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Time to upgrade to a new development laptop. I'm trying to maximize performance which will include multiple virtual machines and android development.

I believe there are 3 issues that will directly affect performance.
1) processor - power & number of cores
2) RAM - amount of
3) Hard drive - SSD vs SATA

Assuming the processor is the same, would I see a better increase in performance with
a) 16 GB of RAM but a SATA drive OR
b) 8 GB of RAM but SSD drive

Which one typically would have a greater influence on performance?

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  • The performance bottlenecks that exist from using mechanical drive vs using a SSD have very little to do with the amount of system memory you have.
    – Ramhound
    Mar 18, 2015 at 15:38
  • Thanks. If not system memory, then what should I be concerned with?
    – csi
    Mar 18, 2015 at 15:42
  • I don't understand the question. Your trying to link system memory to your main system storage device.
    – Ramhound
    Mar 18, 2015 at 15:43
  • This is pretty broad, and will only attract opinion (IMO) since the answer is basically "it depends on your usage". Also, to have a chance of even getting an answer you'd have to define what "performance" means in your context. Build system, benchmark your usage, find bottleneck(s), upgrade those components. Mar 18, 2015 at 15:49

1 Answer 1

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you are correct in thinking the major bottleneck is storage related, however it is not RAM, the issue will be the relative cache size on any type of hard disk.

For best throughput, find a fast spinning hard drive with a large cache.

The amount of system ram will only affect swapping -- this will be worse with a slower spinning hard drive and less disk cache. 8GB of memory will be insufficient for running a couple of VMs in a "speedy" manner. With 8GB on an SSD, swap will be very fast, but it will be used a lot. with 16GB you will swap less and need the hard drive less.

Remember, also, that an additional source of cache is main memory -- Linux in particular will default to using nearly as much of main memory as it can towards data caching. This will also greatly assist your latency.

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  • sorry for the repeated editing ...
    – Daniel
    Mar 18, 2015 at 15:48
  • thanks Daniel. 1 follow up. Assume Linux VMs on Windows OS is primary performance concern. Everything else being exactly equal, would you expect better VM performance from SSD or Hybrid 5400 SATA / 8 GB SSD both with equal cache?
    – csi
    Mar 18, 2015 at 16:00
  • well, if everything else is equal (RAM, disk cache, etc) then SSD will always be faster than spinning disks. SSD is SATA also - it's part of the same same. I would say a 5400 rpm disk is not fast. If you were very selective about ensuring what was installed on the SSD versus HDD, then the Hybrid would perform as an SSD only. You have to think about the issue as data transfer - not what type of hardware, and put the appropriate data on the appropriate medium.
    – Daniel
    Mar 18, 2015 at 16:26

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