Do I need 16gb RAM?

I am a mechanical engineering student about to purchase a new laptop. I am pretty set on the new 15 inch macbook pro with retina display. I have also considered trying to wait for apple to release a 13 inch with retina display. I would like the 13 inch for ease of transport, but want the screen real estate of the 15 inch for autocad and other design apps. I can’t decide if 15 inch is a large enough difference over the 13 inch to be appreciated or if ill end up using an external display no matter which size I get.
I’m also not sure if I should stick with the standard 8gb ram the computer comes with or upgrade to 16gb. I run programs like matlab, c++, solid works, autocad, and virtual machines (to run windows 7 and linux) pretty regularly. Would 16gb RAM be beneficial when using all of these programs or would 8 be sufficient?
Any input on RAM and screen size would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

More then likely NO you don't. I have 16GBs of RAM install on a Win 7 64bit desktop and rarely use more the 6-8GBs and that is really rare.
Oh and after re-reading your post. As long as you aren't trying to run more then one VM at a time 8GBs should be fine. Actually you may run into problems trying to run more then one VM at the same time even if you have 16GBs of RAM installed. The system just doesn't have enough resources, CPU power, to handle that.

Similar Messages

Do I need 16gb of RAM and/or and SSD

Hi,
My wife has an early 2011 macbook pro, entry level 13''. I upgraded it to 2x4gb of RAM but she still gets a lot of lag. I've tried convoncing her that it's because she has 20 odd file open in Adobe illustrator and a couple of files open in a few other aps (excel, firefox, work PS). She won't change her habits as she says she needs the files there as we have a lot of customers at the same time..............bla bla.
Would the machine run noticably quicker/smoother if I were to upgrade the RAM to 2x8gb? Would we notice a difference if we installed a Crucial m4 SSD?
I like the idea of removing the DVD drive and keeping the old optical HD and either running them so they both have the same on them (can't remember if it's RAID 0,1 or 2) or as we already have a Time Capsule I wouldn't mind using the SSD as the Boot disk. As you can tell I don't know my terminology and know next to nothing about a lot of stuff. Would the Boot SSD also have the aps on and the files on the old optical HD? Is there a guide for dummies on how to do this?
Thanks in advance if anyones managed to read all of this and want to reply with help.
Rich

Like Bimmer, I would recommend a SSD upgrade. I have the Crucial m4 512GB and love it - everything that accesses the disk (and that's a lot of apps) frequently can use the faster speed. I think Bimmer had the same model. If I were you, I'd go to Crucial's website and take a look around, maybe ask questions in their users forum: there are a lot of MBP owners there. Also take a look at the Amazon website where the m4 is sold - here. Lot's of happy Mac users there as well.
As far as a guide for 'dummies' - take a look at OWC - www.macsales.com - they have videos on how to install the drives as well as kits for putting your old SATA drive in the optical bay, or enclosures for your old HD if you decide to go that way as well. As for me, I just put the SSD in the old HD bay, kept my optical drive in place (I use it weekly, at least), and now have my old 500GB in a drawer awaiting the day when I finally decide what type of enclosure I want for it. I already had a 1 Tb external HD for Time Machine back-ups, so I'm in no hurry.
As to RAM - I do use up to 12-13GB of my 16GB RAM from time-to-time. Use Activity Monitor, in your Utilities folder, to monitor your RAM usage for a week or two and see if you could actually benefit from a RAM upgrade.
I think Bimmer and I have similar set-ups? Not sure about that, though. So we're good go-to folks for questions about SSDs and RAM.
Good luck - keep us posted.
Clinton

Need to use 16GB Ram for Rendering

Hello everyone, i have 2 x 3GB Quad Core 16GB RAM. i am trying to use my full memory or at least 10GB of memory for rendering in After Effects. Any help will be very much appreciated. Whenever i render it shows i am using 3GB of RAM (default), but i really need to use more RAM to have shorter rendering time. please help. thanks

