Mac Pro users - 1GB enough?

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Is 1GB enough, or is your hard disk drive constantly swapping-out data?



If you've upgraded your system, how much would you recommend?



I'll primarily be running CS2/CS3.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 34
    i would think you'd want 2, that's what i'm getting
  • Reply 2 of 34
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Right now I'm just running the standard gig, but I haven't been doing any professional-app work.
  • Reply 3 of 34
    Rosetta wants 2GB for bearable performance i've seen. More if you can get it.
  • Reply 4 of 34
    If you running CS2/CS3 you most certainly need at least 2GB I would recommend 4GB if you can afford it.... How big are the files you be working with in photoshop?...
  • Reply 5 of 34
    I agree with Apple2Mac. I had my 4GB Mac Pro for a couple of days before I had to send it back to apple for some cosmetic damage that it arrived with. I loaded CS2 and played around with some 50-75MB images in Photoshop (Standard size for images that I work with) While it wasn't overly slow, available memory was quickly devoured by Rosetta/Photoshop. So much so, that after working with 4-5 images, I shut Photoshop down to reclaim memory to do something else. After opening Illustrator, it was very apparent that a reboot would be needed as top was showing low available memory ~200MB.



    So, I said all that to say, buy as much memory as you can afford. I'll be keeping my Dual G5 / 8GB RAM around until I can buy another 4GB of RAM.
  • Reply 6 of 34
    messiahmessiah Posts: 1,689member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Scout7id


    I agree with Apple2Mac. I had my 4GB Mac Pro for a couple of days before I had to send it back to apple for some cosmetic damage that it arrived with. I loaded CS2 and played around with some 50-75MB images in Photoshop (Standard size for images that I work with) While it wasn't overly slow, available memory was quickly devoured by Rosetta/Photoshop. So much so, that after working with 4-5 images, I shut Photoshop down to reclaim memory to do something else. After opening Illustrator, it was very apparent that a reboot would be needed as top was showing low available memory ~200MB.



    So, I said all that to say, buy as much memory as you can afford. I'll be keeping my Dual G5 / 8GB RAM around until I can buy another 4GB of RAM.



    4GB not enough?



    8GB? Ouch!
  • Reply 7 of 34
    Just for the record, Photoshop runs totally fine with 1GB. Will it use more if you have it? Yes. But you don't need it.



    The only time where it becomes a problem is switching applications... if Photoshop goes into the background, you WILL have to wait a few seconds for it to start back up.



    CS3 will probably have the same RAM requirements as CS2 on a G5. Unless you're doing stuff for print, 1-2 GB is good.



    For the OP, I would probably go up to 2 GB if you have the money, but then wait and see until CS3 comes out because that'll probably be enough.
  • Reply 8 of 34
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Scout7id


    I agree with Apple2Mac. I had my 4GB Mac Pro for a couple of days before I had to send it back to apple for some cosmetic damage that it arrived with. I loaded CS2 and played around with some 50-75MB images in Photoshop (Standard size for images that I work with) While it wasn't overly slow, available memory was quickly devoured by Rosetta/Photoshop. So much so, that after working with 4-5 images, I shut Photoshop down to reclaim memory to do something else. After opening Illustrator, it was very apparent that a reboot would be needed as top was showing low available memory ~200MB.



    So, I said all that to say, buy as much memory as you can afford. I'll be keeping my Dual G5 / 8GB RAM around until I can buy another 4GB of RAM.



    Mac OS X will always fill out your RAM no matter what you do. You don't need to reboot. This isn't OS 8.5.
  • Reply 9 of 34
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gregmightdothat


    Mac OS X will always fill out your RAM no matter what you do. You don't need to reboot. This isn't OS 8.5.



    I know it's not OS 8.5. I guess I should have been more explicit and direct. Rosetta has a memory leak problem that is exacerbated by Adobe CS2. When you are that low on available memory and OS X start to rack up pageouts, things grind to a halt.



