16gb vs 32gb ram for logic, thoughts?

what mac, what version logic? and how much do you depend on sample-based libraries?

am running with 16 on my intel mac, and have never had a memory issue (but, see above...)

what mac, what version logic? and how much do you depend on sample-based libraries?

 

am running with 16 on my intel mac, and have never had a memory issue (but, see above...)

2018 macbook pro with 8gb ram, Intel, and the other basic specs on the lowest model. I mainly use actual drum sample files (a lot, usually at least 100 tracks of drum samples and even more bounces of them after editing and processing them) as well as software synths, but I use a lot of plug-ins on every track (hundreds in a large session, and different for each track so I can’t use a bus as a workaround).

When I have a heavy project, I often get the beach ball of death for 15-30 seconds when doing something like changing to advanced tools or doing a “save project with audio files and other data”, and it also heats up considerably when exporting/bouncing tracks.

If you have any advice on which specs should be maxed out and would make a difference it would help a lot!

what mac, what version logic? and how much do you depend on sample-based libraries?

 

am running with 16 on my intel mac, and have never had a memory issue (but, see above...)

 

what mac, what version logic? and how much do you depend on sample-based libraries?

 

am running with 16 on my intel mac, and have never had a memory issue (but, see above...)

 

2018 macbook pro with 8gb ram, Intel, and the other basic specs on the lowest model. I mainly use actual drum sample files (a lot, usually at least 100 tracks of drum samples and even more bounces of them after editing and processing them) as well as software synths, but I use a lot of plug-ins on every track (hundreds in a large session, and different for each track so I can’t use a bus as a workaround).

 

When I have a heavy project, I often get the beach ball of death for 15-30 seconds when doing something like changing to advanced tools or doing a “save project with audio files and other data”, and it also heats up considerably when exporting/bouncing tracks.

 

If you have any advice on which specs should be maxed out and would make a difference it would help a lot!

if the issue is with the processor, or the hard drive, ram isn't going to fix that, but... more ram could definitely help. 100 tracks of drum samples? 100?? yikes, just curious: why? but it's your right of course to do what you need to do.

only you can decide what to do next; you can go for 16 or 32 gb ram, and see how things go. you could run the hardware test to check the drive, or try resetting the nvram and smc before you replace the ram, see if that helps...

Don't buy anything at all just yet.

A computer is a balanced equilibrium of basically 3 things: CPU, RAM and Disk. If your weak link is the Disk and you buy more RAM, you will see zero improvement. If your weak link is the CPU and you buy more RAM, you will see zero improvement.

So basically if you buy more RAM you stand about 1/3 chances of seeing an improvement and 2/3 of seeing zero improvements.

The solution? Don't buy anything until you've determined which of the 3 is the weak link, then you'll know what direction to go. Monitor your CPU, Disk and RAM usage when you get the beach ball. Start with Logic's CPU and Disk meters. Use Activity Monitor if needed.

Post back here with what you're seeing if you need help deciphering.

 

 

 

2018 macbook pro with 8gb ram, Intel, and the other basic specs on the lowest model. I mainly use actual drum sample files (a lot, usually at least 100 tracks of drum samples and even more bounces of them after editing and processing them) as well as software synths, but I use a lot of plug-ins on every track (hundreds in a large session, and different for each track so I can’t use a bus as a workaround).

 

When I have a heavy project, I often get the beach ball of death for 15-30 seconds when doing something like changing to advanced tools or doing a “save project with audio files and other data”, and it also heats up considerably when exporting/bouncing tracks.

 

If you have any advice on which specs should be maxed out and would make a difference it would help a lot!

 

if the issue is with the processor, or the hard drive, ram isn't going to fix that, but... more ram could definitely help. 100 tracks of drum samples? 100?? yikes, just curious: why? but it's your right of course to do what you need to do.

 

only you can decide what to do next; you can go for 16 or 32 gb ram, and see how things go. you could run the hardware test to check the drive, or try resetting the nvram and smc before you replace the ram, see if that helps...

I just like to layer drums, I know it's kind of weird but I like to sit and edit drums for hours I'm going to post a photo of the Activity Monitor results soon if you want to look

Don't buy anything at all just yet.

 

A computer is a balanced equilibrium of basically 3 things: CPU, RAM and Disk. If your weak link is the Disk and you buy more RAM, you will see zero improvement. If your weak link is the CPU and you buy more RAM, you will see zero improvement.

 

So basically if you buy more RAM you stand about 1/3 chances of seeing an improvement and 2/3 of seeing zero improvements.

 

The solution? Don't buy anything until you've determined which of the 3 is the weak link, then you'll know what direction to go. Monitor your CPU, Disk and RAM usage when you get the beach ball. Start with Logic's CPU and Disk meters. Use Activity Monitor if needed.

 

Post back here with what you're seeing if you need help deciphering.

Here's a screenshot of the results with a medium-size project of mine - I'm quite sure it's gone above both measurements before when I've had larger projects open, but I didn't open one of those as it takes (even longer) to load. It looks like RAM is a problem... I'm not sure what the CPU reading means though with the percentage used, is that normal? I also had the Disk Monitor running in logic and it barely went up.

wait, am i reading that right? you have 8gb ram, but logic is using 11.51gb? and 353% of the cpu? how big is your hard drive, and how much space is unused?

reset the nvram, and perhaps the smc, and check again. & if it were me, i'd bump the ram to 16gb; it can only help, and is the cheapest alternative to an entirely-new mac..

if you enjoy spending hours layering drums, keep at it. if we forget the 'fun' part of all this, why make music at all?....

wait, am i reading that right? you have 8gb ram, but logic is using 11.51gb? and 353% of the cpu? how big is your hard drive, and how much space is unused?

