RAM vs. CPU for Large Word and .pdf Files and 20+ Web Tabs

Question

RAM vs. CPU for Large Word and .pdf Files and 20+ Web Tabs

Hello,

I've read every article I can find and am still confused by the RAM vs CPU question. I have an i7 CPU and 12 GB RAM and 512 GB hard drive at the moment, and work as an academic. I work with huge files, mainly Word and .pdfs, which contain text, photos, graphics, and many foreign languages. When I have a huge Word file open (an entire book I am writing, so 300+ pages of this), it often freezes up and I also get an "indexing" message. I have a similar issue with many web tabs open (20+), many of these also containing medieval manuscripts in .pdf form. The computer freezes up, often for so much time that I need to reboot.

I am buying a 2018 MacBook Pro at the advice of a colleague who does similar work. I will get the 15 inch because of screen size. Would a bigger CPU or RAM be better if I have the choice? My inclination was to do the i9 CPU with 16GB RAM (and 512 GB SSD). Is this foolish, and I should step down to the i7 CPU and go for the 32GB RAM?

Thanks for the advice.

GW

MacBook Pro TouchBar and Touch ID, 2018

Posted on Jul 15, 2018 6:15 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 15, 2018 7:51 AM in response to George-Washington

Activity Monitor can show you whether you need more CPU, using this display:

Activity Monitor can show you whether you need more RAM (if the Memory pressure graph does not stay green:

But this little "discovery" utility can tell you whether you are wasting resources:

User Tip: Using etrecheck

"Share" and post its report back here for readers to examine, and there may be ways to speed up the Mac you have.

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Answer 2

Jul 15, 2018 8:00 AM in response to George-Washington

I think the specs you have should work fine for Word documents. I would organize my Word documents by book chapter/section. This will allow Word to better manage the smaller documents. If you wanted to at any time you could merge the documents (chapters/sections) into a single document, for whatever reason.

That said, RAM will give you better performance for static type work such as Word documents. If you were doing real time action packed games CPU speed would be more critical.

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Answer 3

Jul 15, 2018 7:05 AM in response to kaz-k

Thanks. Yeah there is the option, but the money is getting crazy for me. I just cannot afford both. I'm playing around on an i5 now trying to open up lots of files and web tabs and trying to see how it affects the processor vs. memory. Thanks for the input!

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Answer 4

Jul 15, 2018 7:57 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks! I don't have an Apple yet though. I'm using a Dell at the moment. Looking at the task manager, when I open up a bunch of files and web pages, everything goes way up in %...processor, RAM, hard drive...so as always, it's just clear as mud! 😟 I'm probably overthinking it all at the end of the day.

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Answer 5

Jul 15, 2018 8:03 AM in response to George-Washington

George-Washington wrote:

Thanks. Yeah there is the option, but the money is getting crazy for me. I just cannot afford both. I'm playing around on an i5 now trying to open up lots of files and web tabs and trying to see how it affects the processor vs. memory. Thanks for the input!

Which MacBook Pro has i9 CPU and 32GB RAM?

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Answer 6

Jul 15, 2018 8:04 AM in response to George-Washington

George-Washington wrote:

I'm also wondering if I'm crazy on the whole thing, and don't even really need this much memory or CPU, and it's just the software that I'm using and thus the nature of the beast.

It's the way you are using the software. There is no need to open a 300+ page document in Word. There is no need to have 20+ dynamic web sites open at the same time. Rethink your work flow.

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Answer 7

kaz-k

Level 8

49,200 points

Jul 15, 2018 7:02 AM in response to George-Washington

Hi,

There is no i9+32GB option?

If not, If I were you, I will get i7+32GB MacBook Pro.

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Answer 8

Jul 15, 2018 7:09 AM in response to George-Washington

I'm also wondering if I'm crazy on the whole thing, and don't even really need this much memory or CPU, and it's just the software that I'm using and thus the nature of the beast.

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RAM vs. CPU for Large Word and .pdf Files and 20+ Web Tabs

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