Giuliana,
On Mac OS X, each AE process can use 3.0 GB of RAM. By turning on "Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously" in the Preferences (in CS3 or CS4) AE can start hidden copies of itself to use more processors to render more than one frame at a time.
Each such hidden process can use 3 GB, so with 10 GB of RAM I'd recommend you use only 3 processors. In CS4 you can tell AE only to use 3 processors, in CS3 you have to edit a text file, as outlined here:
ihttp://generalspecialist.com/2007/02/troubleshooting-after-effects-7.asp
When all 8 cores try to render a complex or memory intensive composition with Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously, the application can become memory starved if each process has insufficient memory. If you have less than 2 GB of available RAM per CPU core, your hard drive will be used as temporary RAM which is at least 100 times slower than real RAM.
To remedy this, there is a text preference in the preference file to control the maximum number of cores that Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously will use.
Open the text preference file and look in the ["MP"] section for:
i "MaxNumberOfProcesses" = "0"
"0" is the default setting, which means that all available CPU cores will be used. Calculate how much RAM you have available for After Effects (don't count the RAM used by your operating system.) If you have 8 cores and 8 GB of free RAM, change the setting to "4" so that 4 CPU cores will be used and so they will each receive 2 GB of RAM.
Save the preference file and restart After Effects.
You can find the preference file Adobe After Effects 8.0 Prefs.txt in the directory (on Windows):
i C:\Documents and Settings\XXXYOUR_LOGIN_NAMEXXX\Application Data\Adobe\After Effects\8.0
...or for OS X:
i Users/XXXYOUR_LOGIN_NAMEXXX/Library/Preferences/Adobe/After Effects/8.0/
- Jonas Hummelstrand
http://generalspecialist.com/

Export Results-Not Enough Memory (1). I need HELP with this please. Using Windows 7 32-bit. Intel i5 4690K CPU 16GB RAM 120 SSD and 1 TB harddrive.

Everytime I go to export a photo, I get an error.
"Export Results: Not enough memory (1)
Using Windows 7 32-bit. Intel i5 4690K CPU 16GB RAM 120 SSD and 1 TB harddrive.

Even though you have 16gb of ram installed, 32 bit Windows can only use 4gb of it so 12gb is wasted. This is the reason you are getting not enough memory errors and is a known problem with Lightroom an 32 bit Windows during export. You need to change to 64 bit Windows.

I am using a MacBook Pro with 16GB ram. PS opens but I cannot get any files to open. I need some h

I am using a MacBook Pro with 16GB ram. PS CS6 opens but I cannot get any files to open. I need some help please

What files? How do you try to open them? From where? What else can yyou tell us? You need to provide more info.
Mylenium

How to change Virtual Memory in Windows 7 with SSD and 16GB RAM

I have SSD Samsung 850Pro with OS Windows 7 and have installed physical RAM 16GB.
In Adobe Help/Optimize performance/Photoshop written :
" To change Virtual Memory in Windows 7 and Vista, quit all applications and then do the following:
Choose Start > Control Panel, and double-click System.
Choose Advanced System Settings in the Tasks list.
Select the Advanced tab and click Settings in the Performance section.
Select the Advanced tab and click Change.
Deselect Automatically Manage Paging File Size For All Drives.
Click each hard disk letter to show the available space on that drive. Select a hard drive that has three times the amount of your computer’s installed RAM and doesn’t contain a scratch disk.
Select Custom Size, and type the amount of your physical RAM plus 300 MB in the Initial Size box. Type three times the amount of your computer’s installed RAM into the Maximum Size box.
Click Set, and then click OK. Continue to click OK to exit all dialog boxes.
Restart the computer: If you have applications open, select Restart Later, close your applications, then restart Windows. Otherwise, click Restart Now. "
Select Custom Size, and type the amount of your physical RAM plus 300 MB in the Initial Size box. Type three times the amount of your computer’s installed RAM into the Maximum Size box.
I have 16GB RAM
in the Initial Size box : 16384+300=16684MB
in the Maximum Size box:16684x3=50052MB
but in the description of SSD written :
" In order to address any potential lack of memory capacity, the Windows operating system automatically generates a block of virtual memory (pagefile.sys) on the C: drive. For example, a Windows® 7 64-bit system with 4 GB of physical memory would generate 4 GB of virtual memory at boot time.
In the past, before PC Memory (DRAM Modules) were available in high volume, PCs needed to utilize some HDD space to address any memory shortcomings. Today, with PCs featuring 4 GB of memory or more, it is possible to reduce or even eliminate the use of virtual memory. Additionally, using expanded physical memory, rather than creating virtual memory on the SSD, has performance and reliability advantages for the entire system. Some applications may require the use of virtual memory. In this case, please consider your specific application requirements before disabling this feature!!! ”..."SET virtual memory in the Initial Size Box :200MB and in the Maximum Size box: 2048MB"
what is the right choice ???
Please Help

Windows set to default virtual memory : 16348 MB =16GB !
But SSD program Samsung Magician wants virtual memory between in the Initial Size Box :200MB and in the Maximum Size box: 2048MB or 4096MB. If more than 8GB suggests that SSD will work slowly.
Perhaps the description in Adobe execution Help / Optimize / Photoshop is not correct or ?

