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The simplest answer to the question: how much RAM do I need for my Mac is ‘as much as possible.’ You can never have too much RAM, whereas having too little can seriously affect the performance of your Mac. Sadly, however, it’s not quite as simple as that.
Adding extra RAM, whether you do it when you buy your new Mac or you add it later, costs money, quite a lot of money. So the question of how much RAM to put in a new Mac is comes down to the balance between affordability and the additional benefit you’ll get from more RAM. Why upgrade Mac RAM? It used to be the case that adding more RAM would improve the performance of your Mac in almost every task. But computers have moved on since then. Better memory management, faster storage for caching files that can’t be stored in RAM, and blazing fast graphics processing units (GPUs) with their own dedicated RAM mean that the load on your main Mac RAM is less than it used to be.
Much of the work in generating frames for games, for example, is done by the GPU and its RAM. However, if you work with large images (bigger than, say, 100MB) or with huge databases or monster-sized spreadsheets, more RAM will be a huge benefit.
How to check your Mac's RAM usage The quickest way to identify whether you need more memory is to check your Mac’s RAM usage. One way to do that is to use the Manu App in. This feature will show you immediately how much free RAM you have and allows you to free up memory at the click of a button.
It’s the easiest way to monitor and free up RAM. So, download the app (for free) and monitor your memory usage. Alternatively, you can check the RAM usage manually:. Go to your Applications folder. Open the Utilities folder and launch Activity Monitor. Click the Memory tab at the top and look at the Memory Pressure graph at the bottom of the screen.
To the right of the graph, you’ll see a table. In that table, Physical Memory is the amount of RAM installed on your Mac. Keep that window open while you work and check it now and again. If the graph stays green, there’s nothing to worry about and you don’t need more memory. If it’s green and yellow, there’s some pressure on your Mac’s RAM but it’s ok.
If the graph is mostly red, however, it’s under serious pressure and your Mac’s startup drive is being used to store data that should be in RAM. This will slow down your Mac. Just because the graph is in the red doesn’t mean you need to rush out and buy more RAM (assuming you have a Mac that can be upgraded), however. Closing browser tabs you’re not using will help, too. And you can free up memory by closing applications you’re not using or by logging out of accounts that aren’t in use, if you’re signed into more than one account.
To find out which apps, processes and browser tabs are using up the most RAM, click the down arrow at the top of the Memory column in Activity Monitor. That will order processes by how much RAM they’re using, allowing you to easily see who the culprits are. If you see any apps or web pages that are using lots of RAM and you don’t need, close them. There are also third-party utilities that can report memory usage and ‘clean’ RAM when you close applications, so that the memory is freed up for use by other applications. How can I upgrade Mac RAM? Some Macs can be upgraded and some can’t. If you’ve bought a MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air in the last five years or so, you won’t be able to upgrade the memory in it.
If you have an iMac, you may be able to perform a Mac RAM upgrade, depending on when it was made and whether it has free slots. You can find a complete list of which iMacs can be upgraded. The iMac Pro’s memory can only be upgraded by Apple or an Authorised Service Provider.
Both the Mac Pro and Mac mini can be upgraded. How much RAM do I actually need? So, after all that: how much RAM should you have fitted in a new Mac? For most users, 8GB is fine.
You’ll be able to quite comfortably work on documents, edit photos and video and surf the web without any problems. If you work on very large image files, databases, or spreadsheets, or if you really need to have lots of applications open at the same time, you might consider upgrading to 16GB. But you’d need to weigh the cost of the extra RAM against the benefit you’d notice. What else can I do to improve my Mac’s performance? The one and only reason for adding more RAM is to make your Mac run faster and more smoothly. However, there are other ways you can do this.
Swapping a hard drive for an SSD, for example, won’t just boost startup times, but because macOS uses the startup drive to cache files, it will improve performance too. Also, freeing up space on your startup drive will help, particularly getting rid of files you don’t need and that clog up your system. The best way to do that is to use a tool like. CleanMyMac scans your Mac for files it thinks you no longer need. These include system junk, Photos files that can be safely removed, and Mail attachments that can be re-downloaded if you ever need them again, and much more. By the way, the app is free to download, so give it a try! As you can see, deciding how much RAM you need for your Mac isn’t straightforward.
There are lots of things to consider. However, adding more RAM isn’t the guaranteed performance boost it used to be. For most people, the base 8GB that ships with current Macs is enough. If you do think your Mac could do with a performance boost, try the techniques described above before you rush out and buy more RAM. These might also interest you:.
I have a slightly better 2010 model: 3.2 GHz instead of 3.06 GHz and the ATI Radeon HD 5670 512 MB. Sadly, while I still can play Homeworld 2, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and Portal 1&2, some other cool games such as Civilization Beyond Earth, Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen and other cool stuff just don't work. I tried The Witcher 2 and it just hurts Being somewhat disappointed by what I hear from the 5K iMac, I investigated other options. Exchanging the internal HDD with a SSD and, as the iMac is already open, upgrading from 4 x 1 GB RAM to 2 x 8 + 2 x 1 GB will cost around 400-500$, including service (I know, stuff here is high-price). But no change in the GPU, so no newer games, but the iMac would in general be more pleasant to work with, as the CPU is still ok.
Maybe I just accept that there is no xMac and just buy an upgradable PC for games and upgrade my iMac above for all the browsing and work:-(. I have a slightly better 2010 model: 3.2 GHz instead of 3.06 GHz and the ATI Radeon HD 5670 512 MB.
Sadly, while I still can play Homeworld 2, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and Portal 1&2, some other cool games such as Civilization Beyond Earth, Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen and other cool stuff just don't work. I tried The Witcher 2 and it just hurts Being somewhat disappointed by what I hear from the 5K iMac, I investigated other options.
