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Low on RAM - Should I go for SSD or RAM upgrade ?

A

andy8

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
156
1
Hi All,

I am frequently experiencing myself low on RAM and I could see that my Macbook Pro slows down a bit and requires an upgrade. I am using a 13inch 2.26GHz Core2Duo (mid-2009).

screenshot20120802at121.png


On the above screenshot I only have (Mail, Safari (no videos | 12 tabs open), Preview and Papers 2.3.2) open. I'm running short on RAM, I think. At the same time I also have SSD option in mind and don't know which upgrade will be worthwhile if I have to go for only one.
 
andy8 said:
Hi All,

I am frequently experiencing myself low on RAM and I could see that my Macbook Pro slows down a bit and requires an upgrade. I am using a 13inch 2.26GHz Core2Duo (mid-2009).

Image

On the above screenshot I only have (Mail, Safari (no videos | 12 tabs open), Preview and Papers 2.3.2) open. I'm running short on RAM, I think. At the same time I also have SSD option in mind and don't know which upgrade will be worthwhile if I have to go for only one.
Click to expand...

How long since you rebooted when that screenshot was taken? It shows 0 pageouts so not sure you're running out of RAM (inactive is as good as free); however, RAM has come down in price significantly and 4 isn't a huge amount.

When I put an SSD in my 09 it felt like a new machine, I think SSD is a great upgrade for anyone on a HDD.
 
katmeef said:
How long since you rebooted when that screenshot was taken? It shows 0 pageouts so not sure you're running out of RAM (inactive is as good as free).

When I put an SSD in my 09 it felt like a new machine, I think SSD is a great upgrade for anyone on a HDD.
Click to expand...

The last time I rebooted was yesterday. I haven't been working on any CPU intensive tasks at all.
 
Are you experiencing slowness, which could indicate a shortness of RAM?

You can't go wrong with a ram upgrade - as an example OWC sells 8GB kits for your model for $56. SSD is also a great option to prolong the life of your laptop. I have a 160GB Intel in my 2007 MBP, and it runs amazingly well.
 
ohbrilliance said:
Are you experiencing slowness, which could indicate a shortness of RAM?

You can't go wrong with a ram upgrade - as an example OWC sells 8GB kits for your model for $56. SSD is also a great option to prolong the life of your laptop. I have a 160GB Intel in my 2007 MBP, and it runs amazingly well.
Click to expand...

I am experiencing terrible sluggishness with VMware Fusion as I need to use Windows 7 for specific software. But some people have noted that VMware Fusion will come up with an update as there could be an issue with the integration with Mountain Lion. I'm not entirely sure about that though.

I also want to use my current Macbook Pro for at least another 1 and half years of not 2 years. So, looking around for the best value for buck upgrade.
 
Last edited:
OK, your running low on ram and using swap so you want to know whether to make the swap faster or just add RAM..

Being that RAM is both faster like 10x and significantly cheaper I'll let you make that judgment call.

If you want a SSD just get one.
 
Sometimes I feel like people just want to upgrade something. Even activity monitor has to be interpreted with some amount of context. I'd question where you feel performance is lacking and address that. Ram can help with periods of unresponsiveness. In some cases an ssd can do the same thing. 8GB is cheap these days, and some applications have that as their recommended amount. It is important to identify the behavior you wish to address as a computer's performance isn't really a single variable equation.
 
andy8 said:
Hi All,

I am frequently experiencing myself low on RAM and I could see that my Macbook Pro slows down a bit and requires an upgrade. I am using a 13inch 2.26GHz Core2Duo (mid-2009).

Image

On the above screenshot I only have (Mail, Safari (no videos | 12 tabs open), Preview and Papers 2.3.2) open. I'm running short on RAM, I think. At the same time I also have SSD option in mind and don't know which upgrade will be worthwhile if I have to go for only one.
Click to expand...

You'll need to show the same screen shot after you've used a normal workload (or an intensive one, whichever you are more concerned about). As of it right now, it looks like you have enough RAM to use the Apps you have open, and then some. Your 'Inactive Memory' is memory that can be used at any given time, and is just being saved in case you open or start using a recently neglected app. So count that as free, and even with Safari chugging as you have it, you still have around 1.5 gb free, which may or may not be enough depending on what you're trying to do.

Also, include what programs you run when you are getting "intensive" so that maybe we can determine if those programs may present problematic situations.