Help me explain the need for RAM? Please???

Hi, I work on a G5 in my new job as a 'Mac operator' (I'm in pre-press). At first I thought this has to be one of the original G5's that had issues, because it is pretty slow for a G5. So I decided to check the profiler and see just what my little Mac is made of. I must say my jaw hit the floor and my two co-workers were probably thinking I had just had a stroke.
Without further ado, the specs:
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (2.2)
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 1.8 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 900 MHz
Now you see why I need help? I have to wait for Quark to draw palettes ALL the time. I'm usually running InDesign, Quark, Illustrator, Photoshop, Suitcase, Thunderbird, Acrobat (the real one), and connected to FTP. Switching apps takes forever. I told my supervisor that it needed more RAM and she said, 'we can burn some stuff off and give you more room if you want'. So that's what I'm dealing with here. Anyone explain it for someone like that??? PLEASE? I've now dubbed the G5 "Smalls" - as in, "You're killing me, Smalls!"
Thanks so much for any help that leads to Smalls and I getting more RAM.
12" PB 867, G4 Sawtooth D450, Indigo iBook Mac OS X (10.4.3)

You don't have Universal Binaries yet. That hurts a lot. And the programs you use love memory, and Rosetta needs a GB too.
Your Mac would run some of those programs faster than Windows box IF you were to use Boot Camp, install Windows XP, and the windows versions.
There are some sites with benchmarks of programs and comparing MacBook Pro vs others.
www.hardmac.com
www.barefeats.com
www.xlr8yourmac.com
512MB of memory is minimum of what OS X requires. Most users found 1.5GB to be the 'sweet spot' for general purpose.
CS2 gets along fine with its own 3.5GB, and best with 7-8GB of memory - as OS X uses memory cache first before needing to use scratch.
You can show them how many swap files there are. just do a Finder Go To (command shift g)
/private/var/vm/
that would be one way. Monitor real and virtual in Top and Activity Monitor.
Monitor disk usage.
Ask for a 150GB Raptor!
Quark is coming along with a new UB version. CS3 is still about 9 months plus away.
You really really need a G5 Dual or Quad Core, with support for more drives and 8-16GB RAM.
there is no reason NOT to max out the RAM in your system!

Should I choose 16GB RAM or fusion HDD?

I am finally going to make the switch from PC and and going to buy a 21" iMac. I am pretty much settled on the 2.7Ghz quad corehttp://store.apple.com/uk/buy-mac/imac?product=ME086B/A&step=config but I can't decide whether to spend an extra £160 on going from 8GB to 16GB RAM or changing the 1TB SATA to a fusion drive. I will mainly use it for browsing the web, email and possibly some desktop software and web development work. However I do have some PC only software I must have so I will probably also want to run parallels and/or bootcamp. Is this a decent enough machine and do you have any recommendations as to whether I should go for the 16GB RAM or the fusion drive please. I understand the 21" iMac RAM can't be upgraded after purchase (can it be done at Apple store?) so I need to get this right from the outset.
Thanks

Save a few more pounds and get both, neither can be upgraded after the initial purchase so it's best to save a bit more to get them both.

All things being equal, does 4th gen quad core i7 (2.5GHz) need more RAM than 5th gen dual core i5 (2.7GHz) for same tasks?

