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sean12321

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 23, 2011
6
0
Is it really still important to have a lot of RAM when you have an SSD? I would think that virtual memory would be just as fast and you wouldn't even notice the difference between 2 and 4 GB or ram. Thoughts?
 
The SSD is used for storing things. The RAM is used to utilize as many of those programs at once.
 
The SSD is used for storing things. The RAM is used to utilize as many of those programs at once.

I believe he is talking about page outs being the same speed as ram.

To the OP, I am not sure if it would be the same speed, but i know that SSD's have a limited number of "cycles", if you will, before they bite the dust. So i guess its possible to use the SSD like ram, but not ideal, you'll shorten the life of the SSD.
 
They are still two completely separate things. You cannot yet have an SSD fast enough where you don't need RAM. We can all dream, but it isn't a reality.

There is more at play then just the physical ssd vs. ram chip. Ram is connected to the cpu on a much faster channel, among other things.
 
They are still two completely separate things. You cannot yet have an SSD fast enough where you don't need RAM. We can all dream, but it isn't a reality.

There is more at play then just the physical ssd vs. ram chip. Ram is connected to the cpu on a much faster channel, among other things.

Yes, but you have to admit, there couldn't be that much lag paging out to an SSD as apposed to a spinning HDD
 
Is it really still important to have a lot of RAM when you have an SSD? I would think that virtual memory would be just as fast and you wouldn't even notice the difference between 2 and 4 GB or ram. Thoughts?

RAM is still about 20 times as fast as an SSD. While page outs exact a smaller performance hit on an SSD than a HDD, it still is slower.
 
RAM is still about 20 times as fast as an SSD. While page outs exact a smaller performance hit on an SSD than a HDD, it still is slower.

I didn't deny that, i merely stated exactly what you did, the SSD would have less lag then a HDD.

To the OP: The verdict seems to be that an SSD would help a little but could not replace RAM.
 
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