8gb RAM or 7200 rpm HDD

AlexsMacBookPro · AlexsMacBookPro #1 (**permalink**)

12-10-2011, 03:06 PM

Hello,

I am looking to upgrade my late 2009 MacBook Pro I currently have 4gb of Ram with a 5400 HDD. I am looking at either getting 8gb RAM or a 7200rpm drive but don't know which. I was hoping you guys could help me make a decision. My computer gets noticeably slow when I run vmware fusion with 64bit windows 7. I like to use safari at the same time but it gets very slow and I only have about 470mb of RAM free. I also like to use Final Cut Pro X and this gets slow also, sometimes a few minutes of the spinning beach ball.

So basically 8gb RAM or 7200 HDD? Thanks!

BrianLachoreVPI · BrianLachoreVPI #2 (**permalink**)

12-10-2011, 03:16 PM

For the situation you've described - RAM will give you the better performance improvement.

AlexsMacBookPro · AlexsMacBookPro #3 (**permalink**)

12-10-2011, 03:27 PM

Okay, thank you.

microsnook · microsnook #4 (**permalink**)

12-10-2011, 06:23 PM

Id go with the RAM too. I don't know if you'll notice a huge performance gain in the HDD. I would recommend going with an SSD

AlexsMacBookPro · AlexsMacBookPro #5 (**permalink**)

12-11-2011, 12:28 AM

Ok cool. I think I'm going to upgrade RAM then.

SSD isn't in the budget right know.

BrianLachoreVPI · BrianLachoreVPI #6 (**permalink**)

12-11-2011, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexsMacBookPro

Ok cool. I think I'm going to upgrade RAM then.

SSD isn't in the budget right know.

The SSD won't give you the performance increase you're looking for under the circumstances you've described anyway. The RAM is the right choice to improve your Virtual machine performance.

BrianLachoreVPI #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 24, 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 3,742 Mac Specs: March 2011 15" MBP 2.3GHz i7 Quad Core 8GB Ram \| Mid 2011 27" iMac 3.4 GHz i7 16 GB RAM 2 TB HDD	12-10-2011, 03:16 PM For the situation you've described - RAM will give you the better performance improvement. Community Guidelines
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AlexsMacBookPro #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 02, 2010 Location: CA Posts: 13 Mac Specs: Mid 2009 13.3" MacBook Pro 2.26Ghz, 8GB RAM, 640GB 5400rpm HDD, Lion, Windows XP, Windows 7	12-10-2011, 03:06 PM Hello, I am looking to upgrade my late 2009 MacBook Pro I currently have 4gb of Ram with a 5400 HDD. I am looking at either getting 8gb RAM or a 7200rpm drive but don't know which. I was hoping you guys could help me make a decision. My computer gets noticeably slow when I run vmware fusion with 64bit windows 7. I like to use safari at the same time but it gets very slow and I only have about 470mb of RAM free. I also like to use Final Cut Pro X and this gets slow also, sometimes a few minutes of the spinning beach ball. So basically 8gb RAM or 7200 HDD? Thanks!
	QUOTE Thanks

microsnook #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 13, 2011 Posts: 266 Mac Specs: 2011 13" 10.8 (latest)	12-10-2011, 06:23 PM Id go with the RAM too. I don't know if you'll notice a huge performance gain in the HDD. I would recommend going with an SSD
	QUOTE Thanks

AlexsMacBookPro #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 02, 2010 Location: CA Posts: 13 Mac Specs: Mid 2009 13.3" MacBook Pro 2.26Ghz, 8GB RAM, 640GB 5400rpm HDD, Lion, Windows XP, Windows 7	12-11-2011, 12:28 AM Ok cool. I think I'm going to upgrade RAM then. SSD isn't in the budget right know.
	QUOTE Thanks

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