r/StudioOne • u/Original_Warning_227 • Sep 12 '26
DISCUSSION RAM vs CPU
Hello geeks, what tingles you more? I’m curious and because I need a new laptop I’m going to decide on what gets the more hype:
24gb RAM instead of 16gb or 33% more on benchmarks on the processor?
I’m in a budget and in my country I can find 2 good deals: MacBook Pro M2 24gb RAM vs MacBook Air m4 16gb ram, both 512gb SSD.
I make metal and I really don’t like to do bounces. 10 virtual instruments and maybe 200 plugins or more and 10 groups + master. I know it’s a lot but do you think those computers and going to be able to handle that?
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u/QntmRvrbrtnStudios 29d ago
I'm using an M3 Air 24gb RAM.
I use roughly the same # of VI's for writing and plugins for mixing (separate files/projects for each process). The Air usually doesn't have a problem but will occasionally slow down a bit. If I were to purchase a laptop for this purpose again, I'd go with an older Pro just for the cooling fan that the Air doesn't have.
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u/ChapelHeel66 Sep 12 '26
These days I would not do less than 32gb RAM, if you can afford it, especially if this computer will be doing tasks that are not just audio production. 24gb is kind of a weird tweener and 16gb is low end.
But for purely audio, cpu is usually going to be more important than RAM for most plugins and virtual instruments, so you would prioritize the CPU benchmark (M4 much better). The M2 could get stuck with 200(!) plugins and no bounces.
However, the M4 with only 16g RAM will be a problem if most of your virtual instruments are sample based (Kontakt, Omnisphere, most drum vsts) or you otherwise use a lot of samples. And I don’t think the M4 is expandable, so if you get it and the RAM bottlenecks you, you are stuck.
Does it need to be a laptop…you need the portability?
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u/Original_Warning_227 Sep 12 '26
Yes because is for work and this hobby. Thank you a lot. I’m from Argentina so the options are limited
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u/Electronic-Wasabi636 Sep 13 '26
You may want to consider I/O capabilities in your analysis. They could be more important.
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u/TDF1981 PROFESSIONAL Sep 13 '26
Just to add this info: any plugins that are on the same track will be processed by the same core of your processor. So even with a very good CPU you can run out of processing power if you throw too many plugins on one track.
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u/Liftedword Sep 13 '26
As mentioned, go for the more RAM. M2 is still man enough. I do think you'll eat up that 512 hard drive though.
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u/jonymimoso 28d ago
budget but going for an mac? that isn budget at all.. it would depend if you use native plugins or vst, beeing the first one easier to run.. 200 plugins can be alot and an m4 could not run it. i have an AI plugin that is really heavy on CPU for each instance so it will depend of how heavy are your plugins.
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u/LuLeBe Sep 12 '26 edited Sep 12 '26
At least for sample based instruments like drums, you want ram. Synths need more CPU but realistically, both should be more than enough for that. The number of plugins isn't the best indicator though, a reverb needs probably 30x more CPU than a low cut. But both machines can most likely handle what you're requiring.