More RAM vs. SSD for improved performance?

[mitya]

Just as a matter of theory, which of the above, or both, is suggestable for music production, e.g. CueBase, Reason etc? i.e. reasonably intensive tasks.

If it was one or the other, disregarding the higher price of SSD, which would you go for?

Thanks in advance

 

[Nosada]

Depends on the situation you're in right now. If you're short on memory (as in, the programs you're running are filling it up and require more) an SSD will not alleviate sluggishness. If you have memory to spare, adding more will do absolutely nothing and moving from HDD to SSD will be a huge boon for your performance.

But we need more data: How much memory do you have right now, what OS are you running, which programs, what type is your current OS and data disk?

 

[micropage7]

if you run many apps at the same time, more ram would help the system running better
ssd is for fast reading, fast loading aplication

 

[mitya]

Thanks for the comebacks, guys.

More data: it's not a laptop I own yet, I'm just considering it. It's an A10 5757M, 6GB 1333MHz, 1TB HD, Windows 8 64bit. Programs, as I mentioned, would be the likes of CueBase, Reason, Ableton (though likely only two of these at once). Quite a few tabs in browsers open etc...

 

[DRDNA]

I would say the SSD would probably be a more noticeable upgrade. Unless you are already noticing memory shortages.

 

[Vario]

6gb ram with my moms i5 laptop (ivy bridge dual core ht model) seems fine. Its a Dell Inspiron I think (the smaller business grade one) that was only about $600 off the dell outlet. We put in an SSD to replace slow hd w/ only16mb cache and it sped it up a lot. The SSD was a Seagate 600 240gb. Her OS is Win 7, maybe home premium?

 

[Eroticus]

ssd for sure !

 

[Dent1]

Just as a matter of theory, which of the above, or both, is suggestable for music production, e.g. CueBase, Reason etc? i.e. reasonably intensive tasks.

If it was one or the other, disregarding the higher price of SSD, which would you go for?

Thanks in advance

It's impossible to answer objectively because hard disk drives and RAM do different functions.

An SSD would benefit in situations where you're transferring data from one location to another, or overwriting or saving or opening extremely big files. I don't know much about music production but I don't think those scenarios fit what you're doing.

More RAM would benefit if you're short of RAM, as long as you meet the requirements to run your music production software with a bit of excess memory left over you'll be fine. If you're running multiple music applications simultaneously the RAM requirement will increase. In those situations RAM would be better. Use software to monitor how much RAM is being used during your sessions that will give you a conclusive answer.

 

[Eroticus]

It's impossible to answer objectively because hard disk drives and RAM do different functions.

An SSD would benefit in situations where you're transferring data from one location to another, or overwriting or saving or opening extremely big files. I don't know much about music production but I don't think those scenarios fit what you're doing.

RAM would only benefit if you're short of RAM, as long as you meet the requirements to run your music production software with a bit of excess memory left over you'll be fine.

6gb of ram almost perfect , but ssd adds much more speed than hdd

 

[Bo$$]

SSD will really kickstart stuff.... ram looks fine even 4gb is fine for your use

 

[jcgeny]

4 Go ram are cool for 32 bit os , 64 bit needs the double to 32 and 64 bit ...
12 Go are a minimum for win 7 or 8 x64
a ssd of 60 Go starts to be enough for a win 8 x64 ; hitachi is good and cheap for ssd

 

[Eroticus]

Take 1TB ssd .. i got 256gb and it's not enough ... always more fun when every game or app start faster ! =)

Samsung EVO 1TB or 750 / 500GB got nice prices & fast


12 GB for os ? wtf you doing ? i got 16gb .. but never used over 8GB

only 7zip for compression

 

[DRDNA]

4 Go ram are cool for 32 bit os , 64 bit needs the double to 32 and 64 bit ...
12 Go are a minimum for win 7 or 8 x64
a ssd of 60 Go starts to be enough for a win 8 x64 ; hitachi is good and cheap for ssd

Damn I wish I would have know this inside secret! SARCASM!

 

[jcgeny]

you forget windows cache memory that is "transparent"
16 Go is not that much for 7 zip compression , reduce the number of cpu used to increase compression [ and time ...] if you are short in memory with it

 

[W1zzard]

4 Go ram are cool for 32 bit os , 64 bit needs the double to 32 and 64 bit ...
12 Go are a minimum for win 7 or 8 x64
a ssd of 60 Go starts to be enough for a win 8 x64 ; hitachi is good and cheap for ssd

64-bit does not need twice the amount of RAM, please don't give bad advice.

Most Windows 7 64-bit systems are fine with 4 GB. I'd say 6-8 GB is ideal for most users, rather spend the money on other upgrades like SSD or faster GPU (if you game).

 

[studmark]

if you run many apps at the same time, more ram would help the system running better
ssd is for fast reading, fast loading aplication

very good answer! shes right!

 

[newtekie1]

It's an A10 5757M, 6GB 1333MHz, 1TB HD, Windows 8 64bit. Programs, as I mentioned, would be the likes of CueBase, Reason, Ableton (though likely only two of these at once). Quite a few tabs in browsers open etc...

I'd go memory upgrade first, then SSD with that laptop. The reason being is that with 6GB of RAM that means there is a 4GB stick and a 2GB stick in the laptop now, which means at worst single channel or at best asymmetric dual-channel. Plus the memory in the laptop is only 1333MHz. APU's love memory bandwidth, and the current configuration is really limiting the memory bandwidth. So the first thing I would do is put in a 2x4GB 1600MHz memory kit in it.

