Question on RAM and SSD's.

I've currently got 3GB of RAM in my i5 M11XR2. Would an extra GB make that much of an improvement? I was thinking of buying a 2GB RAM along with an SSD I'm getting in a month or two. If so, what stick of RAM should I get? (I'm aware I'll need a 2GB stick btw)

Also, is this SSD a good choice for the price tag? Dabs Ireland - Corsair Memory 128GB 2.5" Nova Series SSD (CSSD-V128GB2-BR)

 

Depends on what you do with your computer, but generally a 1GB difference from 3 to 4GB will not make a significant difference.

 

I play a lot of games on it. Trying to squeeze as much performance as I can outta this thing.

 

You can only take advantage of 4GB if you are running a 64 bit OS!
Not that it will not make a difference, but if you are upgrading anyway, why not get a 4GB stick and make them 6. But again - 64 Bit OS is a precondition!

 

I am running a 64-bit Windows 7. Also, is the SSD I linked worth the €200 price tag? I'm wondering if I should get it or put it in my savings for a gaming desktop...

 

I would definitely go for 6 or 8GB of RAM before laying down the big bucks for a nice SSD. But since you mentioned the idea of building a gaming desktop, I would definitely save for that instead of upgrading your M11x.

 

If you're talking about gaming, then neither extra RAM nor an SSD will actually help your gaming performance (framerates or image quality).

A RAM upgrade from 3GB --> 4GB, in general, will not benefit you very much. More RAM is only really useful in giving you performance boosts of any kind if it prevents you from using the swap file. Your current 3GB of RAM is pretty borderline in regards to whether you use the swapfile or not... but you should be able to get away with it.

An SSD will benefit you when it comes to anything that uses the disk. OS boot times, application load times, game load times will all improve by a decent amount. Your multitasking performance (simultaneously loading lots of programs or hitting the disk with multiple read/write requests) will monumentally improve with an SSD.

That experience of a computer being slow because the hard drive is thrashing away... will completely disappear. Everything about your computer will feel smoother and cleaner. In areas that matter (random 4KB read speeds, IOPS), an SSD is literally 100x faster than a mechanical hard drive (Random 4KB Reads: 0.5MBps --> 40+MBps | IOPS: ~500 IOPS --> 40,000 IOPS). It is literally like going from a 56Kbps dial-up modem to a 5.6Mbps broadband connection.

If you do decide to go with an SSD, the ones to get are the Intel X25-M 120GB (uses the Intel controller) for about $200 USD, or the OCZ Vertex 2 120GB (uses the SandForce SD-1200 controller) for about $200 USD. Not all SSD's are created equal. You want one that uses either an Intel controller or a SandForce controller to make the purchase worthwhile.

 

If you're considering a desktop gaming rig, definitely do not upgrade your notebook as none of those will help with games as much as a good desktop GPU. Though alternatively, you can consider a DIY ViDock if you are on a tight budget.

 

Why not shoot for 8 GB DDR3 RAM, it can be had for ~70-80 dollars. For SSD, unless you absolutely need it I would wait. Intel's G3 are coming in a month, and newer SF SSD are coming later this year which offer faster speeds and better GB/$ ratios.

 

I totally agree with the SSD advise above, however as someone who recently upgraded to 6GB RAM and consider herself a heavy multitasker, I would answer this:

Because unless seriously working with software that requires or eats up a lot of RAM, such as Photoshop and Virtual Machines, chances are - he will never see ANY benefit from the difference 6 to 8GB RAM and that would be 40 dollars that could have been spent better.

My case: 4GB RAM were definitely not enough to me, but 6 cover all my needs, incl. light to half-prof. Photoshopping and I almost always have 500-1500MB FREE - hence unused RAM and that with disabled pagefile. Why would I want to make them 2500 to 3500 (yet) .... this will always remain a possibility for the future - doesn't have to be done in one shot.

 

Doubt you'd see any benefit in 99% of games with more than 3GB memory. Even if it does give you more fps, that little is pretty negligible. Either way, $40 saved here is $40 available for the new desktop rig - so you don't need to upgrade anything.

 

Agree with this 100%.

You only need as much RAM as you actually use. If 3GB of RAM is more than enough for you, then stick with it. Excess RAM is a waste.

 

The best time to buy an SSD is always 6 months from now. Prices always go down, performance always goes up, capacity always goes up.

I agree to wait until you absolutely cannot wait any more to buy an SSD. But I do not think that people should delay a purchase that they need today, because something better is "just around the corner". Something better is always just around the corner.

 

Oh yes they do! If you care about money you should!

Biggest mistake with electronics I have made - bought a Centrino (Pentium M) laptop for 1000 bucks without researching. 2 weeks later Dual Core CPUs first hit the market - bam - my 2 weeks old laptop was already "slow" and worth 600 euros! That's how you loose 400 euros in 2 weeks!

