Do I need 16gb RAM?

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Level 1

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Do I need 16gb RAM?

I am a mechanical engineering student about to purchase a new laptop. I am pretty set on the new 15 inch macbook pro with retina display. I have also considered trying to wait for apple to release a 13 inch with retina display. I would like the 13 inch for ease of transport, but want the screen real estate of the 15 inch for autocad and other design apps. I can’t decide if 15 inch is a large enough difference over the 13 inch to be appreciated or if ill end up using an external display no matter which size I get.

I’m also not sure if I should stick with the standard 8gb ram the computer comes with or upgrade to 16gb. I run programs like matlab, c++, solid works, autocad, and virtual machines (to run windows 7 and linux) pretty regularly. Would 16gb RAM be beneficial when using all of these programs or would 8 be sufficient?

Any input on RAM and screen size would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Posted on Jul 16, 2012 1:54 PM

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Answer 1

Shootist007

Level 6

16,709 points

Jul 16, 2012 2:01 PM in response to ryan320

More then likely NO you don't. I have 16GBs of RAM install on a Win 7 64bit desktop and rarely use more the 6-8GBs and that is really rare.

Oh and after re-reading your post. As long as you aren't trying to run more then one VM at a time 8GBs should be fine. Actually you may run into problems trying to run more then one VM at the same time even if you have 16GBs of RAM installed. The system just doesn't have enough resources, CPU power, to handle that.

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Answer 2

Jul 16, 2012 2:00 PM in response to ryan320

Go with the 16GB or RAM version.

For simple reasons that it is not user upgradeable in the future.

Since you'll be running Autocad, having more RAM is an advantage for you.

Good luck.

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Answer 3

idaveb

Level 2

265 points

Jul 16, 2012 2:12 PM in response to ryan320

Bimmer is correct. Go with the 16 GB it is the cheapest way to boost performance and the 64 bit processor can carve it out to VMs to use (unlike 32 bit processor) so there should be less of a performance hit.

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Answer 4

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Jul 16, 2012 7:33 PM in response to ryan320

Although I agree with Shootist that you are likely not using 8G regularly now, things change and the amount of Ram in a Retina doesn't!

Get the 16

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Answer 5

Jul 16, 2012 7:37 PM in response to ryan320

I have 16 GBs of RAM installed and frequently run into the 12-13GB used.

Go with the 16 - you can't upgrade later.

Clinton

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Answer 6

Jul 16, 2012 7:37 PM in response to ryan320

I also concure iwth Bimmer, go with the 16GB: the rMBP is NOT upgradable post-order so get the max you can afford at the time of purchase because you're stuck with it for the life of the machine.

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