two gigs in it. So just go hunting for that one gig chip because you will need it.

 

[mac-convert]

I've been running the mini with the 512 for about a month now, using basically the same apps as you mentioned, in addition to the Cisco VPN client and Chicken of the VNC. I have had no issues with this setup. I also downloaded the trial version of DreamWeaver 8 yesterday to begin the eval on that, and it runs fine also. I will be saving my money for a 2-Gig memory set to upgrade all the way later. Also, I don't plan on running boot camp as I already have a system for XP Pro that does everything I need - although I am doing more and more on the Mini these days.

Enjoy the new Mini - I sure am!!!

 

[countach]

512MB is what I'd call marginal. It will be considerably more painful than having 1GB.

 

[Eidorian]

I was stuck at 512 MB until I popped another 1 GB stick into my mini. Enjoy running 1-2 applications at a time.

 

[Jeonat]

I had an old PPC Mini - 1.25Ghz with 512Mb which I upgraded before I turned it on for the first time, from the stock 256Mb.

Most of the time it was OK but as my iTunes library started to grow, for example, it got painfully slow - but still semi-usable. I kept meaning to upgrade to 1Gb but I didn't fancy the job of getting the thing open again!

When iTunes 7 came out, it got so slow starting iTunes and other apps, I just switched to an Intel iMac instead. Much better

But I reckon you'd be much better off with 1Gb, for the bang-to-buck-ratio - it's got to be worth it.

J.

 

[clindner]

I'm confused... Do the intel minis come with one 512MB stick, or two 256MB sticks?

I was under the impression that they came with two, and that to upgrade memory, you had to get rid one one stick. I see people talking about adding a 1GB stick to go to 1.5GB, if that's possible I think I will go that route as well, as I've been holding off until I could find a good deal on two 1GB sticks.

 

[Swarmlord]

I've never been happy cheaping out on RAM for a computer. I usually figure out how much I need and then double it.

 

[Eidorian]

I'm confused... Do the intel minis come with one 512MB stick, or two 256MB sticks?

I was under the impression that they came with two, and that to upgrade memory, you had to get rid one one stick. I see people talking about adding a 1GB stick to go to 1.5GB, if that's possible I think I will go that route as well, as I've been holding off until I could find a good deal on two 1GB sticks.

It comes with two slots. I have 1.25 GB currently and it runs just fine.

 

[G5power]

Clindner -
The Intel Mini has two slots with 2 x 256MB of memory.

You can check the status by going to About this Mac - More Info and then under the Memory option it will show both RAM slots and what is currently installed.

I updated my mini to 2 GB and it runs great. I only booted the mini once with the base memory so no good comparison.

 

[EM87]

My iTunes library consists of around 2000 songs if that matters, also if I'm only using 450Mb of RAM on my Windows XP PC with Anti virus (and probably some adware, spyware), iTunes, Firefox, open office writer, MSN and a fair bit of other stuff (Media connect, Quicktime, and a firewall), what is an estimate that a Mac running OS X Tiger and all the same apps apart form anti virus would use?

 

[Jeonat]

Well Firefox and iTunes both like as much memory as they can get their hands on. It's not a case that they won't run, but they will be much smoother with the memory bump. Especially iTunes as your library grows. My library is over 25,000 tracks and struggled so much on the 512Mb mini.

Here is memory usage on my iMac with just Firefox and iTunes open

 

[livingfortoday]

From the replies, I'm guessing you're talking about a PPC Mini? With that, I would say 512MB should be OK for what you're looking to do. Heck, it would be fine with an Intel one, too. You will get some beachballs, but nothing too major, so if you're strapped for cash, stick with what you have.

On my Intel Mini I jumped up to a 1GB stick right away since it took forever to load non-Universal apps like MS Office, but on my gf's 1.25Ghz PPC Mini everything seems to fly with just 512MB.

I guess my advice would be to try it for a week and see how you like it. If it feels slow, then get more RAM. If not, then don't and spend the money on somethin' else. Possibly a gift for me.

 

[EM87]

From the replies, I'm guessing you're talking about a PPC Mini? With that, I would say 512MB should be OK for what you're looking to do. Heck, it would be fine with an Intel one, too. You will get some beachballs, but nothing too major, so if you're strapped for cash, stick with what you have.

On my Intel Mini I jumped up to a 1GB stick right away since it took forever to load non-Universal apps like MS Office, but on my gf's 1.25Ghz PPC Mini everything seems to fly with just 512MB.