    Apple is working on the Rosetta memory leak problems in the upcoming 10.4.8 and Adobe is working on memory management problems in the upcoming CS3. That said, the combo of OS X.4.8 / X.5 and CS 3 should be stunning, IMO.
  • Reply 10 of 34
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Scout7id


    I know it's not OS 8.5. I guess I should have been more explicit and direct. Rosetta has a memory leak problem that is exacerbated by Adobe CS2. When you are that low on available memory and OS X start to rack up pageouts, things grind to a halt.



    Apple is working on the Rosetta memory leak problems in the upcoming 10.4.8 and Adobe is working on memory management problems in the upcoming CS3. That said, the combo of OS X.4.8 / X.5 and CS 3 should be stunning, IMO.



    cs 3 will be Universal
  • Reply 11 of 34
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Joe_the_dragon


    cs 3 will be Universal



    Exactly my point. With CS3 being coded with the help of Apple's and Intel's engineers and tools, the results SHOULD BE nothing less than stunning. Even if no new features are implemented the performance alone stands to gain immensely.
  • Reply 12 of 34
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    I have 2 GB in my Mac Pro now and had 2.5 GB in my G5 PowerMac, but at this point I want 4 GB in my Mac Pro. I'm waiting to see just how far the 2 GB will take me before I plunk down for those extra DIMMs.



    Its debatable, but I'm thinking of adding another 4x512 MB rather than 2x1 GB. For my work I doubt I'll need to go beyond 4 GB and I'd rather have full quad channel action than leave a bit of headroom for some expensive expansion.
  • Reply 13 of 34
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Messiah


    Is 1GB enough, or is your hard disk drive constantly swapping-out data?



    If you've upgraded your system, how much would you recommend?



    I'll primarily be running CS2/CS3.



    No, no, no, no and no.

    Atleast 2GB.

    However, 4GB is recommended.
  • Reply 14 of 34
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    It's probably been beaten to death, but if I buy a Mac Pro, it will probably be with 4x1GB.



    2GB is usually fine for my on my PowerMac, I have 3GB in it though. I expect to run a couple programs in emulation, and I expect to run Windows with Parallels too, and I don't want to have to upgrade beyond four memory modules if I can avoid it.
  • Reply 15 of 34
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Scout7id


    I know it's not OS 8.5. I guess I should have been more explicit and direct. Rosetta has a memory leak problem that is exacerbated by Adobe CS2. When you are that low on available memory and OS X start to rack up pageouts, things grind to a halt.



    Apple is working on the Rosetta memory leak problems in the upcoming 10.4.8 and Adobe is working on memory management problems in the upcoming CS3. That said, the combo of OS X.4.8 / X.5 and CS 3 should be stunning, IMO.



    Rosetta launches in seperate instances for each application. In other words, if you quit that application, the RAM from it gets freed, so you don't have to reboot. That's what I meant by OS X.



    At any time you run OS X for a bit, even with ridiculous quantities of RAM, you'll have very little "free" RAM left. This is normal—OS X aggressively caches everything it can.



    The only time you need more RAM is if the OS is constantly paging to the hard disk, which doesn't happen when working within one app even with my sad, sad 1 GB. :..(
  • Reply 16 of 34
    Someone with a MacPro running with 1GB RAM, please do the following:



    http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite....ureChecker.dmg



    Download that.



    Run.



    Tell me what it says about Aperture and your computer.
  • Reply 17 of 34
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Can install.
  • Reply 18 of 34
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Placebo


    Can install.



    Sexy Awesome! The Apple Aperture System Req website is INCORRECT.



    (It says 2 GB of RAM is REQUIRED for the Mac Pro)
  • Reply 19 of 34
    I'd still get more. I'm moving to 3 GB as soon as it gets here (delivery on Monday if someone's home to get it)
  • Reply 20 of 34
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ZachPruckowski


    I'd still get more. I'm moving to 3 GB as soon as it gets here (delivery on Monday if someone's home to get it)



    Yes, but I spent the money on a good graphics card for Aperture and extra large HD for video and raw shooting instead.
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