I’m looking to purchase a mac mini for gig performer and I’m not sure how much memory to go for. I plan on running arturia v collection plugins for synth stuff and a copy or two of helix native for guitar and bass. I also want to run a backing track on each song. I’m looking at 40 songs in total. I don’t use kontact or sample based plugins as I hear their resource hogs.
If you are a keyboard player, I would hedge on the side of getting more ram in case you want to use more sample-based instruments. My $02, for what it’s worth.
1 Like
If you have the budget for 32gb, definitely get 32gb. IMHO, you can never have too much RAM.
Also: Welcome to the GP community. It is the best music software community you will find anywhere.
X
4 Likes
Two simple rules of thumbs:
“More is more!”
“Better to have, and not need, than to need, and not have.”
So… if you can afford it, go for 32 GB.
5 Likes
I recently upgraded to 32. Previously, I made do with 16, which worked ok because I used predictive loading set on 3. 32 is definitely better as you gain greater piece of mind. But I still use Predictive set on 1 or 3 when I load my monster gig file of 550 rack spaces.
1 Like
I too recently upgraded from a MBP M1 16/512 to a MBP M4 24/512. This has made a difference and i get less glitching when changing rackspaces and not using Predictive loading, but my 62 rackspace gig file still uses around 28GB. I dont have any issues anymore when loading the full file, so I know paying more for more ram wouldn’t have been worth it for me. More is better, but there has to be a cutoff point unless you have the money.
32GB, for sure!
Thats what I have and if I could go back in time I would choose 48GB
I concur on 32. I have a Macbook M1 Pro with 32, and for the setup I have it works, although I could have gone for even more RAM since occasionally the fans kick in, which is something that never happens elsewhere or otherwise.
I have a MacBook Pro m1pro with 32 GB at home for programming. Live I’m using a mini m2 with 24 GB and it is working perfectly.
1 Like
Thanks for all the replies and I’m glad I asked this before buying anything. I’m realizing ram is more important than I thought. Unfortunately, mac products get too expensive when high amounts of ram are added, I’ve switched gears and bought intel ultra 9 mini pc with 96 gb or ram. I know it isn’t as powerful as a mac but it’s 96 gb of ram will go a long way.
Curious, what model did you buy? 
I currently consider a similar move. With my new band project the RAM usage has nearly tripled and on my 2021 MBP 14" 16GB M1 Pro Gig Performer uses around 24GB now (9GB in old project) …
I’m currently studying Geekbench to see if it’s worth to take the M4 pro with even some more RAM. At least I want to have 32GB/1TB which drives costs… From CPU usage I’m still in the OK area. The M1 Pro was the right decision in 2021…
Damn: actually I wanted to replace my 2019 intel office iMac 
I got the Beelink SEi14 Mini PC, Intel Ultra 9 185H (up to 5.1GHz) 16C/22T, Mini Computer 96GB DDR5 5600MHz 2TB PCIe4.0 SSD, Triple Display HDMI&DP/Thunderbolt 4/WiFi6/BT5.2/NPU/4K 60Hz/Support AI from amazon during prime days.
2 Likes
Looks good to me (not that I know too much, except pretty much what I’ve picked up here).
Good luck with it!
[I upgraded to lots of ram too (up to 128) in my Lenovo Thinkpad P.16 (gen 2). 96GB is much more than most GP users. You should be great.]
Jeff
Crazy you can get 96GB on a mini-PC now, holy cannoli. 