SSDs are still in their late development period! Definitely not a good time to buy one - at least not for that high price! I'm also waiting so that I would be able to sleep with a smile on my face and not waking up at night knowing I spent twice as much for a thing that is twice as less reliable and fast as what is offered 1 month later.

But if you won the lottery - go and buy everything today... you certainly can buy it tomorrow again so not a biggy.

 

Oh of course, playing the waiting game usually makes your wallet alot happier. In actuality very few people absolutely "need" an SSD. But playing the waiting game is a slippery slope..

 

An awesome laptop does not stop being awesome just because something else comes out. A fast SSD that you buy for a great deal will not stop being fast or stop being a great deal, just because something faster or cheaper comes out.

That is the difference between someone who buys computer equipment because they want/need the computer equipment, and someone who buys because they want the personal satisfaction of owning the "best".

Any computer, laptop, or computer component you buy is going to be outdated 6 months after you buy it. You will never find a time when computer parts stop getting cheaper / faster.

People who buy because they want the satisfaction of owning the "best" will never be happy for long. People who buy what they need when they need it, and make peace with the fact that they will never own the "best", will always be happy.

Buy what you need, when you need it. If you need an SSD today, buy and SSD today. If you can afford to wait 6 months, then wait 6 months. But if you NEED something today and can't afford to wait, then it does not help you if new SSD's are coming out in 1 year / week / day. Buy what you need, when you need it.

 

ok - go ahead and buy anything you need now, without paying attention to the market! Manufacturers love people like you!

How do you define "need" anyway! The faster/powerful/more reliable - the better! I could do what I do on 386 with Windows 3.11 I guess... but is that the point?

Sorry - I don't understand people who spend money without knowing what for and whether it is worthy. Even if I were to win the lottery - I would still make a research before I buy. Everything else is senseless - throwing money out of the window.

 

And you completely and utterly missed kent's point.

 

You missed my point.

If the laptop in my work hard drive dies, then I " need" a new one, because I cannot work without a functioning laptop. It does not help me if Intel G3 drives are coming out next month, or even next week. If my hard drive dies, I " need" a new hard drive immediately, because I cannot sit without a functioning work laptop for a week waiting for Intel G3 drives to come out.

I run databases on my work laptop. When I had a mechanical hard drive in my work laptop, I couldn't do anything else with my work laptop when those databases were running, because they were pounding the HDD with disk I/O. I " need" the performance of an SSD, so that I can do work even with databases running on my laptop.

I run virtual machines on my work laptop. A virtual machine would take 3min45sec to boot (I timed it) on a mechanical hard drive. My laptop would be nearly unusable while those VM's were booting because the HDD was thrashing around from the disk I/O. I " need" an SSD so that I can boot a VM in 0:45, and not 3:45, so that I don't keep my clients waiting for a slow-as-hell computer to finish loading what I wanted to show them.

If I buy an OCZ Vertex 2 SSD because I justifiably " need" it today and absolutely cannot wait any longer, then I will buy it today. I really don't care if an OCZ Vertex 6,128 or an Intel G10,000,000 comes out next week, because it doesn't help me with what I need at that exact moment.

That is the difference between our perspectives.
I say: Buy what you NEED when you need it.
You say: Buy what you WANT, when the timing / price makes it a convenient time to buy.

 

If something fails - you are right... you wouldn't be able to wait, I agree. But In this case we are talking about an Upgrade... which means nothing has failed and 2, 4, 6 or 8 weeks are usually not of great importance.

Your "need" definition is however unspecific and that was exactly my point - it cannot be specific! NEED is a WANT in 99% of the times.

Your examples prove it. You WANT faster. You don't need it! If you insist you absolutely NEED it I would like to ask you how people did this stuff before SSD was invented? Or are you the first person to deal with VMs and Databases? Fact - you aren't and fact - many others have managed it with a HDD - hence - it is a WANT not a need.

but we went way offtopic here He will decide based on his needs, "want"s and "have"s

What me and Tsunade_Hime tried to say is that IF he can wait - NOT buying an SSD today is much wiser and that's a fact.

 

Need and want is always hard to draw the line. You are not him so you cannot draw that line for him, vice versa is true.

If the SSD can save him say 1 hour a day, it has some defined value(that depends on individual). We all have some implicit calculation in our head which is almost impossible to spell out in detail.

 

Again, Gracy, you missed the point.

 

O_O How did I get dragged into this lol.

Regardless, OP never posted what he was doing with this laptop. If he was doing PS or rendering, then yes he would need more RAM. If he had listed what his laptop was being used for it would have been more helpful..