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RAM vs. HDD - Which to upgrade???

K

k2spitfire88

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I currently own the Aluminum MB 2.4, and was wondering about everyone's thoughts on which to upgrade? I have it set with the stock configuration, and have 35 GB of HDD space left. My question is, should I upgrade the RAM, and get the speed boost even though it runs relatively well, or should I upgrade the HDD to give me more space? It runs well as is, and most of the files we're things that I had accumulated throughout the years, such as video and stuff, so it is not like I need one or the other right now. I am just curious as to other people's preferences on the matter.
 
Completely depend on you really. If you're into heavy duty memory intensive work like photo/video editing you should upgrade RAM.

And if you like media then of course 35GB of space is something intolerable!

Though I'll suggest HDD since you say your machine performs well without hiccups!
 
I vote that you should upgrade your hard drive. You said yourself it runs fine. And it can never hurt to add more space. You could replace the optical drive with another hard drive. That is what I am doing. I never use it anyway. 🙂
 
k2spitfire88 said:
It runs well as is, and most of the files we're things that I had accumulated throughout the years, such as video and stuff, so it is not like I need one or the other right now.
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You don't need either, but if pushed I would go for RAM (max it out with Crucial matched memory). If you need more HDD space, then get an external.
 
I had the same dilemma with my white MB. I chose RAM because if push comes to shove you can always delete something you don't 100 percent need while with ram, you can't boost your performance otherwise.

Your mac will run cooler too which was a big plus for me.
 
Andy348 said:
I had the same dilemma with my white MB. I chose RAM because if push comes to shove you can always delete something you don't 100 percent need while with ram, you can't boost your performance otherwise.

Your mac will run cooler too which was a big plus for me.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. Plus, I have my TM back up, and an old laptop drive that I was planning on getting a case for, and building another external (only 60 GB, but what the heck). I was leaning towards RAM (plus, 4 GB of DDR3 1066 MHz RAM w/Snow Leopard will scream!!!). and even more so now.
 
k2spitfire88 said:
I currently own the Aluminum MB 2.4, and was wondering about everyone's thoughts on which to upgrade? I have it set with the stock configuration, and have 35 GB of HDD space left. My question is, should I upgrade the RAM, and get the speed boost even though it runs relatively well, or should I upgrade the HDD to give me more space? It runs well as is, and most of the files we're things that I had accumulated throughout the years, such as video and stuff, so it is not like I need one or the other right now. I am just curious as to other people's preferences on the matter.
Click to expand...

So you have "extra" money in your pocket you need to get rid of? Do you have enough external hard disks for redundent backup? At the very minimum yo'd need two of these. Why not buy some software?

OK if you must upgrade buy RAM. It does no good at all to have a upgrade a disk before it is full. Disks are either full or not full but Mac OS X can take advantage of all the RAM you can give it, it will find a use for it all, if nothing else as a disk cache. But increasing the size of the empty portion of the disk does nothing -- wait untill you are at 80% full to upgrade the disk, prices are falling and the disks are getting better so the longer you wait the better. But RAM (for your computer) specs don't change
 
There are two different issues.

If you're running out of hard disk space, RAM won't help you.

If you're having to many pageouts, additional HD space won't help you.
 
ChrisA said:
So you have "extra" money in your pocket you need to get rid of? Do you have enough external hard disks for redundent backup? At the very minimum yo'd need two of these. Why not buy some software?
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lol. The money was actually money I was given for my birthday so that I could upgrade my computer. I am just debating on what to upgrade, and I am leaning toward RAM. What software would you recommend instead?
Tomorrow said:
There are two different issues.

If you're running out of hard disk space, RAM won't help you.

If you're having to many pageouts, additional HD space won't help you.
Click to expand...
Except neither one of those is occurring. This is simply a want situation.
 
k2spitfire88 said:
Except neither one of those is occurring. This is simply a want situation.
Click to expand...

That's even easier - buy the one you want! Pick the one that's gonna give you the most warm fuzzies. 😀

But from a more practical standpoint, RAM and hard disk space affect different aspects of the computer's performance. If you're indifferent as to which of those aspects of performance you feel like improving, you could flip a coin. If you're not having performance issues, why not save the money by not upgrading at all?
 
Well, to add my 2 pence,

With my Whitebook (C2D 06 model) I ended up Maxing the Ram within 4 months and 3 months later I replaced the 80GB HDD for a 160GB drive. 2 1/2 years later, I only have 30 GB left, so... Next stage for me is to get a Macbook Pro (need firewire. Student Film Maker) because my Ram is constantly... well, rammed. 2GB just isnt enough anymore.

In your case, I'd say HDD first then Ram. These types of upgrades are like cheese and pickle sandwiches. Nice on their own but bloody amazing together.
 
Id say if your desperate to upgrade something, do the RAM first, as there is a limit to the amount of RAM you can have. Might as well max it out. Where as the maximum size of your HDD depends on what's on the market. If you wait till when you really have no space left then you would play less for a new HDD, or the same amount and get more capacity.

However as you say it runs smoothly at the mo, and you don't seem to be desperate for space right now, maybe it would be a good idea to wait a while before you upgrade, because the price of both components will have gone down.
 
RAM. Increasing ram speeds up everything. Bigger disk will speed up program loads and file saves but RAM is more noticeable in my experience.
 
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