 

reset the nvram, and perhaps the smc, and check again. & if it were me, i'd bump the ram to 16gb; it can only help, and is the cheapest alternative to an entirely-new mac..

 

if you enjoy spending hours layering drums, keep at it. if we forget the 'fun' part of all this, why make music at all?....

Yes, you read that correctly, I didn’t even know that was possible… the hard drive is 500gb with 90gb available. I’d unfortunately have to get a new computer as the ram can’t be upgraded with the one I have Besides increasing the ram, do you think that any processor upgrades past the base model of the new Macbook pro would make a difference in performance based on my results? I honestly don’t have the knowledge to tell if the different cpu/gpu/neural engine options would help. I’ve been saving up but I’m still waiting until I’m absolutely sure on everything. And thanks, fun and enjoyment is definitely the purpose!

which macbook pro? the new ones? am looking at the 14" (16gb ram, 1tb drive). people here are running logic on the 2020 M1 macs, and loving that. you can even check apple's online refurbished store for deals on those macs.

i've seen logic go to over 200% CPU, not unusual. but i've never gone over about 6GB of ram (& i have 16).

everything counts. better, faster processors, ram. storage is a matter of choice; i have 512GB on my imac, but when i finish a project (logic or final cut), i archive it to an external drive), so space has never been an issue.

If I were to buy one of these computers I'd go with 32gb of ram.

I currently have 16gb on my Macbook Pro and I never run out of ram when I'm strictly working on audio and music, BUT if I have to run other apps for my work at the same time I run out of ram quickly. Throughout the day I have a 1 or 2 audio projects open, a few tabs of Safari, the company Slack, a couple of spreadsheets opened in Excel. All of that is eating up ram.

If I were to buy one of these computers I'd go with 32gb of ram.

I currently have 16gb on my Macbook Pro and I never run out of ram when I'm strictly working on audio and music, BUT if I have to run other apps for my work at the same time I run out of ram quickly. Throughout the day I have a 1 or 2 audio projects open, a few tabs of Safari, the company Slack, a couple of spreadsheets opened in Excel. All of that is eating up ram.

the new chips manage memory differently from the intel chips, and 16gb should go really far; only if i were doing 8k pro work, would i max things out (processor, memory, ram). but, personally, i think 32gb is overkill. still, if you want it (& can afford it) more is still more....

If I were to buy one of these computers I'd go with 32gb of ram.

I currently have 16gb on my Macbook Pro and I never run out of ram when I'm strictly working on audio and music, BUT if I have to run other apps for my work at the same time I run out of ram quickly. Throughout the day I have a 1 or 2 audio projects open, a few tabs of Safari, the company Slack, a couple of spreadsheets opened in Excel. All of that is eating up ram.

 

the new chips manage memory differently from the intel chips, and 16gb should go really far; only if i were doing 8k pro work, would i max things out (processor, memory, ram). but, personally, i think 32gb is overkill. still, if you want it (& can afford it) more is still more....

Yeah, they’re managed differently but that may also mean that developers are going to start pushing these processors as far as they can going forward and apps will become more resource hungry. I like to get at least 6-7 years out of my Mac and wouldn’t want to be stuck with an underpowered computer in 4 years.

the hard drive is 500gb with 90gb available. I’d unfortunately have to get a new computer as the ram can’t be upgraded with the one I have Besides increasing the ram, do you think that any processor upgrades past the base model of the new Macbook pro would make a difference in performance based on my results?

No, I would not recommend going that route. If it starts looking like you're about to max out your drive, using more RAM than you have and using up nearly all CPU threads you have... then it's time for a new machine. Otherwise you're trying to stuff one faster component in a slower machine but at some point you're still limited by the machine's architecture: the bus speeds that transfer data between components etc. Everything counts.

I would however start by making space on that hard drive 90GB out of 500GB is squeezing it. To be comfortable try making ample room, like backing up stuff and removing old data until you have almost 200GB available. That will make MacOS run much more comfortably and thus faster. Especially since in your case you must be paging a lot of data in and out of RAM (from and to the disk).

Another test to run is with Logic's monitor: click the down arrow symbol at the right in the LCD display and choose Custom. Now double-click the two CPU and HD meters on the right in the LCD display to open the Performance Meter, and take a screenshot at the point (or just before the point) where your computer chokes to see what's happening at that time:

the hard drive is 500gb with 90gb available. I’d unfortunately have to get a new computer as the ram can’t be upgraded with the one I have Besides increasing the ram, do you think that any processor upgrades past the base model of the new Macbook pro would make a difference in performance based on my results?

No, I would not recommend going that route. If it starts looking like you're about to max out your drive, using more RAM than you have and using up nearly all CPU threads you have... then it's time for a new machine. Otherwise you're trying to stuff one faster component in a slower machine but at some point you're still limited by the machine's architecture: the bus speeds that transfer data between components etc. Everything counts.

 

I would however start by making space on that hard drive 90GB out of 500GB is squeezing it. To be comfortable try making ample room, like backing up stuff and removing old data until you have almost 200GB available. That will make MacOS run much more comfortably and thus faster. Especially since in your case you must be paging a lot of data in and out of RAM (from and to the disk).

 

Another test to run is with Logic's monitor: click the down arrow symbol at the right in the LCD display and choose Custom. Now double-click the two CPU and HD meters on the right in the LCD display to open the Performance Meter, and take a screenshot at the point (or just before the point) where your computer chokes to see what's happening at that time:

 

Performance Meter.png

Sorry if I was unclear, I meant I'm looking to buy a new computer and I'm trying to figure out which specs (specifically with the Processor specifications) would be enough to run smoothly without maxing it out to the (M1 Max 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine) model of the new Macbooks. I attached a screenshot of the Performance Meter with two instances where logic was struggling (but still mostly played through the project).