Mac memory problem

[WCG Comics]

I'm considering upgrading to an 20" screen iMac (http://www.apple.com/imac/features/).

I know that the more RAM memory the better, but would the basic 1Gig of memory still suffice?

If anyone has one of these basic entry-level iMacs, I'd be interested to know whether you have any problems with the performance.

The largest type of files I'll likely be dealing with are full-color covers in Photoshop, which usually are anywhere from 20 to 50 megs in size. (Keep in mind that I've primarily been using a Win98 machine running Photoshop 5 with 128K of memory -- believe it or not, performance has been fine, just takes a bit of time to save large files. It's just that I think it's finally time to upgrade!)

I'd love to be able to save the $300 in making the jump from the 1G to the 2G iMac if it's not a big difference. I presume I can always add memory later as well?

Thanks,


Randy

[hardinart]

While Mac OS X isn't as big as a memory hog as Vista, it still can eat a lot of RAM. I would hate to work with anything less than 2 gigs. If you're shopping for some try Memorytogo.com; very mac friendly and they give good deals on bundled RAM. Also I'm not a fan of small form factor workstations. If you are going to work on the machine for extended periods of time your iMac will heat up and the processor will slow down to compensate for the overheating. If you are looking for a cheap Mac check out :http://store.psystar.com/ price of an iMac cooling of a tower, best of both worlds!

[hardinart]

And yes I do have an iMac but after working on it for a year upgraded to a Macpro for the reasons I stated above.

[JAQ]

I'd love to have a Mac Pro, but the difference in performance compared to an iMac, compared to the difference in price... means go with the iMac. It'll certainly run circles around your antique Win98 box... what is that, a Pentium II? :)

An iMac runs pretty well on 1GB RAM as long as you're not trying to work with more than one or two apps open at one time. Photoshop is really the memory hog you need to watch out for; 1GB is alright, but that's the minimum I'd use Photoshop CS3 on. PS CS4 (if that's what you're going to be buying) might need more. (You're really using PS 5? You might want to also set aside some time to learn the new features... Photoshop supports layers now. :D )

The current iMacs are really easy to upgrade the RAM: just undo a screw on the bottom of the unit, and pop out the modules. They come with both RAM slots filled, so upgrading means throwing out at least one of the modules, but it's not very expensive... assuming you buy the memory from anyone other than Apple (whose RAM prices are... inexplicable). I upgraded my 1GB iMac to 2.5GB by replacing one of the 512MB modules with a 2GB (~$40), and it runs great.

By the way, if you're not in a hurry, wait until mid-January to buy. Apple almost always announces new products at their MacWorld convention the first week of January, so you might get a faster machine at the same price, or a clearance price on the current model. If you have to shop now, check the refurbished dept (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals) for good deals.

P.S. I'd be careful about buying a Psystar: they're in serious danger of getting sued out of existence by Apple.

[hardinart]

By the way, if you're not in a hurry, wait until mid-January to buy. Apple almost always announces new products at their MacWorld convention the first week of January, so you might get a faster machine at the same price, or a clearance price on the current model. If you have to shop now, check the refurbished dept (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals) for good deals.

P.S. I'd be careful about buying a Psystar: they're in serious danger of getting sued out of existence by Apple.

Great points JAQ. Always check http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/ before buying anything Apple. Found that out the hard way.

Hadn't heard about the Psystar lawsuits but there is an article about it on Macrumors too.

[Gav Heryng]

I started off with the standard 1 gig, which was okay when I was just running PS and maybe iTunes, but when I started to need to have multiple high-end apps running it couldn't cope as well, and switching between apps caused considerable slow-down. I got 4GB of RAM from ebay for about $120 dollars, which was about £65 at the time - bargain! Now I can have PS, iTunes, Poser, Flash and a DVD all going at the same time with no slow down. Happy times.

Dis

[hardinart]

Lol, That sounds like me. I had Widows running on it too and was using it to render in Maya. Poor little guy just couldn't hack it.

[albone]

JAQ is right on about how easy it is to install RAM. I bought 4GB for $60 at crucial.com, argueably one of the more solid RAM dealers on the net. For the money and ease of upgrade, I'd go with the more ram.

