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Get a 8GB RAM or 80GB SSD?
- Thread starter TXOID
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That depends on your use of Mac OS X.
If you don't run twenty applications at once (or ten) that need memory, memory, memory, the SSD might be the better option.
If you don't run twenty applications at once (or ten) that need memory, memory, memory, the SSD might be the better option.
Unless you do a lot heavy multitasking or use apps that can really benefit from 8GB, it's useless. I'm sure you will get more out of the SSD as it'll make it more overall responsive
That's not quite how it works. The idea is to avoid running out of RAM to begin with, because no matter what kind of drive you have, writing to it rather than the RAM is slower and not particularly good for the drive. But in this case, I would still go for the SSD, because it is highly unlikely that you will need even all of the 4GB that you have for normal use.
Basically, the SSD will keep your computer running faster for a longer time. Both RAM and SSD's are going to drop in price so if you get one now, you can always get the other a few years down the line to keep your comp updated.
With that being said, go for the SSD now (get a good one) and upgrade the RAM when you can get 8gb for the price of 4gb now.
With that being said, go for the SSD now (get a good one) and upgrade the RAM when you can get 8gb for the price of 4gb now.
My daily tasks include web browsing and some adium, and even that brings my ram usage up to 5gigs at times! So good.
Remember that free = free + inactive
Also, browsers tend to use a lot RAM so simply quitting and relaunching helps too.
Yeah take out the inactive ram, and I still consume up to 4gigs of ram with just the browser and some other simple programs. The operating system's background tasks alone eat up 1.5 gigs of ram. Oh well, no page outs anymore.
SSDs are the no brainer for speeding up your system the most, though.
SSDs are the no brainer for speeding up your system the most, though.
^Really? I use the same applications, chrome/adium/itunes and I almost never go over 2gb. Only time I need more is usually when I start doing things in Lightroom, but even then 4gb seems to be plenty. Though it doesn't keep me from wanting 8gb anyways lol.
Remember that free = free + inactive
Also, browsers tend to use a lot RAM so simply quitting and relaunching helps too.
Firefox is killing my ram, but i like your advise. I may be getting a SSD sooner than later and living with my 2 gigs
SSD for sure!
Macs have the advantage over Windows OS such that they dont require as much RAM. This is because the backgrounding in Windows is much greater than that of
. In other words, Windows by default uses MUCH more RAM than a Mac. Therefore, I think...say....4gb of RAM is enough for the average user. You could probably run iTunes, photoshop, safari and much more on a Mac without problems.
For example, I am currently on 4gb of RAM (ddr2 not ddr3), and with a couple programs running (or more) i am well and truly BELOW 2gb of usage ---> and this is on Windows 7! So, you will never REALLY need 8gb of RAM unless you want to play 3 games at once, run iTunes, photoshop cs5, garage band and safari with 5 HD videos running AT THE SAME TIME. No seriously...you will never really use the 8gb or RAM.
I hope I have convinced you now why you should upgrade the SSD option instead!
Good luck man!
Macs have the advantage over Windows OS such that they dont require as much RAM. This is because the backgrounding in Windows is much greater than that of
. In other words, Windows by default uses MUCH more RAM than a Mac. Therefore, I think...say....4gb of RAM is enough for the average user. You could probably run iTunes, photoshop, safari and much more on a Mac without problems.For example, I am currently on 4gb of RAM (ddr2 not ddr3), and with a couple programs running (or more) i am well and truly BELOW 2gb of usage ---> and this is on Windows 7! So, you will never REALLY need 8gb of RAM unless you want to play 3 games at once, run iTunes, photoshop cs5, garage band and safari with 5 HD videos running AT THE SAME TIME. No seriously...you will never really use the 8gb or RAM.
I hope I have convinced you now why you should upgrade the SSD option instead!
Good luck man!
Hi. I normally run OS X (Word, Excel, Mail, sometimes Photoshop) and Windows 7 with VMWareFusion (with programs like Ucinet (social network analysis), SPSS or Arcgis…). I thought that an upgrade to 8GB RAM would help me a lot (on my future i7 MBP, 500 GB 7200RPM), but reading your answers I'm not that sure anymore that a RAM upgrade is the better solution over SSD for me… Any thoughts?
Saludos.
Saludos.
As previous posters have stated, you'll notice the SSD speed boost right away whenever you open an application or reboot your computer, whereas you'll only benefit from the RAM in those instances where the apps you're running actually require it.
Having said that, SSD drives are just now beginning to hit their stride. I would argue that SSD prices are on the verge of dropping substantially as they gradually become more commonplace. And 80GB is pretty tiny (having lived with 60GB on my old PB G4 = no fun).
That's ultimately why I chose to go with the RAM (bought from OWC for $249). I knew I would eventually get both, and so I chose the option that was most likely going to hold its value longer. And I actually use those extra 4GB on a daily basis so it wasn't a waste of time in my case. YMMV, of course.
Having said that, SSD drives are just now beginning to hit their stride. I would argue that SSD prices are on the verge of dropping substantially as they gradually become more commonplace. And 80GB is pretty tiny (having lived with 60GB on my old PB G4 = no fun).
That's ultimately why I chose to go with the RAM (bought from OWC for $249). I knew I would eventually get both, and so I chose the option that was most likely going to hold its value longer. And I actually use those extra 4GB on a daily basis so it wasn't a waste of time in my case. YMMV, of course.
Which one?
Thx for the replies guys. I have another question though. Which SSD should I get. I was looking at Intel X-25M 80GB, when I saw a blog written by Anandtech that there's going to be an upgrade later this year. 32nm -> 25nm, more twice the storage with the same price. What do you thinks? Does it worth the wait or it's just a fake rumors.
Thx for the replies guys. I have another question though. Which SSD should I get. I was looking at Intel X-25M 80GB, when I saw a blog written by Anandtech that there's going to be an upgrade later this year. 32nm -> 25nm, more twice the storage with the same price. What do you thinks? Does it worth the wait or it's just a fake rumors.
SSD for sure!
Macs have the advantage over Windows OS such that they dont require as much RAM. This is because the backgrounding in Windows is much greater than that of
For example, I am currently on 4gb of RAM (ddr2 not ddr3), and with a couple programs running (or more) i am well and truly BELOW 2gb of usage ---> and this is on Windows 7! So, you will never REALLY need 8gb of RAM unless you want to play 3 games at once, run iTunes, photoshop cs5, garage band and safari with 5 HD videos running AT THE SAME TIME. No seriously...you will never really use the 8gb or RAM.
I hope I have convinced you now why you should upgrade the SSD option instead!
Good luck man!
Let me just dispell that myth for a second - Win7 (home 32bit), works fine in 768MB of RAM*, running Firefox and Agilent ADS (heavy weight engineering SW), whereas OS X 10.6.3 BBs like crazy on 2GB on my machine (having assigned 2GB to Win7, initially). I used a 2.5GB laptop as a Win7 machine for over a year and *never* was short of memory (I use Agilent ADS, Adobe Lightroom, Firefox, Openoffice and MSN regularly)
Now to the OP: some media (I assume content consumption) and Adium and you think you might need 8GB. Lol.
4GB is enough.
*As an experiment I could boot and run Firefox in Win7 on 256MB of RAM, the Win7 OS itself will use 200MB or so.
You may need 8GB for heavy video editing and rendering. Well, you could do fine with 4GB, but 8GB may make it more zippy