RAM or SSD? Which should you upgrade first?

For those who can only choose one

Both RAM and SSD can improve the performance of your computer. But in a different way - An SSD will load everything faster, whereas RAM can keep more stuff open at once.

RAM (Random Access Memory), holds your data for active applications, and doesn’t increase your system speed. In fact, the more RAM you have, the more applications you can have open simultaneously.

For instance: If you’re the type of person to have ten-plus Chrome tabs open, a Netflix movie playing, a few google sheets open, and a game running at the same time, then you’ll need RAM.

Generally speaking, RAM provides fast read and write access to storage devices of your computer. But RAM is not used to store various data directly, because it is volatile. It means that data will be retained in RAM as long as the computer is on, but the stored information will be lost when the computer is turned off.

SSD, or solid-state drive, is a new generation of storage device for computers which uses integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data persistently. compared to standard hard drives, which use spinning discs, an SSD is made without any moving parts. Without them, an SSD can perform faster and endure more because there is no mechanical limitation.

It makes everything faster; booting up, shutting down and launching apps will all occur in the blink of any eye when compared to traditional hard drives.

The transfer speed of an SSD can be up to about 6Gbps (equivalent to 750 MB/s) whereas the speed of RAM is determined by the PC number and a module of PC3-12800 memory can transfer data at the speed of 12,800 MB/s. Both are two different computer components and are not comparable.

To conclude: both RAM and SSD can improve the performance of your computer. However, RAM is orders of magnitude faster than an SSD. If you experience poor performance in everyday tasks. Programs either don't respond or take longer than usual to load, upgrade RAM. If still RAM is adequate, you don’t get a noticeable improvement in PC performance by upgrading RAM to the laptop. Then it's time to upgrade your relatively slow HDD to a faster SSD.