A lot of people want to speed up their mac, there are thousands of ways to do so on the operating system side, but the only a few on the hardware side. These include installed more RAM into the computer or switching the type of hard drive your mac is running on. Find out which option is best for you.
What is RAM?
“Random Access Memory, or volatile memory, is used by the system to store data for processing by a computer’s central processing unit (CPU), also known as the processor. RAM stores the data in memory cells that are arranged in grids much like the cells are arranged in a spreadsheet, from which data, in the binary form of 1′s and 0′s, can be accessed and transferred at random to the processor for processing by the system’s software. The data stored in a hard disk drive (HDD) cannot be accessed at random. Whole sectors, containing blocks of data, are transferred from a hard disk drive, placed in a large swap file on the same drive, and only then are selected files transferred to RAM for random access by the processor, which is itself only performing the instructions of the system’s operating system, and its application software. When the computer is turned off, all of the data in the RAM memory is lost, hence its alternative name of volatile memory, whereas all of the data on a hard disk drive is retained permanently until it is intentionally erased.”
In other words the more RAM you have, the more processes your machine will be able to handle at one time. Allowing it to store and access information in the memory much faster.
What is an SSD?
“A solid-state drive (SSD), also called a flash drive, is type of hard drive. Though the architecture of an SSD is quite different from traditional hard drives, the name is carried over. An SSD utilizes a special kind of memory chip with erasable, writeable cells that can hold data even when powered off. It might help to think of an SSD as the larger cousin of the memory stick. Like standard drives, an SSD utilizes a special area for cache memory. Cache memory serves the function of increasing processing speeds by holding data that is needed repeatedly. With the data close at hand in the cache, it does not need to be fetched from the main storage area each time it’s called.”
In other words, the SSD will boot up faster, copy files faster and give you an over-all better performance feel for your mac.
But its your turn to decide, is more RAM or an SSD needed for the average consumer in todays world?
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