Performance: SSD with DDR3 vs SATA with DDR4

driverl

HI guys,

I have to replace my prehistoric latitude d630 laptop from 2008, im trying to decide between a dell latitude or a lenovo thinkpad - They have same processor / spec etc.. except the following.

The Dell has a normal SATA 500GB with 8GB DDR4 memory

The Lenovo has a SSD 500GB with 8GB DDR3

Obviously the DDR4 has a faster clock speed, but the SSD has a better read/write

They both have i5 6th generation same clock speed, same graphics etc..

The dell one is 200 quid more for the spec i need. Dell said they no longer let you configure the models for this and suggest i buy their one, then buy a SSD and swap them out myself.

I will be using this mostly for visual studio development for web applications and just messing about on google etc..

Can anyone help me decide please, i know some of the guys on here are excellent with this sorta stuff or suggest another like for like model maybe?

here are the laptop profiles:

It wont let me post the links..

Thank you kindly,

Alanstrainor

The SSD performance will be far far better than DDR4. Well, it will be far more noticeable. I would want the best spec possible, so I can see the draw of DDR4, but without an SSD I just wouldn't go for it.

driverl

Thank you alan that is very helpful. it is a noticeable performance im looking for

grogi

You will not be able to tell between DDR3 and DDR4. Performance difference between HDD and SSD - humongous.

SVI40

Definitely the SSD will have a bigger impact. I upgraded my SATA drive to SSD, and logon time went from +5 minutes to 22 seconds. Everything is so much faster since the SSD went in.

TerrorFirmer

Are you sure it's a 500GB SSD and not an SSHD? Still an improvement on a normal hard drive but not as fast as an SSD.

In any case, if it's €200 more just for DDR4, forget it. You'd want to be doing serious crunching with your laptop around the clock to notice any difference.

driverl

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Are you sure it's a 500GB SSD and not an SSHD? Still an improvement on a normal hard drive but not as fast as an SSD.

In any case, if it's €200 more just for DDR4, forget it. You'd want to be doing serious crunching with your laptop around the clock to notice any difference.

Good point, i just looked at it again and your right.
it offers a choice of the following for the lenovo:

SSHD 500GB5400 8GB Cache

192GB Solid State Drive, SATA3

the SSD is 22 EUR more. so its a case of working out my storage requirements, thanks for the advise guys you have been great help.

ED E

I maintain a Y50 with one of those SSHDs, they're dire. Performance is all over the shop, a decent regular drive would be far better.