RAM for Mac Pro is getting cheap!

[Ted King]

olnacl, I read an article recently about ram for a Mac Pro (I have one). The author suggested firing up Activity Monitor (in the Utility folder of Applications) and looking at ram usage. I would start up and run as many programs as you would ever likely be running if I were you and then check Activity Monitor to see how much free ram you have left. Actually not all the applications listed are using the ram indicated - it is often only being "held" for faster startup later if you use the app again, but the ram will go to another app if it needs it. Also check at the bottom of the Activity Monitor window and look at the PageIn/PageOut numbers. If PageOuts are zero or a very small number then you aren't using more than your current amount of physical ram (the computer isn't using the hard drive as "pretend" ram that really slows things down), and you probably wouldn't see much, if any, benefit from adding more ram. The author of the article stated that even heavy duty Photoshop users often don't need more than 6gigs of ram.

Oops, I missed the part where you said you already placed the order. Never mind. :-)