Should CS3 run comfortably on a 1GB RAM Apple Mac?

[jefflewisuk1]

I'm looking to buy the current standard spec Apple iMac with 20inch screen. It comes with1GB RAM and im unsure whether this will be sufficient for running Adobe CS3! I am a Graphic designer but have always used a Windows PC with 2GB RAM running CS2 and i have never encountered any problems but im really not that up on Mac's to know if the 1GB will be ok. I am a heavy Photoshop user often working on 100-200mb files and i have a sneaky feelng i should opt for at least the 2GB Mac option.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[urstwile]

Definitely go for 2 GB if it's in your budget.

[SurfPark]

Much like a big monitor, not many people regret spending more for RAM.

http://www.barefeats.com/quad16.html

Above is a link with a quick comparison chart for CS3 vs. older versions.

[Patrick Shannon]

Actually, I'm going to say go for the 1GB. That's only because Apple RAM is way, way overpriced....get the 1GB RAM and buy another gig of RAM from somewhere like OWC online. Bought a gig stick from them the other day for my iMac and it was only around $70.

[urstwile]

Good suggestion, Patrick. My office paid for my iMac, so it wasn't an issue.

However, I think the 1 GIG that comes with the iMac is two 512 chips, so to get two you'd need to get 2 1 GIG sticks.

[Patrick Shannon]

Oooh, I think you're right about that, everymac.com's listing on the Core 2 Duo unit says two sticks. That sucks....I still wonder if you can get two sticks for cheaper than Apple's one stick, though :D

I think OWC has some sort of buyback program too, I have to look at that...I got a 512MB unit sitting here that's worthless to me. My unit only came with one 512MB stick to begin with though (has bought a 1GB stick some time ago).

[urstwile]

I only knew that because we had to do the same thing with the new iMac (also a 20") at work. They had to remove the 512 and swap it with a 1 GIG in that slot and another in the second slot.

It's still worth checking out OWC, I've always been pleased with the stuff I've gotten from there.

[Patrick Shannon]

Okay, you colored me curious....I configured an iMac and gave it 2GB. It's $175 versus OWC's $130. But even better, you can buy a 2GB stick for $199 at OWC (not much more than Apple) and add to the 512MB stick for 2.5GB of RAM. The newer iMacs support up to three. But EveryMac.com says....

However, rather unusually, Apple notes that:

Although these iMacs will accept up to a 2 GB SO-DIMM in each of the two memory slots, the iMac will only support 3 GB total memory. If you want to maximize the amount of SDRAM in your computer, install a 2 GB SO-DIMM in one slot and a 1 GB SO-DIMM in the other. . .

If you do install a 2 GB SO-DIMM in both the bottom and top memory slots of the computer, the About This Mac window and Apple System Profiler will both show that you have 4 GB of SDRAM installed. However, Activity Monitor and other similar applications will reveal that only 3 GB of SDRAM has been addressed for use by the computer. "

[urstwile]

Weird. I've never understood the reason behind certain RAM limitations, then again, I'm not necessarily super-savvy on that type of thing. That one definitely doesn't make sense if it'll accept the chip but only use part of it.

[Patrick Shannon]

I guess the intention is just to use a 2GB chip in one slot and a 1GB in the other. (although it'd still work if you'd use 2GB in both, but halved as mentioned.)

[mojoprime]

this is the best description of why it is that the imacs and macbook pros (which have the same issue) only address 3gb of ram, with 4 installed:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/MacBook-Pro-Core-2-Duo-Limitations-39006.shtml

also, crucial ram is some great stuff. you might check them out as well; they are very picky, so their stuff is always compliant with macs, which are known to be particular about what type of ram they will use and still be stable:

www.crucial.com

[carter the artist]

Okay, what the heck is "psychically"?