16GB of RAM or an SSD

[DELTA-STRIKES]

So I'm building a new computer and I need help deciding on if I should get 16GB of Ram and only have a HDD or get 8GB of Ram and get both a HDD and a SSD.
Also how much space would an SSD need to install windows and then I heard you could cache some memory to use and speed up your computer or something like that.
Also how future proof would 8GB of Ram be as well as having an SSD or how future proof is 16GB of Ram with only a HDD

 

[tiny voices]

IF this is for gaming/ general use, you will NEVER need more than 8gb RAM. Get the SSD for sure.

 

[phyneas]

I'd ask a number of questions to push the answer in the right direction:
- Which operating system are you using?
- What motherboard, cpu, ram and gpu are you getting?
- What are you planning on using the computer for?
- What type of HDD and SSD were you considering?

Depending on your operating system (Windows 7 can take up 20+ GB, Windows 8 20-30+ GB) if you are going with an SSD and HDD combo then the SSD should be a minimum of 64GB I'd think and then the HDD whatever you want.

16GB of RAM is very futureproof for the next few years as long as you aren't using the computer for extremely heavy workloads (coding, video editing, cad etc) or benchmarking, in fact if you are a light computer user 8GB will still be future proof for the next few years.

As far as using space on your SSD to boost your computer, I believe that is called ReadyBoost and there is a wiki article on it.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I'll second the previous recommendations. You should give us some information on how you'll be using the computer. 8GB is generally plenty for everything but heavy graphics processing and video editing. You generally won't notice a difference between 8GB and 16GB of RAM with everyday usage, but you will notice a night and day difference between a standard HDD and SSD. I highly recommend getting the SSD. It's easier to add RAM in the future than it is to move your OS and programs to an SSD.

 

[DELTA-STRIKES]

OS-Windows 7, motherboard-ASRock H87 Performance Motherboard, ram-G.Skill Ares F3-1600C10D-16GAO 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 or G.Skill Ares F3-1600C9D-8GAO 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 and GPU-Galaxy GeForce GTX 760 2GB.

Mainly gaming, some map making for call of duty world at war, media (movies, songs) but I'd also like it to be good enough for higher end gaming in case I get more into it.

For the HDD I was going to get the Western Digital WD Blue 1TB WD10EZEX.
Im not to sure on what SSD to get but I was thinking of 120GB, most likely one of these as they aren't to expensive to add on to my build.
Crucial M500 120GB SSD
Fujitsu S308 128GB SSD
Samsung 840 EVO Series 120GB SSD
SanDisk Ultra Plus 128GB SSD

 

[tiny voices]

I would get the Samsung 840 EVO. And you should not need 16gb RAM for any of your uses. 8gb will be more than plenty.

 

[phyneas]

The Samsung EVO 840's are very highly rated and 120GB is a good number, you'll have extra space on there. Both the RAM choices are compatible with the motherboard (LGA 1150) and presumably your CPU is also a socket LGA 1150 which means it must be a Haswell processor. 8GB at 1600MHZ and a CAS10 latency should be just fine for games on a single monitor and the GTX 760 is still a good performing GPU though a little bit below some of the other 7-series cards though they are a bit and sometimes a lot pricier. The Western Digital HDD is a good choice as well, though depending on how much media and games you have on it, 1TB can run out after a while, but that's easy to deal with later on with external hard drives or just adding another one in there since your motherboard supports multiple 6GB SATA3 HDD's anyway. Keep in mind that board only carries RAM up to 1600MHz which is more than enough for gaming, but it doesn't allow for anything higher than that.

OS-Windows 7, motherboard-ASRock H87 Performance Motherboard, ram-G.Skill Ares F3-1600C10D-16GAO 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 or G.Skill Ares F3-1600C9D-8GAO 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 and GPU-Galaxy GeForce GTX 760 2GB.

Mainly gaming, some map making for call of duty world at war, media (movies, songs) but I'd also like it to be good enough for higher end gaming in case I get more into it.

For the HDD I was going to get the Western Digital WD Blue 1TB WD10EZEX.
Im not to sure on what SSD to get but I was thinking of 120GB, most likely one of these as they aren't to expensive to add on to my build.
Crucial M500 120GB SSD
Fujitsu S308 128GB SSD
Samsung 840 EVO Series 120GB SSD
SanDisk Ultra Plus 128GB SSD

 

[DELTA-STRIKES]

Alright thank you guys you've all been very helpful.