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    More ram vs. 5400rpm HDD

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by tdlikeschoc, Feb 5, 2006.

  1. tdlikeschoc

    tdlikeschoc Notebook Enthusiast

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    So as of now I am faced with the decision of upgrading RAM or a hard drive.

    I currently have 512MB of Ram(2x256), and I will upgrade by adding a 1GB stick for a total of 1.25 GB. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145068

    Or I will upgrade from my current 40GB 4800 rpm hard drive to a 40 GB 5400rpm hardrive and use my old drive in an external enlosure. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822146041

    So I want to know, which will give me a bigger boost in performance; the 1GB of RAM or the 5400rpm Hard drive. Thanks
     
    tdlikeschoc, Feb 5, 2006
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  2. Shampoo

    Shampoo Notebook Deity

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    Awwwwww dang. This is a dilemma. I don't know. 1 gig of ram will make your baby much smoother, with less drama when you have a few programs open, but unless you use programs that are RAM demanding, I say go with the harddrive upgrade.

    Yes I believe you will notice the harddrive upgrade more so than the ram. only 40gig? Get a bigger one, prices have come down as well. Check out seagate's new lineup and Western Digital's.

    Cheers,
    Mike
     
    Shampoo, Feb 5, 2006
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  3. tdlikeschoc

    tdlikeschoc Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yeah, I'm stuck between the two. The ram will be beneficial because I do music recording on my laptop, and it will just speed up programs in general. But the hard drive will speed up starting the computer and accessing files. If I go with a hard drive I will probably go with a bigger capacity. Thanks for the suggestions! What does anyone else think about these choices?
     
    tdlikeschoc, Feb 5, 2006
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  4. ikovac

    ikovac Cooler and faster... NBR Reviewer

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    I would always go for the ram first and then for the disk. Especially in notebooks. Once your slow disk loads the things in RAM - you'll see how much it delivers to the performance. Disk can be defragmented - I got my booting times from 1:10 to 35secs. With hibernate to 25 secs. And windows? Once they are loaded - they work mostly in RAM (aside the swap etc...).
    BUT - if you work hard with programs that need disk, such as video or sound editing - then the disk is of course the first choice. External disks are cheap to buy and in my opinion it is best to buy some more ram first and then when you get some more money buy the big external 3,5" disk.

    I would do that. :)

    Cheers,
     
    ikovac, Feb 5, 2006
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  5. tdlikeschoc

    tdlikeschoc Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have decided to go with the 1 gig of RAM. I plan on buying a new hard drive in the near future. Thanks for all of your suggestions.
     
    tdlikeschoc, Feb 5, 2006
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  6. daacon

    daacon Notebook Evangelist

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    I second that choice RAM always till at least 1 gig would be my recommendation for first upgrade
     
    daacon, Feb 5, 2006
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