Just FYI, so far since your last reboot, you haven't hit a point yet where you haven't had enough RAM. So, if you've seen slowdown since then, don't count RAM towards that problem, because you've had plenty (according to your page outs).
 
Rocky244 said:
You'll need to show the same screen shot after you've used a normal workload (or an intensive one, whichever you are more concerned about). As of it right now, it looks like you have enough RAM to use the Apps you have open, and then some. Your 'Inactive Memory' is memory that can be used at any given time, and is just being saved in case you open or start using a recently neglected app. So count that as free, and even with Safari chugging as you have it, you still have around 1.5 gb free, which may or may not be enough depending on what you're trying to do.

Also, include what programs you run when you are getting "intensive" so that maybe we can determine if those programs may present problematic situations.

Just FYI, so far since your last reboot, you haven't hit a point yet where you haven't had enough RAM. So, if you've seen slowdown since then, don't count RAM towards that problem, because you've had plenty (according to your page outs).
Click to expand...

Thanks.
 
andy8 said:
I am experiencing terrible sluggishness with VMware Fusion as I need to use Windows 7 for specific software.
Click to expand...
Do you notice an improvement with Vmware after rebooting your Mac?

I've noticed that vmware causes the system to rely on the swap file a lot more then needed. When using vmware I see multiple swap files being generated in the terminal, type ls -al /var/vm and if you see more the 3 or 4 swapfilex files then your system is slowing down. Now that I'm on an rMBP with 16gb of ram, I'm not seeing this issue.

I'd first opt for a ram upgrade over SSD, as you'll probably get the most bang for your buck. That is the cost of ram upgrade is significantly less then that of the SSD but will have tangible benefits to the your mac.
 
maflynn said:
Do you notice an improvement with Vmware after rebooting your Mac?

I've noticed that vmware causes the system to rely on the swap file a lot more then needed. When using vmware I see multiple swap files being generated in the terminal, type ls -al /var/vm and if you see more the 3 or 4 swapfilex files then your system is slowing down. Now that I'm on an rMBP with 16gb of ram, I'm not seeing this issue.

I'd first opt for a ram upgrade over SSD, as you'll probably get the most bang for your buck. That is the cost of ram upgrade is significantly less then that of the SSD but will have tangible benefits to the your mac.
Click to expand...

Not had an improvement with VMware Fusion even after reboot. Thanks for your idea. Early last year I upgraded my RAM from 2GB to 4GB. It was quite expensive last year than what it is today.
 
andy8 said:
I am experiencing terrible sluggishness with VMware Fusion as I need to use Windows 7 for specific software. But some people have noted that VMware Fusion will come up with an update as there could be an issue with the integration with Mountain Lion. I'm not entirely sure about that though.

I also want to use my current Macbook Pro for at least another 1 and half years of not 2 years. So, looking around for the best value for buck upgrade.
Click to expand...

Ram + SSD will get you years more out of your MBP. SSDs are dropping rapidly in price, so may be a good option, depending of course on your storage needs.

A third option may be to ditch VMWare. I made the move to Parallels when Mountain Lion came out, as I was not prepared to pay extortion money to VMWare to run VMs that worked the day before (that's another story). After converting an XP VM from fusion to parallels, it runs *much* faster. It's thoroughly usable, whereas it was excruciating to use previously.

If you want to try Parallels, they are offering $60 off for vmware users via the following link: http://www.parallels.com/au/products/desktop/vmwareoffer/

Extra ram will at least allow you to allocate more memory to your Windows 7 VM, which should improve performance regardless of whether it runs in Fusion or Parallels.
 
ohbrilliance said:
Ram + SSD will get you years more out of your MBP. SSDs are dropping rapidly in price, so may be a good option, depending of course on your storage needs.

A third option may be to ditch VMWare. I made the move to Parallels when Mountain Lion came out, as I was not prepared to pay extortion money to VMWare to run VMs that worked the day before (that's another story). After converting an XP VM from fusion to parallels, it runs *much* faster. It's thoroughly usable, whereas it was excruciating to use previously.

If you want to try Parallels, they are offering $60 off for vmware users via the following link: http://www.parallels.com/au/products/desktop/vmwareoffer/

Extra ram will at least allow you to allocate more memory to your Windows 7 VM, which should improve performance regardless of whether it runs in Fusion or Parallels.
Click to expand...

I will try running it on Parallels as you suggested. Hopefully some improvement would occur. Thanks for your helpful answer. :)
 
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