RAM or SSD for upgrade?

[brisk]

Hey everyone,

At work I run 32 bit with (4gb) of RAM. I have a lot of applications open like outlook, office (multiple spreadsheets), a couple different web browsers, log me in. Just a lot of light applications and my machine is using 85% of RAm and I get slow downs and bit of lag.

Would I get a better performance with an SSD and 64 bit Windows or 8gb Ram and 64 bit Windows?

My spec is:

Intel i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10ghz
Windows 7 Professional SP1.
Nvidia NVS 300
Thanks

 

[XavierMace]

SSD will likely make the more noticeable difference.

 

[brisk]

I should note that money isn't an issue, a 120gb Kingston SSD is the same price as a 4gb set of RAM.

 

[infoiltrator]

Cheap Kingston is a poor SSD choice (research unannounced NAND switch). At the moment amazon has 240-256 GB Crucial $100-110. MX100, M550, M500.
For the prices, 120 vs 240 GB SSDs, $80 vs $110 or less, bigger is better, particularly because 240 is much more efficient than 120. Way they work.
I would be inclined to try SSD first, many work clients are 4 GB 32 BIT. Not all software will access more than 4 GB RAM
If not useful SSDs are usually an easy sell, or can become fast backup drive.

 

[denis280]

Would I get a better performance with an SSD and 64 bit Windows or 8gb Ram and 64 bit Windows?

Both.

 

[Charlie98]

I should note that money isn't an issue...

SSD+64-bit+RAM!

I would probably go SSD+64-bit first, then bump the RAM at a late date.

 

[Ketchup]

If there is still any question, the SSD will make the shortness of RAM much less noticeable, but will shorten the drive's lifespan a bit. If you have the money, get a 64-bit OS, at least another 4 GB of RAM, and a good SSD. For the money and performance, it is hard to beat the MX100 right now.

 

[corkyg]

Since you are at work, and assuming you are using a company machine running X86 with 4GBRAM, you really only have one choice - the SSD. That is, unless the employer is willing to install (and pay for) a 64 bit OS. The 32 bit can't even fully use the 4GB of RAM - usually about 3.5 at best. So, without making major OS changes (requires a complete reinstall) go for the SSD.

 

[Jembo]

I forget the Member who wrote it, but he wrote a little script that overcomes the 4GB RAM barrier in Windows. It was a while ago, but I thought that was really cool. Surprised it never became really popular. Hopefully someone here knows what I'm talking about. I think MechBegon?? may have wrote it.

If you can find it & it runs without issue then I would prioritize the RAM upgrade personally.