Does RAM make a NOTICEABLE difference?

[milk is white]

Hi all-

I'm about to buy a gigabyte of RAM, upgraded from the 512mb that came with my laptop. I just want to make sure that, before I spend a lot of money on it, it will make a difference. Does anyone have stories about how they upgraded from 512 to 1 gig, and if it really made their computer much faster and more enjoyable? I know it won't make as much of a difference than if it was 2gig, but is it still worth it?


Thanks!

 

[Cherokee]

I think it would be worth it. Apps will open faster. You will be able to run more apps at the same time. I think it would make your computing experience much more enjoyable. Go for it.

 

[cwa107]

From what I've read, the jump in performance from 512MB ot 1GB is significant. Personally, I added another 1GB on top of my existing 1GB and didn't notice a big difference, but then, I mostly added it so that I could run Windows in Parallels and assign it a full 1GB.

My advice is that if you're buying a new Mac, order it with the least amount of memory possible and then upgrade it later with good, high-quality, lifetime guaranteed memory. It's usually a lot cheaper than buying it from Apple. The only downside is that Apple will not warranty your memory (but if you get a lifetime warranty with the memory, you can always go back to the manufacturer).

 

[campayne]

its amazing, I put in 2 gigs, its not that much.....around $75 per gig

 

[kilo15]

I have 2 gig and love it. Mind you the macbook idles at around 1.6GB.

 

[D3v1L80Y]

Does RAM make a NOTICEABLE difference?

Yes.......


.... and No.


It all depends on what applications you are running and how much RAM you have available at any given time.
Yes, with more RAM you can open more applications simultaneously. Yes, applications that are RAM intensive will run smoother.
However, if you are not utilizing all of your RAM now; then no matter how much you add to it, any difference would be negligible since you aren't fully exploiting what you currently have.

The minimum for OS X 10.4 is 256 MB of RAM. I have usually gone by the belief that one should at least triple whatever the minimum is, in order to have the best possible experience. That would mean you would want at least 768 MB. I would start there for basic uses.
If your needs require more heavy use of Professional-grade, RAM "hungry" apps then 1 Gb would be a good starting point.

 

[coach_z]

the best way to find out if you actually need more ram is to monitor your ram usage in activity monitor....if you run out or constantly run low on ram then yes you need ram...

if you never run out of ram then getting more is not going to do anything for you because you dont need it
-chris