I guess my advice would be to try it for a week and see how you like it. If it feels slow, then get more RAM. If not, then don't and spend the money on somethin' else. Possibly a gift for me.

I'm actually talking about the 1.66Ghz Intel Core Duo model.

Do you know if apple have a return policy if you are not satisfied as if they do I will just take the plunge tonight and get one with 512Mb RAM and if it is not enough I will return it and buy another one with 1Gb RAM instead.

 

[livingfortoday]

They'll charge you a restocking fee I'm pretty sure if you open it up and use it. I think it's 10%. I would just get the stock Mini, and if you find it too slow, order RAM from somewhere like datamem.com and upgrade it yourself. Apple has ludicrously high RAM prices, so you'd be better off doing the upgrade yourself.

If you don't feel confident enough, you can always take it in to Apple and just buy the RAM there and have them install it. They won't install 3rd party RAM, just stuff you buy from them. Cheaper than returning a Mini, paying the restocking fee, and then buying a new one, though!

 

[Chundles]

I'm actually talking about the 1.66Ghz Intel Core Duo model.

Do you know if apple have a return policy if you are not satisfied as if they do I will just take the plunge tonight and get one with 512Mb RAM and if it is not enough I will return it and buy another one with 1Gb RAM instead.

It probably won't be enough. Either order it with 1GB or order it with 512MB and buy a 1GB stick from a reputable third party supplier (like streetwise.com.au) and take it to a reseller to have them upgrade it for you at a cost (or if you're reasonably confident in getting inside the mini - I sure wouldn't be - do the upgrade yourself) to take you to 1.25GB

I'd really just suck up the cost of the extra RAM - it'll make everything much better.

 

[EM87]

1Gb seems a bit like over kill to me though as the Mini will not even be my main computer in the house, it will just be the one in my bedroom.

Can some please show me a shot of their RAM usage with iTunes (around 2000-5000 songs if possible), Safari and open office writer if possible? I would then like to see one of iTunes, Firefox, open office writer, MSN messenger (or Yahoo) as well as 1 other program that you would class as being commonly used by most Mac users. I would greatly appreciate it if someone/s would do this for me.

 

[livingfortoday]

Can some please show me a shot of their RAM usage with iTunes (around 2000-5000 songs if possible), Safari and open office writer if possible? I would then like to see one of iTunes, Firefox, open office writer, MSN messenger (or Yahoo) as well as 1 other program that you would class as being commonly used by most Mac users. I would greatly appreciate it if someone/s would do this for me.

Hope this helps. In that list it's Open Office, Firefox, iTunes, Safari, X11, and I use Adium which can be used on a number of IM clients, including MSN. It's all run on my Core Solo, which has 1.5GB RAM and it's definitely not using it all, or even most of it.

Oh, and there's also a shot of it with a ton o' crap open.

 

[EM87]

Hope this helps. In that list it's Open Office, Firefox, iTunes, Safari, X11, and I use Adium which can be used on a number of IM clients, including MSN. It's all run on my Core Solo, which has 1.5GB RAM and it's definitely not using it all, or even most of it.

Oh, and there's also a shot of it with a ton o' crap open.

Ok thanks for doing that for me. I have one more question for you though, how does the Core Solo handle having all of those apps open? I want to know this as I can get a brand new Core Solo for only $699AUD and then I could get 1.25GB of RAM but if I go with the Duo for $949AUD I may not be able to get 1Gb of RAM.

This also leads to another question, is the Duo (1.66Ghz) worth that much more then the Solo (1.5Ghz) for just those apps that I mentioned?

 

[livingfortoday]

The Solo handles the apps I had open well with the extra RAM. Well, Rosetta apps take forever, but I guess that's pretty normal. I would recommend looking for a refurb Duo, though, as they're pretty cheap nowadays, and not too much more than a Solo. Plus, they came with Superdrives and bigger hard drives, which kinda sweeten the deal. If you're really strapped for cash, though, just go for the Solo with extra RAM, it'll be a pretty fast machine either way. It's upgradeable too, so you can always drop a Core 2 Duo chip in if you get one in the future.

 

[roland.g]

Get the Duo for the larger HDD, the SD, and the Dual Core and add more RAM later.

 

[reflex]

Don't forget that the video chip in the current mini's will take 64MB of memory. So with 512MB you'll only have 448MB available for OSX and applications.