 

[Jetster]

Yep replace all your memory first to 1866 8Gb then the SSD. If you had 8 Gb 1600 the I would say the SSD no doubt. I say 8Gb because using 4Gb will utilize a swap file with Reason. And leave the Swap file on the SSD

The problem is goin to be the memory. APUs are picky about ram. You might have to try a couple of sets

Now you could just go with the SSD. You will see more of an improvement. But its not going to preform as well in the end.

 

[satsol]

It's impossible to answer objectively because hard disk drives and RAM do different functions.

An SSD would benefit in situations where you're transferring data from one location to another, or overwriting or saving or opening extremely big files. I don't know much about music production but I don't think those scenarios fit what you're doing.

More RAM would benefit if you're short of RAM, as long as you meet the requirements to run your music production software with a bit of excess memory left over you'll be fine. If you're running multiple music applications simultaneously the RAM requirement will increase. In those situations RAM would be better. Use software to monitor how much RAM is being used during your sessions that will give you a conclusive answer.

This is a great post which I agree with. I think more times than not, most people end up in situations where more ram is more beneficial. SSD's are nice, don't get me wrong, but they're not really required in my opinion unless you have the money to burn on one.

 

[newtekie1]

Yep replace all your memory first to 1866 8Gb then the SSD.

I was originally going to suggest 1866, but the A10-5757M only supports up to 1600, so to avoid compatibility issues I say just go with 1600.

 

[Blue-Knight]

Damn I wish I would have know this inside secret! SARCASM!

That's why I support the idea of sarcasm bbcode tag, it would make easier to understand those sarcastic posts.

And this will avoid misunderstandings. This happens a lot to me, people think I was sarcastic when I wasn't.

But you can still use [sarcasm]-[/sarcasm] while it is not officially supported.

Happy New Year!

 

[mitya]

Wow, quite a debate I've started. Thanks for all the help, guys.

Re: replacing RAM, it actually has only one RAM slot according to the Acer data sheet. Someone mentioned in another thread that this probably meant there was a 4GB stick in there and the other 2GB was on the CPU, or something?

If so, I could replace the 4GB with an 8GB for 10GB overall.

I will continue to look into SSD, though with this particular laptop it would have to be externally connected.

 

[RCoon]

Wow, quite a debate I've started. Thanks for all the help, guys.

Re: replacing RAM, it actually has only one RAM slot according to the Acer data sheet. Someone mentioned in another thread that this probably meant there was a 4GB stick in there and the other 2GB was on the CPU, or something?

If so, I could replace the 4GB with an 8GB for 10GB overall.

I will continue to look into SSD, though with this particular laptop it would have to be externally connected.

Still going for the AMD laptop I see? There will be two memory slots, one underneath the keyboard next to the CPU, and one on the underside of the laptop near the wireless card etc. The fact the CPU only supports 1600mhz RAM makes me feel like the purchase of slightly faster RAM would be futile. If the RAM slot underneath the keyboard is in fact not replacable and fused to the board, you'll be stuck on whatever operating speed that RAM is set at, regardless of however good your new RAM is. I recommend an SSD, they have a tendency to make generic crappy Core2Duo's run like quad cores, everything is just much more responsive. SSD's are a good baseline, and you can always use them in ANY other new system you may or may not buy. That RAM however is likely only going to be used once, in a system you'll likely replace sooner rather than later.

Doesn't need to be externally connected, tear the bottom open, replace the HDD, and then put that HDD into an external enclosure. If you need a hand, come down and see me, I'll sort you out.

 

[mitya]

@RCoon - very kind offer of you - thanks a lot. Yeah still looking at the Acer - work didn't fancy a refurb, even though that one you linked to was pretty nice looking spec-wise.

I guess, from what you say, then, that the max speed is 1333, if the one fused to the board is running at that speed.

Good news is I'm/work are not in a rush so can keep researching.

Thanks again.

p.s. is it me or are forums like this the last bastion of real technical knowledge? I've posed questions to PC World's staff, and even to Acer directly, and they've not known the answer. A guy in PC World didn't get my question re: dedicated GPU memory, and just kept replying with answers re: main RAM memory. Nor could he say whether there was a PCIe slot. Acer couldn't confirm what the max speed RAM the model would take, and told me to go to Crucial.com to find out!

 

[RCoon]

@RCoon - very kind offer of you - thanks a lot. Yeah still looking at the Acer - work didn't fancy a refurb, even though that one you linked to was pretty nice looking spec-wise.

I guess, from what you say, then, that the max speed is 1333, if the one fused to the board is running at that speed.

Good news is I'm/work are not in a rush so can keep researching.

Thanks again.

p.s. is it me or are forums like this the last bastion of real technical knowledge? I've posed questions to PC World's staff, and even to Acer directly, and they've not known the answer. A guy in PC World didn't get my question re: dedicated GPU memory, and just kept replying with answers re: main RAM memory. Nor could he say whether there was a PCIe slot. Acer couldn't confirm what the max speed RAM the model would take, and told me to go to Crucial.com to find out!

That's fair enough, businesses like warranty, I can attest to that, we get a lot of things that need to be replaced, and advanced RMA warranty is a godsend. I'll look for some decent non-refurbs during my lunch break and get back to you on your laptop thread. But I still stand by an SSD over memory in terms of the original topic at hand.

1st line support at PC World and places like Acer is not filled with technologically adept people. They're there to deal with customer's basic questions, they follow a script and get paid very little to do it. You won't get to anyone who knows anything until you get to 3rd line support, which is where all the techies are, and they don't like to employ too many of those guys, because they cost too much!