4 GB RAM, is there a point? (for me)
Hey guys, I'm probably not the first guy to post this question, but here goes.
I currently have 1 GB of RAM in my Alu iMac.
I'm thinking of upgrading to Leopard and figured adding some RAM wouldn't be a bad idea then.
I must admit though that currently, 90% of the time I use the PC I have Mail, iTunes, Audioscrobbler, Camino and MSN Messenger open, just those programs. Under this situation, the 1 Gig of RAM is never fully used. Occasionally however, I do a bit of movie editing in iMovie, or a bit of Java programming in Eclipse. When I'm bored I tend to scroll through Google Earth or Celestia for a bit. I also from time to time do some school work in NeoOffice, but will probably switch to the new Office for Mac soon. (I love iWork but functions are too limited for me in certain areas... for now)
Under these current conditions, I guess I don't really need extra RAM, but I wanna be future proof. I'm studying to become an ICT engineer, so I guess I'll be using more and more developing tools soon. Many of the tools I need for schoolwork will probably be Windows-only so I can imagine me running VMWare or Parallels in the near future (if those work well with "heavy" apps of course, if not I'll stick with BootCamp)
So my question is now, should I just buy an extra gig of RAM (very cheap option) or go all the way and get 4 gigs? I'm just wondering if, by the time those 4 gigs actually will become usefull for me, the rest of my system will be too outdated anyway.
I currently have 1 GB of RAM in my Alu iMac.
I'm thinking of upgrading to Leopard and figured adding some RAM wouldn't be a bad idea then.
I must admit though that currently, 90% of the time I use the PC I have Mail, iTunes, Audioscrobbler, Camino and MSN Messenger open, just those programs. Under this situation, the 1 Gig of RAM is never fully used. Occasionally however, I do a bit of movie editing in iMovie, or a bit of Java programming in Eclipse. When I'm bored I tend to scroll through Google Earth or Celestia for a bit. I also from time to time do some school work in NeoOffice, but will probably switch to the new Office for Mac soon. (I love iWork but functions are too limited for me in certain areas... for now)
Under these current conditions, I guess I don't really need extra RAM, but I wanna be future proof. I'm studying to become an ICT engineer, so I guess I'll be using more and more developing tools soon. Many of the tools I need for schoolwork will probably be Windows-only so I can imagine me running VMWare or Parallels in the near future (if those work well with "heavy" apps of course, if not I'll stick with BootCamp)
So my question is now, should I just buy an extra gig of RAM (very cheap option) or go all the way and get 4 gigs? I'm just wondering if, by the time those 4 gigs actually will become usefull for me, the rest of my system will be too outdated anyway.
Comments
The real question is why shouldn't you. WIth 4gb prices around $50-$75 with no rebates and $40-$50 with rebates the minimal cost to upgrade far outweighs the disadvantages of not doing so.
Even if I'm only using application that would run comfy in a 2GB space I'd rather overprovision in this area.
Good point though, at current RAM prices, why not really...
$75 for decent quality 4gig SO-DIMM RAM? Link please!
Good point though, at current RAM prices, why not really...
I haven't found 4GB for $75, but OWC has 4GB for $99:
OtherWorldComputing
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgr...=Show+Upgrades
4.0GB (2GB + 2GB Module Set) Upgrade kit with Micron devices for all Apple 'Core 2 Duo' 2.2GHz, 2.4GHz, Core ... more
Brand: Other World Computing OWC Item # OWC53IM2DDR4GBK
Same Day $99.00
$75 for decent quality 4gig SO-DIMM RAM? Link please!
Good point though, at current RAM prices, why not really...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820208323
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141297
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820208341
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211187
I found these in 2 minutes, if I started going to all the computer websites I could easily find 20+ examples.
I paid only $95 from OWC, a trusted Mac company since the 80s! On top of that, I bought a sleek looking 500gb Fathom HDD from MacMall.com for only $99 bucks as well.
For only $200, I think it was an excellent investment. There is 0 lag when I run parallels now, and the iMac is blazing quick. Plus when I look at the stats, the iMac really only uses 3GB, so I have a whole 1 GB left to spare!
I say go for it!