Importance of ram with SSD?

[sean12321]

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?

 

[Trav29]

The SSD is used for storing things. The RAM is used to utilize as many of those programs at once.

 

[macdudesir]

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.

 

[scarred]

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.

 

[macdudesir]

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

 

[KPOM]

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.

 

[macdudesir]

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.