Do I need more memory for my IMAC? i just bit the bullet and subscribed to LR CC and PS. I have been using LR 5.7 on my IMAC 27" Retina display. there are times the system gets the...

photofreak8573 Loc: surprise, arizona (when not in motor home)

i just bit the bullet and subscribed to LR CC and PS. I have been using LR 5.7 on my IMAC 27" Retina display. there are times the system gets the "dreaded pinwheel" and will hang for 5-15 minutes.
I am also having a problem (I think) with an external HD (which may cause the hangup).
I have an appointment tomorrow at the Apple store to find out what's happening..
My question: I have 8gb-should I upgrade, especially since i'm going to start using PS..
thanks

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

photofreak8573 wrote:

i just bit the bullet and subscribed to LR CC and PS. I have been using LR 5.7 on my IMAC 27" Retina display. there are times the system gets the "dreaded pinwheel" and will hang for 5-15 minutes.
I am also having a problem (I think) with an external HD (which may cause the hangup).
I have an appointment tomorrow at the Apple store to find out what's happening..
My question: I have 8gb-should I upgrade, especially since i'm going to start using PS..
thanks

Having an inadequate amount of RAM can cause constant paging to disk which can dramatically slow down a machine. I would suggest 16GB minimum for PP/imagery applications.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

photofreak8573 wrote:

i just bit the bullet and subscribed to LR CC and PS. I have been using LR 5.7 on my IMAC 27" Retina display. there are times the system gets the "dreaded pinwheel" and will hang for 5-15 minutes.
I am also having a problem (I think) with an external HD (which may cause the hangup).
I have an appointment tomorrow at the Apple store to find out what's happening..
My question: I have 8gb-should I upgrade, especially since i'm going to start using PS..
thanks

Would you buy a 500HP SUV with a 10 gallon gas tank because it saved money?

If all you do is surf the web and email, you don't need much RAM. But processing photos is processor intensive, like off-roading with the SUV, your gonna want all the gas (ram) you can carry.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

When I bought my mid-2011 27 iMac it came with only 4GB (2 x 2). I added 8GB (2 x 4) in the two empty slots to give me 12GB. I have a little app that shows be how much memory I'm using and with 12GB I still find I run up against the wall too often. I will probably replace the two 2GB cards with 2 8GB to bump it up to 24GB total.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Basil wrote:

When I bought my mid-2011 27 iMac it came with only 4GB (2 x 2). I added 8GB (2 x 4) in the two empty slots to give me 12GB. I have a little app that shows be how much memory I'm using and with 12GB I still find I run up against the wall too often. I will probably replace the two 2GB cards with 2 8GB to bump it up to 24GB total.

See my post above.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

The amount of ram, regardless of the system you are using is... Well not the whole picture.

Is more ram really necessary? Above 8gb? Not really.

Why?

Because PS CC, LR CC swap to disk all the time even if you have loads of memory.

What you need to do is rather simple: Limit the number of programs running in the background that will have two effects: Give more space to ?? CC then it will limit the other programs to swap to the disk in order to run.

From there, invest in a fast HDD or into a SSD drive and use it as a dedicated, primary scratch disk. Do not use it as a temp drive by the way as that would make too many programs accessing the drive.

What can also slow down a computer is the OS/Temp drive. If the drive is full or nearly so that will also create havoc.

Good luck.

photofreak8573 Loc: surprise, arizona (when not in motor home)

thank you everyone. i think you are correct, RONGNONGNO-my disk is another bottleneck...

do i need to buy the memory from apple, or is it available elsewhere for less money?

thanks again

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Rongnongno wrote:

The amount of ram, regardless of the system you ar... (show quote)

Certainly agree with your points regarding SSD and having adequate temp space, (although temp space is not so important if the memory is large enough to minimize paging) but why buy a powerful machine and then handicap yourself to running a single ap over marginal RAM, especially considering the minimal cost involved? I stick by my 16GB recommendation as a minimum for a modern machine. Personally, I use a PC for PP (although I have plenty of Apple products) with an I-7, 16GB RAM and all SSD + 3 monitors. I constantly run multiple aps simultaneously, and I NEVER wait on the machine - every ap, including PS runs in real-time. Is that because any paging is "invisible" because of the speed of SSD? Partly, but it's also because I'm running most operations out of memory. If you look at the fastest commercial machines running, you see that the trend is toward running everything memory-resident and for good reason.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

photofreak8573 wrote:

thank you everyone. i think you are correct, RONGNONGNO-my disk is another bottleneck...

do i need to buy the memory from apple, or is it available elsewhere for less money?

thanks again

Rongo is correct, as usual. But IMHO, there are other reasons for having more ram available which translate to image processing .

I think you can install memory yourself on the iMac. Installing it yourself will be cheaper.

You will want to look up the specs for the memory requirements on you computer, not all memory works in all computers, you definitely want to buy memory which equals or excess the requirements for your computer. If that seems like a daunting task, pay the Apple store the extra $ and be done with it.

Just my humble opinion.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

For info, more descriptive 'ideal setup... If you are a nut case!!!

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

photofreak8573 wrote:

do i need to buy the memory from apple, or is it available elsewhere for less money?

thanks again

I have found Crucial memory to be perfectly fine in all the Macs I have had over the years.

ddetloff Loc: Fair Haven, MI

photofreak8573 wrote:

thank you everyone. i think you are correct, RONGNONGNO-my disk is another bottleneck...

do i need to buy the memory from apple, or is it available elsewhere for less money?

thanks again

I purchase everything to upgrade my Macs from OWC. Decent prices and quick delivery.

http://www.macsales.com

- Don

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

photofreak8573 wrote:

thank you everyone. i think you are correct, RONGNONGNO-my disk is another bottleneck...

do i need to buy the memory from apple, or is it available elsewhere for less money?

thanks again

Crucial has a much better deal than the MAC Store I have been using it in my MACs for 10 yrs or more never had a problem, In fact my old G5 power mac came with crucial installed.

johnst1001a Loc: West Chester, Ohio

Just get the 16 mb. You will not be sorry.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

photofreak8573 wrote:

i just bit the bullet and subscribed to LR CC and PS. I have been using LR 5.7 on my IMAC 27" Retina display. there are times the system gets the "dreaded pinwheel" and will hang for 5-15 minutes.
I am also having a problem (I think) with an external HD (which may cause the hangup).
I have an appointment tomorrow at the Apple store to find out what's happening..
My question: I have 8gb-should I upgrade, especially since i'm going to start using PS..
thanks

Talk to the pros @ the Apple store about pricing and which type simm your board requires. Last year I was able to increase RAM from 16meg to 32meg for $250. That was 1/2 the price of the other motherboard's simm. Your external HD is probably causing your extended beachball. Discuss this also with the iMac-ers, they may be able to help you with this also. Have fun @ the Apple Core.