Bought mid/late 2014 15" MBPr with the i7 2.5GHz and 16GB RAM. I'm within 2 week exchange period at Best Buy, and thinking of switching to 2015 13" MBPr with i5 2.7GHz and 8GB RAM for battery life and weight, and they don't offer the upgraded 16GB RAM option for any 13" models.
Needs to be Best Buy because of gift cards
Use docked at office 75% of time vs 25% out of office, so portability and battery life are nice to have but not as important as if I had 8 hour flights on weekly basis
See appeal of having 5th gen i5 in 13" vs my 4th gen i7 that will be updated this summer
Not a gamer and don't use Final Cut or other video editing, but I tend to leave several applications open and usually have between 1-3 GB free RAM of the 16GB total at any time according to my Memory Cleaner readings
Therefore, worried that 8GB is a non-starter as simple math says that I would have shortfall of 5-7GB RAM based on above readings, but wondering if dual core i5 will use RAM more efficiently than quad core i7
Any help greatly appreciated!

Also to note, would like this to last 4 years, which was reason that I bought the higher spec'd model even though I don't run games or video editing

Mac pro with 16GB RAM for CS3? CS3 cant use more than 3 GB? why

hi
does it make any sense to buy 16GB RAM for a mac pro
only for working with CS3?
i am retouching prof. and in the moment we run CS2 on the mac pro.
later CS3 is in the pipeline.
we ordered 16GB RAM in order to work with HDR images and big file sizes coming from hasselblad h2 and h3 (300dpi, 23 x 23inch, round 50 or 100 layers, filesize 1 - 2GB per image.)
thanks

found this article @ adobe website
thanks for your help!
"When you run Photoshop CS3 on a 64-bit operating system, such as Mac OS X v10.4 and later, Photoshop can access up to 8 GB of RAM. You can see the actual amount of RAM Photoshop can use in the Let Photoshop Use number when you set the Let Photoshop Use slider in the Performance preference to 100%. The RAM above the 100% used by Photoshop, which is from approximately 3 GB to 3.7 GB, can be used directly by Photoshop plug-ins (some plug-ins need large chunks of contiguous RAM), filters, and actions. If you have more than 4 GB (to 8 GB), the RAM above 4 GB is used by the operating system as a cache for the Photoshop scratch disk data. Data that previously was written directly to the hard disk by Photoshop is now cached in this high RAM before being written to the hard disk by the operating system. If you are working with files large enough to take advantage of these extra 2 GB of RAM, the RAM cache can increase performance of Photoshop.
The default RAM allocation setting in Photoshop CS3 is 70%. These settings should be optimal for most users. To get the ideal RAM allocation setting for your system, change the RAM allocation in 5% increments and watch the performance of Photoshop in the Activity Monitor. You must quit and restart Photoshop after each change to see the change take effect.
The available RAM shown in the Performance preferences has already deducted an amount that is reserved for the operating system from the total RAM in your computer. You shouldn't set the percentage of RAM to be used by Photoshop to 100% (unless you are using more than 2G of RAM) because other applications which run at the same time as Photoshop (for example, Adobe Bridge CS3) need a share of the available RAM. Some applications use more RAM than you might expect. For example, web browsers can use 20-30 MB of RAM, and music players can use 20-50 MB of RAM. Watch the Activity Monitor to view the RAM allocations on your computer.
Watch your efficiency indicator while you work in Photoshop to determine the amount of RAM you'll need to keep your images in RAM. The efficiency indicator is available from the pop-up menu on the status bar of your image or from the Palette Options on the Info Palette pop-up menu. When the efficiency indicator goes below 95-100%, you are using the scratch disk. If the efficiency is around 60%, you'll see a large performance increase by changing your RAM allocation or adding RAM."

Issues with sleep/wake feature after 16GB RAM upgrade in my MacBook Pro. Any thoughts?

Just installed a 16GB RAM upgrade in my MacBook Pro and now it doesn't wake up on it's own when I open the lid. I have to press the power button. It works fine with a smaller RAM upgrade.
I've tried putting in just one of the 8GB modules and the sleep/wake feature works as normal so there isn't a problem with the RAM modules that I've bought (Crucial.com). I've also put in a combination of Apple's original RAM and the new ones to make 10GB (8GB + 2GB), and the sleep/wake feature works on that too. Put both 8GB modules back in and the MacBook doesn't wake up when I open the lid, I have to press the power button to wake it up. The MacBook itself works fine, super fast and the memory is recognised on 'About This Mac', the sleep/wake issue is the only problem I'm having with the 16GB RAM.
Any thoughts on this? Has anybody else had this sleep/wake issue like this when upgrading RAM?