[Gav Heryng]

"Widows" sounds appropriate, as I imagine thousands of women left grieving after men leap from office blocks at yet another situation that can only be resolved by either Ctrl+Alt+Del... or suicide!

Dis

[WCG Comics]

Thanks for everyone's quick comments -- I knew I could count on this forum!

BTW, though I said my main machine at home is a Win98 Pentium II, I didn't mention that at my "day job" I actually have a 24" iMac with 4G of memory. I've been fortunate to pretty much have a cutting edge Mac at work (including a MacPro until this year), and have found that the current iMacs with good memory is plenty of computer, short of if I was editing full length videos!

As I said, my Win98 at home has been working fine, and has a drawing tablet, 11x17 scanner and other peripherals hooked up to it (with Photoshop 5.5), so I figured why fix what ain't broke? Remember, I'll have to replace a lot of these peripherals and software. (In fact, I plan to also install Windows (not Vista) so that I can run a few of old legacy programs still.) It's surprising how much I can still do with it despite its obsolecense, and I do occasionally seamlessly bring graphic files over to the Mac with no problem. But given that I've gotten a good 9 years out of the system, it's probably time for me to upgrade and I've been very impressed by the iMac.

Though the price is great, I agree the Pystar system sounds too dicey -- aside from the legal issues, I found in my research that you'd be closed to updates (or could be frozen out by Apple in that regard).

As techy as I am, I am not experienced and don't feel too comfortable playing with the hardware; but having said that, it does seem fairly easy to install additional RAM, and I found online a how-to video on doing it. So it's likely I'll get the base 20" unit then go to a third party vendor to purchase a new 2 or 4 Gig ram kit to install myself! There isn't a rush on this, so I will wait until next year to see whether prices on the older models go down....

Again, thanks!!


Randy

[Jason Arthur]

I'm running a G4 Powerbook with only 768 MB of Ram memory and I work with large files all the time. Usually with Photoshop, Illustrator, Text Edit, Firefox and iTunes all running at the same time.

Never had a problem.

-- J

[WCG Comics]

Just an update to this thread, everyone....

I took the plunge and purchased a base 20" iMac this weekend. I had 4 Gigs of memory installed at the store (third party vendor memory, much cheaper than simply purchasing the 2 Gig iMac), and because I have some legacy PC applications and hardware that either aren't compatible with a Mac or that I hoped I wouldn't have to replace/upgrade right away, I purchased a special bundle with Parallels and Windows XP installed into the system as well. (For those not familiar, Parallels allows you to run other operating systems natively and seemingly alongside Mac OS X. You can even cut and paste between systems and share folders, so it's fairly seamless and transparent.)

I'm an old hand at this, so I know to be a bit skeptical about claims about how well something like this will work out of the box. Having said that, I am amazed at how straightforward and easy the migration has been!

For example, not only was I able to re-install in the new system my PC versions of Quicken and Quickbooks, and import my personal and business financial data on the Windows side; but my old 11x17 scanner, which is a discontinued model that works only with Windows 98 and XP, came up without a problem within Photoshop 5.5! (I do have Adobe Creative Suite on the Mac side, but at least I don't have to rush out and buy a whole new scanner as well, and can immediately continue scanning.) The printer, an old Epson color Stylus dinosaur, can also now print from either a Mac or Windows application!! (Because I have access to a Mac, I have a lot of experience going back and forth with files, including graphics, between systems without a problem.) It looks like the only piece I'll have to upgrade is my graphics tablet which is another old legacy device that connected to my Win 98 machine as a serial device and to an old PS2 keyboard/mouse.

Upgrading a system always takes a lot of time and requires a lot of jerry-rigging and problem solving. But given the scope and complexity of this upgrade, I have to say how amazingly straightforward and painless this transition has been!!

[albone]

Thrilled to hear it!

[Crestmere]

Someone told me that if you have a Mac, double the effective memory that you have for most things since OSX uses so much less in terms of resources then Windows (especially Vista).

But I would upgrade memory anyway if you are doing multimedia stuff.