RAM question.

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I'm switching to Mac this Christmas, and I had a question or two about RAM. On PC, more than 512 RAM is rarely ever genuinely needed, I've noticed. On Macs, do programs just use up a lot more RAM, or do people simply buy this extra RAM in excess when they really don't need it? (I don't mean video programmers and stuff of this nature since such programs obviously need more RAM, I mean I've noticed the average person seems to like more than 512, even though 256 is the 'default.') Thanks.
 
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What do you plan on using your mac for? It all depends on circumstance. Although the standard 256mb is rather stingy...
 
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edgefusion said:
What do you plan on using your mac for? It all depends on circumstance. Although the standard 256mb is rather stingy...
Yeah, I agree on the 256 part. I use my PC for little more than music, IMing, and web browsing and I NEED the 512. I'll probably do mostly basic functions on the iBook. Music, IMing, e-mail, web browsing, maybe Garageband and DVD burning on occasion, and a little gaming. But obviously while gaming most other programs will be closed. I just wanted to know if Mac programs tend to use more RAM than PC ones because 512 generally works fine. I was thinking to be safe I might just go with 768 or 1.256 and then I could afford to do whatever I wanted and not worry about it. Just wanted to know if that was advisable or really necessary. Also, does anyone to know if it's a bad idea to install aftermarket (Kingmax or something like that) RAM on Macs?
 
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Cloudane

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On Mac, it seems RAM = Speed. If you want more that one thing open at once, go 512. If you want more than that (maybe a couple of 'users' to switch between) then 768-1024.
 
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I have 512 ram in my iMac and I use it for college work (photoshop, indesign, golive) and I can multi-task with it quite efficiently even with a few 'surplus' programs in the background (iTunes, Adium X) but I would like to upgrade to 1gb just for that extra oomf.
 
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Louis_mbs

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edgefusion said:
I have 512 ram in my iMac and I use it for college work (photoshop, indesign, golive) and I can multi-task with it quite efficiently even with a few 'surplus' programs in the background (iTunes, Adium X) but I would like to upgrade to 1gb just for that extra oomf.

Hello,

I am awaiting the arrival of my iMac (on its way from Shanghai to Europe).
This is the first time I will have owned a Mac, however I do have linux, openbsd knowledge so I won't be completely in the dark.
My only question being that when I ordered my iMac G5 over the telephone I stated that I was going to go for the 512mb of RAM option. Now does this mean I only have 512MB of RAM or does this actually add onto the 256MB of RAM that is standard with any iMac G5 ?

Any help would be much appreciated as if it is the case that I only have 512MB, then I would seriously consider upgrading my RAM at an early stage.

Regards,

Louis
 
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Louis_mbs said:
Hello,

I am awaiting the arrival of my iMac (on its way from Shanghai to Europe).
This is the first time I will have owned a Mac, however I do have linux, openbsd knowledge so I won't be completely in the dark.
My only question being that when I ordered my iMac G5 over the telephone I stated that I was going to go for the 512mb of RAM option. Now does this mean I only have 512MB of RAM or does this actually add onto the 256MB of RAM that is standard with any iMac G5 ?

Any help would be much appreciated as if it is the case that I only have 512MB, then I would seriously consider upgrading my RAM at an early stage.

Regards,

Louis

I'm no computer expert and I am brand new to mac, but it has been my experience over the years, and with a new iMac with 256, that 512 will do most people just fine. The stock 256 that comes with the iMac really isn't that good. I find the computer is a little laggy doing certain things with the 256.

512 ram should do a very good job by itself, but if you add it to the 256 already there and have 768 that should do very nicely for the majority, except for those doing really heavy graficx or gaming or video. In those cases 1 to 2 gig is called for.
 
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Louis_mbs said:
Hello,

I am awaiting the arrival of my iMac (on its way from Shanghai to Europe).
This is the first time I will have owned a Mac, however I do have linux, openbsd knowledge so I won't be completely in the dark.
My only question being that when I ordered my iMac G5 over the telephone I stated that I was going to go for the 512mb of RAM option. Now does this mean I only have 512MB of RAM or does this actually add onto the 256MB of RAM that is standard with any iMac G5 ?

Any help would be much appreciated as if it is the case that I only have 512MB, then I would seriously consider upgrading my RAM at an early stage.

Regards,

Louis

They will only give you 512 on top of the 256 if you specifically asked for them to do that. If you asked for 512mb of ram (and not 512mb of ram extra) then you will only get 512 mb of ram.
 
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Louis_mbs

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edgefusion said:
They will only give you 512 on top of the 256 if you specifically asked for them to do that. If you asked for 512mb of ram (and not 512mb of ram extra) then you will only get 512 mb of ram.

Thanks for helping me out edgefusion. Much appreciated.

Regards,

Louis
 
R

ronlp

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I think another reason that you tend to see more systems running big ram these days has to do with cost. Years ago when memory was rather pricey, people tended to only buy the minimum they needed at that time and figured they'd suck it up later on if the system got so bogged down it wouldn't run anymore. Now that memory has gotten quite cheap, the trend seems to be to go big right away and avoid upgrading down the road.

On the PC comparison, keep in mind that the lifespan of the typical PC tends to be shorter than the typical Mac, especially a PowerMac, so it'd be quit silly to load a disposable $999 PC with 2 gigs of ram when chances are, you'll be replacing it long before there wil be a genuine need for the average user to run that much. JMO
 
S

sivp

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RAM does make a difference when running several programs at once, especially ones that run high amounts of data in real time. i.e. Motion for example... The recommended ram there is 2 gigs...

Then again, you can always take the extra few minutes to render and play your movies from iDVD etc...
 
L

Louis_mbs

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sivp said:
RAM does make a difference when running several programs at once, especially ones that run high amounts of data in real time. i.e. Motion for example... The recommended ram there is 2 gigs...

Then again, you can always take the extra few minutes to render and play your movies from iDVD etc...

I will be using my iMac strictly for web design and documentation. The programs I will be using are along the lines of... Macromedia Dreamweaver MX and also Macromedia Flash.

Will 512MB cope with these programs or should I be looking to have an upgrade?

Things I usually have running at once are: A web browser for browsing the 'Net and then I have usually either Macromedia Dreamweaver MX or Macromedia Flash running as well. Sometimes even all three at once.

I am coming from 10 years of using a PC (Compaq!!) and this is my first time on a Mac (something I am really looking forward too!!!). So I do not know how the RAM of an iMac would cope with these applications compared to a PC.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Regards,

Louis
 
S

sandygrao

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i will be getting a ibook soon....i was wondering if i need to upgrade to 256+512mb RAM or 256+1gb?? i will use the ibook mostly for web browsing and using messenger + running a DVD or so.....
hope to get an answer soon...thanks!
 

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