Mac Mini: 8gb or 16gb?

Scottland · 29 Jun 2013 at 22:17

Hi,

Pretty new to Apple, this is my first Mac. 4gb doesn't quite seem enough in my Mini (Core i5, late 2012) so I'm thinking of adding some RAM to it. Should I plump with 8gb or 16gb?

Cheers

Tunney · 29 Jun 2013 at 22:58

My MacBook Pro has 8GB and runs Photoshop/Xcode just fine. 16GB is probably overkill but RAM is hardly expensive these days if you're doing it yourself.

Rizo-UK · 29 Jun 2013 at 23:46

I jumped from the 4gb in my i7 2012 mini as it was so slow, to 16gb 2x8gb.

If you upgrade to 8gb 2x4 you leave no upgrade path.

16gb is a breeze for everything even converting using iFlicks is so much quicker.

metachi · 30 Jun 2013 at 00:15

Get 16GB, you wont regret it!

Scottland · 30 Jun 2013 at 15:09

Cheers, 16gb it is then.

Rambaud · 30 Jun 2013 at 16:15

I went from 4Gb to 8Gb then 16Gb. Even the last increase is worthwhile for me to run Parallels.

Logsi · 30 Jun 2013 at 16:39

16GB without a doubt. 8GB caused me to have a lot of page ins and page outs so 16GB at the very least is a must for me.

V F · 30 Jun 2013 at 17:01

Logsi said:
16GB without a doubt. 8GB caused me to have a lot of page ins and page outs so 16GB at the very least is a must for me.

Mountain Lion isn't good with page ins/outs. It's all over the Apple forums since the launch of Mountain Lion. Even some iMac owners I know with 32GB and they still get a lot of page ins/outs.

Page outs is the problematic one but it still happens.

pingwing · 30 Jun 2013 at 17:32

If you can afford 16gb get 16, ddr3 is pretty cheap and it is very good with that much in it

naisdes · 30 Jun 2013 at 20:37

I had 8GB in mine and it handled everything I threw at it fine.

Pete1989 · 1 Jul 2013 at 07:29

I went from 4GB to 16GB in my old Macbook - made a new laptop out of it! Ram is super cheap atm so no excuse really!

Scottland · 1 Jul 2013 at 10:21

Do I have to get Mac tested RAM, or should it be ok as long as it's decent 1600MHz stuff?

Rambaud · 1 Jul 2013 at 11:09

Scottland said:
Do I have to get Mac tested RAM, or should it be ok as long as it's decent 1600MHz stuff?

No - but I would suggest you get decent branded RAM.

I usually buy Crucial.

Scottland · 1 Jul 2013 at 12:30

Yes, thats a given - I'd always get decent branded RAM.

clv101 · 31 Jul 2013 at 20:55

It seems a 16GB kit for a MBP is around £100, maybe £90. Looking back through some old emails, seem that's the same place as it was 18 months ago. So much for technology getting cheaper.

Steedie · 31 Jul 2013 at 21:41

Just a quick related question rather than open a new thread

I have a late 2012 27" iMac that currently has 8GB in (2x4GB), is it worth me buying another 2x4GB kit for £40, or would it be more efficient and faster to just buy a 2x8GB kit. I'm not going to want to go higher than 16GB so the former seems better unless there's a reason not too