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will adding another 1gb of ram make a big difference?
- Thread starter ashokc
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REALLY depends on what you do with your computer. If you do a lot of photo/video editing or like to run multiple intensive apps simultaneously, then yes. If all you do is surf the web, listen to music and manage photos... then no.
It's the best investment you can do to your iMac, you can get 1gb for under $45 bucks, better yet put a 2Gb RAM in it for a total of 3Gb... you'll be happy for a long term as apps are getting larger and demand more RAM, you run Safari, iPhoto, Photoshop, etc. at once you'll notice a difference BIG time.
Not saying the OP will do this but people with Intel based Macs tend to install VMware Fusion or Parallels for their Windows apps and those programs require a lot of ram. Even more so if you decide to run Vista on your bootcamp partition as Vista has high system requirements and 1GB just won't cut it.
It's very easy to multi-task on your computer and you will do it more so than you think. Browsing the web with tabs open, iTunes, email, your photos as so on. Keep in mind that the 1GB of ram is not "all" yours to play with. The computer needs about 300-500MB to run the system and don't forget those friendly little widgets. Once activated each one takes up anywhere from 5-15MB.
So either add the extra ram or max it out. Todays apps need it.
It's very easy to multi-task on your computer and you will do it more so than you think. Browsing the web with tabs open, iTunes, email, your photos as so on. Keep in mind that the 1GB of ram is not "all" yours to play with. The computer needs about 300-500MB to run the system and don't forget those friendly little widgets. Once activated each one takes up anywhere from 5-15MB.
So either add the extra ram or max it out. Todays apps need it.
In general, more RAM is good.
If you are multitasking, or using graphics programs, or digital video, or if you have more than a couple of hundred pictures in iPhoto, then 2 Gb is the practical minimum.
If you are multitasking, or using graphics programs, or digital video, or if you have more than a couple of hundred pictures in iPhoto, then 2 Gb is the practical minimum.
I went from 1 gb to 4 and noticed a big difference....
Expose wasn't very smooth with 1gb...
iTunes would sometimes skip when running multiple programs..
magnification on the dock was sometimes a little choppy..
other various small things like that, that don't really matter but make the Mac experience better when they run smooth...
adding ram fixed all those...
true, I added more then what your planning, but more is always better...even if it's just a gb or two...
Expose wasn't very smooth with 1gb...
iTunes would sometimes skip when running multiple programs..
magnification on the dock was sometimes a little choppy..
other various small things like that, that don't really matter but make the Mac experience better when they run smooth...
adding ram fixed all those...
true, I added more then what your planning, but more is always better...even if it's just a gb or two...
How much ram would people suggest for me. I can ofen have photoshop, illustrator, safari and sometimes after effects open. I don't like closing applications incase I need to change something that's open.
I was going to get another 1GB but will it be ok? 2GB sticks are about 3 times more expensive than the 1GB sticks
I was going to get another 1GB but will it be ok? 2GB sticks are about 3 times more expensive than the 1GB sticks
You are using RAM intensive apps, go buy yourself 2Gb stick and have a total of 3Gb. It's worth an investment and efficient productivity that will pay off. Don't lag behind with 1Gb as it slows your work down, remember "Time is Money"
RDS
will vista still be a resource hog with 2gb of ram though. I had intended on installing parallels to run windows xp but further down the line i was considering a vista install. I havent bothered purchasing a copy yet as I am quite happy discovering mac os at the moment 
Canada--
A comment and a question.
Comment--I didn't know that iPhoto was such a driver of RAM consumption--that's interesting and good to know.
Question--is more RAM ever bad? (Seriously--is there ever a disadvantage?)
Bob
That's probably the most accurate and concise answer to this question.
Yes, iPhoto is a RAM hog. On my previous G4 mini w/1gb RAM iPhoto with my library of about 1500 photos was dog slow (part of that was the slow harddrive, but more RAM would have solved that by having to read from the HDD less). However, in my brief look at iLife/iPhoto '08, the events system looks like it might have helped by letting iPhoto load up just the 'key' photo for an event first, and then load up the rest of the photos in that event second, so if feels like it reacts faster. I suspect that the package structure of the iPhoto library keeps more information in a central place, which makes it feel faster too.
Anytime you have to deal with hundreds or thousands of fairly large files you're going to run into RAM and harddrive speed issues. That's why iTunes keeps a separate DB of all your music - if it was trying to read the metadata from each of your thousands of music files it would be sloooooow.
Finally, with the new iMacs coming with a single 1gb DIMM and the low low price of a second 1gb module (I order one for $38 shipped last night, from a reputable manufacturer and a very good reseller) there's almost no reason you shouldn't have at least 2gb RAM in a new iMac.