Exchanging the internal HDD with a SSD and, as the iMac is already open, upgrading from 4 x 1 GB RAM to 2 x 8 + 2 x 1 GB will cost around 400-500$, including service (I know, stuff here is high-price). But no change in the GPU, so no newer games, but the iMac would in general be more pleasant to work with, as the CPU is still ok. Maybe I just accept that there is no xMac and just buy an upgradable PC for games and upgrade my iMac above for all the browsing and work:-(. Even my iMac (specs in signature) with Radeon HD 6750M 512MB can only run Skyrim on low settings when on 1080p. You can upgrade the graphics cards on this Macs, but unless you use a used-Mac card, you get mixed results.
Additionally, the MXM cards you use to upgrade these Macs are extremely expensive. I'd recommend buying a separate gaming PC. You can build one yourself for around $500 that will run Skyrim on the highest settings.
You can use it just for gaming and keep your Mac for productivity like I do. You can even use your iMac for the monitor and it will be better than most PC monitors and you will save money. I personally built a PC in Australia (where everything is wayy more expensive) for less than $300 that runs Skyrim on high settings @ 1080p.
I did have some parts from my old build though, namely a hard drive, case and power supply. Those things are really cheap in the US though, so you'll have no trouble. If you want some help, PM me and I'll guide you through it. I'd recommend buying a separate gaming PC.
You can build one yourself for around $500 that will run Skyrim on the highest settings. You can use it just for gaming and keep your Mac for productivity like I do.
You can even use your iMac for the monitor and it will be better than most PC monitors and you will save money. I personally built a PC in Australia (where everything is wayy more expensive) for less than $300 that runs Skyrim on high settings @ 1080p. I did have some parts from my old build though, namely a hard drive, case and power supply. Those things are really cheap in the US though, so you'll have no trouble. Click to expand.I've got a 6-core nMP with Dual D700's running in cross-fire under windows and Skyrim runs like a dog on that too.
It jerks and pauses at 1440p (low settings), while my PC (core i7 GTX 780) runs the same game very smoothly at 1440p with all the settings turned up high. Honestly if you want to play games, an old Mac Pro with a decent graphics card would do it, but if you are going to spend that much you might as well just get a PC for gaming and keep the Mac for everything else. I know that's not what you want to hear, and I wish it were different too, but that's the reality. Click to expand.The thing with Skyrim is that it; like a lot of modern games eats up a lot of VRAM, it'll run poorly otherwise but you've only got 256 MB. At 1080p the minimum recommended VRAM is 1 GB. Plus it's not very well optimised for such a huge game.
Vanilla Skyrim never ran smoothly for me. After 200 mods it runs buttery smooth though.
Wow, what an experience. Took a long time installing everything. I'm currently on iMac 5K with 4 GB VRAM so that is not a bottleneck for me and can run fully modded Skyrim at 1440p on Ultra. If you're very serious about playing Skyrim I would recommend you to go through the STEP Core mods, as it boost up performance a lot.
It's a huge hassle but it really works. You would have to pick the lowest quality option for mods and lower your resolution though, I'm sure it'll run. Though you can mod Skyrim to use system ram, not all games can do this so I couldn't recommend you to upgrade the ram, which is upgradeable in your model.Note. I've noticed that you're playing the vanilla Steam version. They come with High-resolution texture pack by default and I recommend try turning that off also. Most said it already, but here's my take. The gpu is the main culprit and even if you could upgrade it, it would be difficult and costly and still wouldn't be enough.
If you want gaming (and you already have a Mac that you're satisfied with for the rest of the stuff) - the best upgrade you can get is the Playstation 4. Not only will you play the latest games in style, you'll also have access to some really great exclusives. If not that, then build a cheap gaming PC for around 400 dollars or more. Sorry to say it but there's not much more you can do. IMac is not the best platform to game on, even with newer models. With that said, there are some great classics you can enjoy on your Mac. May I add my question to this thread, as it seems to fit as I'm in a fairly similar situation I do have a Mid 2011 iMac (i7, SSD, GPU 6970M 1GB) and I do run in the same problems while gaming (Windows @ BootCamp).
I thought about buying a gaming-rig and hook it to the iMac to use it as external display. Which would be the most cost effective solution, instead of buying a new iMac (non-retina or retina) = because those are no gaming-machines. I don't have enough space on my desk to put a second big screen there, to run the gaming-rig completely dedicated. But I also found out, that the target display mode does only work from Mac-to-Mac and my Thunderbolt-iMac does not support to be used as external screen What to do in this case? Is there really no way, to use my imac als external screen for a (extra) gaming-rig?
PS: The machine runs great for work, only gaming lacks. I wanna wait for the 2nd generation of the iMac-Retina and need to find a solution for the gaming-issue (and I'm talking about oldschool classics like half-life2/garrys mod not really crysis). May I add my question to this thread, as it seems to fit as I'm in a fairly similar situation I do have a Mid 2011 iMac (i7, SSD, GPU 6970M 1GB) and I do run in the same problems while gaming (Windows @ BootCamp). I thought about buying a gaming-rig and hook it to the iMac to use it as external display.
Which would be the most cost effective solution, instead of buying a new iMac (non-retina or retina) = because those are no gaming-machines. I don't have enough space on my desk to put a second big screen there, to run the gaming-rig completely dedicated. But I also found out, that the target display mode does only work from Mac-to-Mac and my Thunderbolt-iMac does not support to be used as external screen What to do in this case?
Is there really no way, to use my imac als external screen for a (extra) gaming-rig? PS: The machine runs great for work, only gaming lacks. I wanna wait for the 2nd generation of the iMac-Retina and need to find a solution for the gaming-issue (and I'm talking about oldschool classics like half-life2/garrys mod not really crysis).
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