tradeoff between main memory and SSD?

[aross007]

I'm shopping for a new laptop.  Lightroom is the driving application, and my plan is/was to maximize main memory and get at least one SSD.  However, I find that some vendors offer up to 16 GBytes of main memory, but is you select an SSD, main memory is limited to 8 GBytes.  ( I would conclude that they are putting the SSD in a memory slot.)  My question is:  "If I have to make this choice, would I be better off with the SSD or with the extra 8 GBytes of memory?"  Canon 7D camera, some panorama and HDR work in Photoshop.

Thanks for your opinions,
Alan

[elolaugesen]

I have never heard of this before???

what computers are you looking at?

[kaelaria]

Unless you are working with huge files/multiple files in PS - 8 is more than enough - for LR.

[BernardLanguillier]

The recent failure of my Mac Pro book/app disk SSD gave me the opportunity to try once more a Velociraptor that I had kept ready for instant disaster recovery purposes. At 10.000 rmp, it is the probably the fastest non SCSI HD available on the market...

That was a very very painful experience. I was just amazed by the difference in boot time, app launch time and overall responsiveness.

There is no way I would buy a new machine today without a SSD for OS+applications disk.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Remo Nonaz]

I'm not an expert on laptops, but on desktop systems an SSD would never plug into the memory slot. It would be connected to one of the SATA ports like any drive. I kind of doubt this would any different in a laptop. I would question the supplier as to whether this is some kind of markting/configuration rule or a real technical problem. It does not sound like one. As noted, though, 8GB is plenty for running Lr.

[Drew Harty]

Hi,

I just experimented with the advantages of SSD and RAM using Photoshop and copying files.

Speed advantages of SSD in 2012 MacBook Pro

More RAM speed up operations in Photoshop,  SSD did not change editing speeds noticeably.  SSDs speed up opening and saving files about 25%.  The SSD did make big difference importing files into Capture One and copying files.

On the Adobe site there is also discussion about how RAM and SSD will effect the speed of Photoshop.

Drew Harty

[aross007]

Thanks for the inputs, I will check the Adobe discussion.  I was looking at the HP Pavilian series when I ran into the conflict.

Alan

[elolaugesen]

  Back   to the dark days.....      Memory is very important.   Lots of it....    But.....     Os's will always no matter what swap pages in and out..  Therefore ssd will always be better than hard drives..  But is it cost effective?...  Depends on how much memory you use, how big your hdd is, how many apps you have running, how large your images are,.......


Confusing.    Yes    Always have been.   

If you can afford it get both memory and ssd

Cheers.  Elo
And.  Someone will always second guess your choice...  Finally..   Ssd's can usually be moved to anew machine or placed in an external box while memory may!!!! Become obsolete?

[mjcreedon]

Alan,
Recently I upgraded to a MacBook Pro circa 2011.  My upgrades included 16 gig of ram from the original 4 gig and a 240 SSD.  The 500 gig hard drive that came with the computer was placed in a nice external case and is now running Time Machine backup thru usb.  I agree that it is best to max out your ram capability. 
If I am not mistaken my Mac tech friend mentioned I might be able to keep the original 500 gig hard drive and also have an SSD if I were willing to remove the CD/DVD burner.  Install of the SSD would go where the old CD/DVD would have been.  Check with a Mac rep at any local Mac stores genius bar.
Good luck,
Michael

mjcreedon.com