I upgraded my early 2011 MBP to 16 gigs with Crucial. My machine would not sleep properly, because when I tried to wake it, it would wake from its hibernate image file. This is the issue I've seen here in this list.
I tried all the suggestions I saw on these groups. Nothing helped. I contacted Crucial, who suggested that if their RAM was defective, they'd replace it per their warranty process. I needed some proof it was their RAM causing the problem.
I put the original 8 gigs RAM back in the machine (2 4 gig sticks), and it behaved normally. I then put one stick of Crucial RAM in, all by itself. The machine behaved normally. I put the other stick of Crucial RAM back in, and took the first one out. The machine would not properly sleep and wake from sleep. This proved that one stick was causing the problem, and the other was not.
Defective RAM!
I then requested and received an RMA from Crucial to send the defective RAM back. They paid shipping. I got new sticks of RAM about a week later. These new sticks of RAM work properly. No sleep issues.
I'm surprised and disappointed to say that this is not the first time I've received defective RAM from Crucial. I've purchased from them for years, and had GREAT service and received high quality products. The past couple years my experience has been different.
I'm still pretty steamed about this, as I spent a great deal of time trying to diagnose the problem and fix it. I don't really have that kind of time to waste. My expectation was that their RAM was high quality, and unlikely to be at fault.
Perhaps this is just a bad batch of RAM. I get that. I can forgive them once. But this has happened twice in the past three years. I'll look elsewhere for my next memory purchase.
Keep in mind that their customer ratings are generally very high. My experience is probably isolated.

Is Windows 7 Home Premium Limited To 16GB RAM?

Is Windows 7 Home Premium limited to 16GB RAM?
Do I need to buy Windows 7 Professional to be able to install more than16G (like 32GB when the price gets affordable?)
Thanks!

Most definitely.

Will 16GB RAM wear out the SSD? rMBP

Will 16GB RAM in my 2014 Retina Macbook Pro wear out the SSD? I plan on keeping it for 4 years.
Can the SSD, seeing how as the new Macbooks have everything soldered I think, be replaced at all if it runs out of write cycles?

The SSDs of today have a Mean Time Between Failure rate equal to that of the hard drives. That means you can use the modern SSD as much as you like as those failure rates are in many, many years. The first and second generation SSDs had vey short lifetimes. All of that has changed and you can feel free to use it as much as you like.
Your other comment, the current generation of Mac OS X's, Lion, Mountain Lion and Mavericks, do grab a great deal of the available installed memory. So it looks as though all of the memory is in use. Actually it is not but is simply grabbed by the OS X so it can quickly allocate memory as needed. More important to look at than the available memory is the Memory Pressure. Go to Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor and click on Memory top center of the window. Then look at the Memory Pressure bottom center. As long as that is displayed as green you are great. Yellow and you are loading up the memory. Red and you are using virtual memory, the SSD, for swap space. With 16 GB ram it is not likely you will ever see that go yellow.
Such as:

Upgraded 16gb ram. Only using 4gb

Hi,
I have an iMac 27" Mac OS X 10.6.8. I upgraded the memory from 4gb to 16gb. After working on it I have noticed that the memory that is using within the activity monitor, it only uses 4gb. I'm usually using Pro Tools 8 LE for it, I have a lot of troubles with memory.
Any Ideas to start using the 16gb ram?
Thanks in advance

Install Sophos: https://discussions.apple.com/message/18316360#18316360
That is pure sarcasm by the way. Don't install Sophos.
What you are seeing is completely normal. Your iMac uses what it needs, and your usage indicates that it needs less than 25% of its available memory. If it needs more it will take more. 16 GB is enormous.
Enjoy your Mac.
Message was edited by: John Galt

Will 16Gb RAM on a Early 2011 2.7 Ghz i7 Macbook 13" cause any problem? Also i plan to upgrade to Mountain Lion, will it work?

I want to upgrade my machine with 16 GB RAM, it already has a G.Skill single RAM chip of 8gb. need help with the following. Will upgrading to 16Gb RAM on a Early 2011 2.7 Ghz i7 Macbook 13" cause any problem? Also i plan to upgrade to Mountain Lion, will it work?

It won't cause you any issues or problems....
it is however, suggested you install the same brand RAM that are of the same specs....
1333MHz........
Installing different brands with different CL speed might cause issues....
so if you already have a G.Skill RAM installed, then install the same brand.

Do I need 16gb RAM?

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