is it worth to upgrade to an ssd?

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Multipack
No dont buy it. Yes you have a good enough CPU for it to make a difference but any SSD under 240GB just isnt worth having. They have lower IOPS and lifespan and when full the performance reduces significantly (which a 60gb drive will do straight away).

RAM is more important than an SSD for all round responsiveness and latency and you'd be better off getting another 8gb imo.
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SchizTech

SchizTech

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Jan 16, 2011
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The difference between any HDD and an SSD is immense. It goes beyond the benchmarks: the difference in how the system feels and responds is quite noticeable.

What system do you have? To complete the upgrade you can either perform a clone (copy of the HDD onto SSD) or fresh installation of Windows on teh new drive.
 
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Multipack

Multipack

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Sep 5, 2016
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No dont buy it. Yes you have a good enough CPU for it to make a difference but any SSD under 240GB just isnt worth having. They have lower IOPS and lifespan and when full the performance reduces significantly (which a 60gb drive will do straight away).

RAM is more important than an SSD for all round responsiveness and latency and you'd be better off getting another 8gb imo.
 
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Scottray

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Jul 14, 2016
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Sorry, I don't agree with Multipack, more ram won't make a difference unless you find that usage is always 7GB+. However, you will see improvements in start up time, program load times and save/copy times with a SSD. System response time will overall feel quicker. I've been using PNY CS1311 and CS2211 SSDs. Decent performance and moderately priced. I would suggest a 240GB or larger for your OS, programs and key files. Use your HDD for archiving and less needed files, videos, pictures, etc.
 
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Multipack

Multipack

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Sep 5, 2016
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RAM is infinitely faster than even the fastest SSD. It's not about usage, it's about access time and IOPS. All of your software/system files will be cached in the system RAM and that is what makes a system more responsive. I agree an SSD would be beneficial and speed up boot times etc tho, just not a small one like that.

(The additional RAM would be useful for gaming etc, but obviously wont increase system speeds unless its only in single channel atm)
 
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D

dudeman509

Dignified
Jan 23, 2015
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If you're not using near your RAM capacity, adding more RAM will make no difference. It is a waste.

The VERY quick random access time of a SSD makes a system unbelievably more responsive - even a slower CPU can feel like a totally new computer, never mind an i7. Windows starts in seconds. Web browsers and other programs open in the blink of an eye. I can hardly stand to use a non-SSD computer anymore.

I would recommend at least a 250GB in this day and age as a system/boot drive. Put your commonly used applications and operating system and page file on the SSD. Put games, documents, pictures, music, videos on the hard drive, where access time really doesn't matter as much.
 
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Scottray

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Jul 14, 2016
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Once again, I disagree. Yes, RAM is faster, ONCE the program and data get loaded into RAM. At that point, OS has control over RAM usage and partitioning. If you are a big multitasker and have alot of programs open at the same time, then you will max out the RAM and the OS will swap out files with the HDD/SSD as needed. In this case, additional RAM would be beneficial. Thus, may comment about 7GB+ monitoring of RAM usage for an 8GB system. If RAM usage is typically in the 2-6GB range, overall system responsiveness (from a user perspective) will be better with the SSD.
 
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Multipack

Multipack

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Sep 5, 2016
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Once again (sigh lol) I said that extra RAM wont speed up the system unless you have only one chip installed, in which case dual channel will be faster. I was simply pointing out that extra RAM would be beneficial in other ways.

RAM usage has nothing to do with latency or this magical 7gb figure. RAM caches are far more in use than an SSD except upon boot, plus it has the added bonus of easing the total write amount to your hard drive which only has a finite amouut before it fails. Thats why RAM disks were so popular for a while. I am explaining it so an average person can understand instead of hiding behind tech jargon.

Am fully aware of the benefits and uses of system RAM lol...
 
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CelicaGT

CelicaGT

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Jul 22, 2013
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After 8 gigs of RAM you are wasting your money and time except for some fringe cases and games, Dual channel has virtually no performance impact in gaming or day to day use (see every benchmark...ever). An SSD is the single best upgrade for general system responsiveness and boot times. Even if you hit the page file with and SSD it is much less noticable...HDD's are for bulk storage...SSD for everything else.
 
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