adding a ssd

I had a Dell which afforded the options of changing HDD and optical drive too.

essenbe said:

As far as games, games will load faster if installed on the SSD, but the game play is the same. The only advantage for 99% of games is the time it takes to load them. There is no performance gain by having them installed on the SSD.

Actually, there are a few titles that do benefit from running of a SSD. It certainly helped 'smooth' things in GTA IV for example. (Less 'hitchy' overall. It was also originally installed on a RAID 0 HDD)


But yeah, the vast majority it is just load time improvements for games.

linnemeyerhere said:

With a 60 -90 gb ssd then only OS and essential software and limited if any games. With a 128 gb ssd then options grow exponentially, with a 256 gb or larger then the world is you oyster and I would say load all programs that will fit to within a maximum of 10-15% reserve if you can as that's a lot of software. As always all data to a spinner and as always routinely image the ssd to another drive for a back up.

linnemeyerhere said:

If anyone has opened Photoshop Elements or a heavier version of Photoshop with a spinner and then an SSD....instant convert. I use a contact database and it's huge opening with a spinner painful.....ssd and sip of coffee and set the mug down and it's open. Life is just so much better with spinners holding data and a great ssd opening things up.

smarteyeball said:

Actually, there are a few titles that do benefit from running of a SSD. It certainly helped 'smooth' things in GTA IV for example. (Less 'hitchy' overall. It was also originally installed on a RAID 0 HDD)


But yeah, the vast majority it is just load time improvements for games.

Can't improve upon that advice linnemeyerhere. Well stated.

I'd agree smarteyeball with the less "hitchy" idea. Originally I had Dirt 3 installed to a WD Black Caviar but moved it to the SSD and there are certain places in the game where things appear smoother. Nothing I can test per se now, but I've not noticed these glitches since installing the game to the SSD.

Cancerous said:

LeftC said:

Cancerous said:

... Of course you MUST install your OS on the ssd, that's half the purpose. Went from my shitty laptop drives to a high-end desktop last week and very much enjoy the 6 second power-to-desktop :)

Congrads on the new hi-end desktop!

Concerning your laptop drives, have you read about the "drive caddies" made by NewModeUS.com? You can remove your laptop's CD/DVD drive, install a SSD in a caddy and then install the SSD caddy where the CD/DVD drive used to be. Voila! Fast laptop!!

Then use a USB/SATA or eSATA/SATA cable for your CD/DVD drive made by the same company. This way, you can attach your CD/DVD drive when you need it. They also carry pouches and rubber enclosures for your CD/DVD drive.

Considering even opening the laptop case voids the warranty, I don't think it's worth it. I'm giving it to my mum anyway, so there's not really any need for it.

I installed a 512GB Samsung 840 Pro where my CD/DVD drive was using the caddy for my Dell 17" Inspiron laptop. There is one screw on the backside of the laptop that held my CD/DVD drive in. I removed that screw and just pulled the CD/DVD drive out. I put my SSD in the caddy and put it in where the other drive was. Then I used the same screw to hold it back in. I can go back to stock with this setup in just a few minutes. So, if a warranty problem surfaces, I can easily return to stock and they won't know the difference. I had to remove a part from the CD/DVD drive. There is a "L" shaped bracket on the back of the CD/DVD drive that I had to take off and transfer it to the caddy. There were 2 screws that held it on. So, there were 3 screws in total that I used for this conversion. Extremely easy conversion!

Check out the following installation guide, The second example is somewhat similar to what I had to do with my laptop: How to replace HDD with SSD, then use the HDD as a 2nd drive : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

Video: Replace a laptop's CD/DVD optical drive with a Hard Drive - YouTube

This is the exact $45 caddy kit that I used: 2nd HDD /SSD Caddy, DELL Inspiron 17R (N7010, N7110, 7220, 7720) [OBHD-SATA12-SATA-BU] - $44.75 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks