Do I need to buy 8GB Memory?

I was buying a MacBook Pro tomorrow and I needed to know if I needed to select the 8GB of memory option for the 13.3 inch laptop? I will be running Windows 7 in VMWare as a virtual machine. I wanted to dedicate 3GB to the process to have it run as seamless as possible and therefore I would have 5GB to allocate to my OS X and that run as fast as possible as well. I know it is completely overkill, but I don't ever ever want to have to deal with a slowdown. I have had a top tier HP Elitebook with 4GB ram come down to its knees using just using windows media player playing music and I don't want to have to worry about that problem with this machine.

Applications always running at the same time:
-Firefox (Multiple Windows)
-Microsoft OneNote
-iTunes
-Windows 7
-Adobe Photoshop CS4
-AIM
-Yahoo Messenger
-MSN Messenger
-HD Movies running on VLC Player
-Sometimes running Maya/3ds Max

Edit: I am not too worried about the apple tax because I want to have the memory supported by apple care

 

Media Player Classic will run better.

 

Don't 8GB DDR3 I can get them for $300-$350... I'm not paying $600 lOL

Also try to wait 1 more week... Core i3 i5 Macbook Pro is just around the corner VERY POSSIBLE... i may be wrong.

patient patient!

 

I use wmp classic on my PC, but I have only seen VLC on OS X. Can I get WMPC for mac?

 

I wanted to just buy my own as well for $300-400, but I have had issues in the past with timings and I don't know if it's worth the trouble

 

Not saying try to be cheap, there are alternatives you can take advantage.

 

Before my situation with kingston memory, I wouldn't even dream of paying a $200 premium for the memory

 

Maybe you should be looking into a 15" MBP if you don't want to deal with slowdowns ...

No point in having 8GB of RAM alongside the mediocre processor in the 13" MBP

 

You definently don't need 8gigs at all, but it seems like you really want it. If your concerned about preformance, wait for the i5.

 

Perhaps just purchase something with a decent SSD.

 

I guess my question is why are you buying a MBP? Is it for the physical build quality of the laptop itself?

All the applications you listed can be run on Windows 7. Moreover, it seems you're really looking for some serious multitasking performance, there are PCs that are more powerful than any thing Apple is offering right now.

I'm in the same boat as you, I really like the build of the MBP; however, I don't need OSX. All I want to do is have my MS Word, email (Mail client is a nice touch, I really liked it on the iPod touch), MATLAB, and streaming and playing HD content flawlessly.

 

I actually am waiting for the Core i5-540m (heat dissipation on the i7-620m worries me) and I will be probably getting the smallest screen size MacBook Pro that has it. Also I do like OS X, but I also know that I cannot live without Windows. I believe that a best of both worlds experience would benefit me more than just buying a high end PC for which I can say "been there, done that." I am just wondering if getting 8GB would be a complete waste altogether or relatively beneficial when simultaneously processing multiple applications based off the ones I listed?

 

Because he wants a Mac. Precieved quality by the consumer is more important than actual quality. "Ignorance is bliss:" yes he could get a much faster and stronger PC, but that doesn't matter if he buys a Mac and thinks its faster. For example, you like the build quality of the macbooks, even though the unibody design is weaker than most comparable PC's. However rarely would the strength of the laptop come into play, meaning the MacBook would be a better choice for you because you believe it is stronger. For the op's needs both a MacBook and a mobile workstation PC are quite fast enouph. Since the speed of the PC would rarely be needed, he would be happier with a Mac, because he would think it was faster.

I bought a MacBook because of its supperior batterylife at the time. Now that is no longer he case. If I were the op I would wait for the refresh, I'm sure they will be amazing.

 

Short answer: You don't need 8 GB of RAM.

The long answer would have been something along the lines of you not understanding the limiting factors in OS virtualization. RAM size is seriously the least of your problems.

 

What do you mean by the bolded? Your Macbook's battery life has deteriorated over time or have other machines out-shadowed it in that department? I ask because I'm considering a MBP pretty soon.

I am thinking of waiting for a refresh, however ... I don't know that apple will be able to maintain that 7 hour battery life with the i5's (Do they really consume less power?)

The MBP as it stands is enough "power wise" for me, I'm really not glued to me computer ... The most tasking thing I will need it for is streaming HD content ... Something I'm not sure the current line can do flawlessly.

I'm also considering the Sony Vaio SR ... It's much more powerful, has slightly shorter battery life and has VGA and HDMI (I don't want to bother with a dongle).

This is the configuration I am considering ... It will cost me $1,600.

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80GHz)
Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit
Classic Black
128GB SATA Solid State Drive
4GB (2GBx2) DDR2-SDRAM-800
CD/DVD playback/burning
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4570 Graphics (512MB VRAM)

Still, I just love the build of the MBP ... And I really wish it had the above specs.

 

guys, don't justify what to get. He is just asking if the ram if it is necessary for him.

Pointing to get PC instead of this and etc.. you guys is going making another dead thread soon... I am starting to see this on every thread.

Whatever it is some of us like to get official OSX computers like myself 15years of Windows user. I would like a change and I actually prefer OSX finder over Windows folders...

I dislike OSX hackintosh... not a fan of it. So speaking of Sony Z sig.. is a no no + plus I have a PC laptop already.. check sig..

 

No, power consultation is the same... Core 2 Duo most are 35W top for 7 hours...
http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2duo/mobile/specifications.htm

Core i7 Series 35W except Quad Core 45W
http://www.intel.com/products/processor/corei7/mobile/specifications.htm

Core i5 Series 35W top
http://www.intel.com/products/processor/corei5/mobile/specifications.htm

Now stop worrying about the CPU and Battery... so a little research on the Intel site..

 

You're right, I guess ... I too enjoy the thrill that comes with learning a new OS. It's one of the reasons, although not a top one, I was considering the MBP.

As for the OP's question, it seems to me he's already made his mind up to get 8GB of RAM and just wants some verification that he's making the right choice.

Your processor will become the limiting factor long before the 8GB of RAM can be properly put to use.

I have said it before ... You don't need 8GB of RAM. 4 will suffice for anything really. Realistically you will not be running Maya/3ds alongside all those programs ... You just don't need 8GB of RAM.

 

As a normal users + some games. I would stick for 4GB.

Reason why I now have 8GB ram laptop xD... My photoshop ate 4GB of my ram already for editing a 12,000 x 9000 resolution at 300 DPI... 2gb PSD file...

And that's when you need 8gb+ ram. Otherwise to the OP, just stick for 4GB and save your money until you really need 8GB then by the time you get them it will be around $300 cheap for 4GB x2 stick DDR3.

 

this.

4GB-6GB is plenty.

 

eeeeh.

your photoshop would do better with 4GB of system ram and by moving the scratch pad off of the drive Photoshop is stored on. you can get even faster by putting $ towards a good SSD.

of course, the scratch pad tip only works if your system supports dual or tri-HDDs. no Mac laptops do. several PC laptops do.

 

4GB tend to be enough for most folks. Something else would likely bottleneck before your RAM did anyway. I'm a huge multitasker and I've never hit the 4GB mark (and I do use RAM heavy programs, like photoshop and dreamweaver).

 

If you are going to be running VM then i would suggest 6gigs. 4gbs is JUST ABOUT ENOUGH for me so if you wanted to be on the safe side then getting 6 gigs would be good.

 

If snappy performance is what you are looking for then 6gb and a SSD are king. If I had to choose between the 6GB and the SSD I'd choose a SSD.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone! I guess I am going to go with the 15' (70% chance) over the 13' and just going with 4GB of memory. I guess I probably wont go overboard on multiple processes at once anyways. The reason I came to the conclusion of buying 8GB of memory was after viewing this website ( http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2354) for the Photoshop speed test.

I want an SSD as well, but I will probably get an Intel 160GB once the price drops down to around $200 and will just replace my optical drive in the MAC with it.

Also just curious, can someone give me a list of examples for which 8GB memory would be necessary or beneficial because I always thought virtual machines was the case almost all the time?

 

4 GB is plenty for running OS X and windows alongside it.

Unfortunately, there are many other factors involved with system performance, and, especially when running two operating systems, "amount of system memory" is an issue, but just the campground by the base of a mountain of issues.

Don't expect super fast performance in your virtual machine and OS X running at the same time regardless of the laptop components you buy.

 

Not many applications really, the only thing that comes to mind is serious photo editing and even then I'm talking formats like RAW.

 

meh. even big raw files are only like twice as big as jpeg files.

8GB could be useful for certain science and computational mathematics applications.

not necessary for gamers or normal users, or even virtual machine users, unless you intend to run multiple virtual machines (like 4 vm's)

but if you are running 4 vm's, you are going to have serious performance issues anyway, because you are splitting your actual computational resources 5 ways.

having enough memory is like having a big enough house to fit the members of your family comfortably. without a sufficiently large house, the family dynamic will break down. you can still get by, but you will have to make serious compromises. once you have a sufficiently large house, getting additional rooms and space doesn't help anymore. and having sufficient house space doesn't mean that the family dynamic is good or bad, there are a whole set of other things to consider.