Is 12GB Over kill

Willis · 9 Aug 2010 at 12:41

Have a new iMac i5 2.66 Quad Core with 4GB and can get 8GB for about £220 taking it up to 12GB, or would getting 4Gb and taking it up to 8GB be enough for photo editing ? Don't really want to spend the extra £120 if I don't need too

lukefinch · 9 Aug 2010 at 12:49

Im not sure what you use but i use photoshop, aperture and iPhoto on my MacBook and it all runs perfectly fine on 2gb so i would have thought that 12gb would definatley be overkill.

Willis · 9 Aug 2010 at 12:51

lukefinch said:
Im not sure what you use but i use photoshop, aperture and iPhoto on my MacBook and it all runs perfectly fine on 2gb so i would have thought that 12gb would definatley be overkill.

Yeh I use Aperture 3 and CS5 but at 4GB it seems to rape the 4GB when using the brush tools

FreeStream · 9 Aug 2010 at 13:09

8Gb is more than enough.

I get away with using 6Gb in my Mac Pro.

theheyes · 9 Aug 2010 at 18:58

Concorde Rules said:
8Gb is more than enough.

This.

I think sometimes people take the advice "you can never have too much memory" a bit too literally. While you'd never turn away free RAM, there comes a point where you've have seriously diminishing returns for your money.

12GB is certainly overkill, and I'd seriously question whether you'd need 8GB really. I'd rather have the money in my pocket.

Have you actually tried using it with 4GB and see how you get on?

edit - I didn't see your other post, go with 8GB if you think you need more but save your extra cash that would have gone on 12

Willis · 9 Aug 2010 at 19:15

8GB it is then

Adrianr · 9 Aug 2010 at 20:08

Sorry but some of these replies are ridiculous. "8GB is more than enough", "12GB is overkill", why? Because you don't need it?

I have 16GB of ram and normally hover at 10GB usage retouching in Photoshop. That's with the most common file running through my computer, 21mp. I reach more editing some of the larger digital back files.

The only way to know if you need 12GB is to try your workflow out with it. Or try it with 8GB and see if you run out/slow up. Currently this topic is no more than an echo of the same old "4GB is overkill" topics a couple of years ago, with everyone harping about how you don't need more than 2GB for gaming because that's what they used.

If you've got the money, try it out. You may find it actually works very well for you. If it would be a financial stretch, stick with the 8GB route. But don't think 12GB is a bad idea because someone who probably has no idea how you work says it is. Don't think it's a great idea because I say it is, just be wary when people say "8GB is enough for photo editing", because quite simply, it's not that simple.

Rilot · 9 Aug 2010 at 20:19

What Adrianr said is spot on. I run 8GB in my Mac which is fine for what I do with photos up to 15mp.
At the end of the day it's whatever works for you.

Makhaira · 9 Aug 2010 at 20:23

Depends how many zoom levels you need in Photoshop. The default is 8, which is more than most users need, unless you're into a lot of precise photo retouching. You haven't said what you actually use Photoshop for? It's a powerful program, depends if you're letting it idle, or trying to squeeze everything out of it!

Willis · 9 Aug 2010 at 20:28

I use a lot of the retouch and clone stamp tools, air brushing and running lots of different plug-ins etc in CS5 and its the same in aperture 3 and use the 2 programs at the same time and switch between the 2, always working with RAW and TIFF files so they are not small Jpegs

Makhaira · 9 Aug 2010 at 20:30

The obvious question in my mind would be is there anything that is stopping you from upgrading later? If so, I'd hang fire and see how you get on. Might save you £120!

Willis · 9 Aug 2010 at 20:47

Makhaira said:
The obvious question in my mind would be is there anything that is stopping you from upgrading later? If so, I'd hang fire and see how you get on. Might save you £120!

Well I had a plan that if i got the 8GB and it was over kill I could put the other 4GB in my 17" Macbook Pro so they both have 8GB in

theheyes · 9 Aug 2010 at 22:26

Adrianr said:
Sorry but some of these replies are ridiculous. "8GB is more than enough", "12GB is overkill", why? Because you don't need it?

<snip>

The original question was fairly vague - it depends how much you read into "photo editing", you've obviously come down on the extreme end of the scale. However, in my opinion it was a fairly safe assumption that if someone has to ask on a forum how much RAM would be over the top, then they might not have a good understanding of how much RAM they are currently using so I don't think it would be sensible to advise going for too much when it may not (and probably not) be necessary.

True enough, the only way to accurately work out how much RAM you need would be to look at the numbers and if the OP came with a specific set of requirements then yes the answer might be different, but by modern standards 8GB of RAM is quite large and 12 larger still. Added to that cost being a factor then no, I don't think 8GB is a ridiculous suggestion at all.

Willis said:
Well I had a plan that if i got the 8GB and it was over kill I could put the other 4GB in my 17" Macbook Pro so they both have 8GB in

This sounds like a good idea tbh. Even if you found you weren't hitting the extra RAM it would afford you some future proofing. I hear the hard drive upgrades aren't so easy otherwise I'd have suggested putting the money saved towards an SSD when they start arriving in larger sizes which would have been a nice upgrade.