Solved SSD upgrade for a laptop

[Musicandgta]

Hello,

I currently have two 750gb drives, both are 7200rpm. Is it worth me upgrading to a SSD? If so should I get one small capacity SSD just for my OS, or should I get two large SSDs. I was thinking get a medium capacity SSD for the OS and commonly used programs, and get an external data drive (USB 3.0) for other programs, music, videos. What will be the best upgrade option?

Thanks allot -Jack

 

[alphanumeric]

I went with a 128 GB SSD for my OS and 256 GB SSD for my DATA. The 750 GB spinner that was in my laptop went in an external USB 3.0 enclosure for anything I don't really need on the DATA drive and backup. The benefits of using an SSD in a laptop are many. No moving parts in the SSD means less power drawn from the battery and less heat generated which also lessens the drain on the battery, as the fan will run less often. Add in the blazingly fast speed increase over a spinner drive and its a win, win, situation. If cost is a consideration you could just go with an SSD for the OS and a spinner for the DATA.

 

[Musicandgta]

I went with a 128 GB SSD for my OS and 256 GB SSD for my DATA. The 750 GB spinner that was in my laptop went in an external USB 3.0 enclosure for anything I don't really need on the DATA drive and backup. The benefits of using an SSD in a laptop are many. No moving parts in the SSD means less power drawn from the battery and less heat generated which also lessens the drain on the battery, as the fan will run less often. Add in the blazingly fast speed increase over a spinner drive and its a win, win, situation. If cost is a consideration you could just go with an SSD for the OS and a spinner for the DATA.

Alright thanks I'm considering saving for a 960 GB SSD, for my programs, OS and games. Then use one of my current mechanical drives for media storage.
Thanks

 

[alphanumeric]

You've got bigger pockets than I have, I could only just afford what I bought. The big SSD drives come with a big price tag. What ever works for you though, if you can afford it go for it.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I thought about getting a 512GB SSD to replace the 500GB spinner in my notebook but it just galled me to spend 50% more for it than I spent on a notebook I don't use all that often.

 

[whs]

I thought about getting a 512GB SSD to replace the 500GB spinner in my notebook but it just galled me to spend 50% more for it than I spent on a notebook I don't use all that often.

Good thinking LF. I work with 60GB SSDs on my desktops and 80 to 90GB SSDs on my laptops. I never had a problem and my oldest SSDs are from 2008.

I just plunged into a 120GB OCZ Vector because it was on sale at Newegg - sounded too good to pass on, LOL. But it has been sitting on my desk since more than 6 weeks. I am still not sure what to do with the thing.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...I just plunged into a 120GB OCZ Vector because it was on sale at Newegg - sounded too good to pass on, LOL. But it has been sitting on my desk since more than 6 weeks. I am still not sure what to do with the thing.

Unlike you, I'm a cheap, old bit...broad and won't buy anything unless I really need it.

 

[kbrady1979]

I would go for a 128/256GB SSD for the OS and programs/applications.....and put your User folder(Documents, Pictures, Music, Video) on one of the hard drives.

 

[whs]

I would go for a 128/256GB SSD for the OS and programs/applications.....and put your User folder(Documents, Pictures, Music, Video) on one of the hard drives.

For the OS and normal programs (no games), 60GB is ample. My 60GB drives are either half empty or I run a second OS in virtual on them. And even then I have space to spare. It is only a matter of proper organization.

 

[alphanumeric]

I'm usually on a very tight budget but just recently had what could be a one time chance to just buy what I actually wanted. This opportunity likely won't come around again for me so I took advantage of it. I bought an ASUS K75DE laptop. I'm AMD all the way. Then I replaced the spinner hard drive for a 128 GB Crucial M4 and a 256 GB Crucial M4. It's a big monster with a 17.3 inch screen so it has 2 drive bays. I have hibernation and fast boot disabled and it boots up in seconds. It came with Windows 8 (core). I've since upgraded to 8 Pro and then added Media center. The touch pad supports gestures so Windows 8 is usable and easy enough to get where you want without having to put money in the swear jar.

 

[whs]

That looks like a great laptop - if you can still call it that way (need a big lap, LOL).

But I would have kept 1 spinner for the data. I find very little advantage to have user data on the SSD.

 

[alphanumeric]

I could have gone that way but opted not to. I like to have my Data, documents, pictures, music, etc on separate drive or partition. That way I can just nuke the OS drive when I do a clean install. I could have bought one big SSD or two smaller drives, I went with two SSD's. The 750 GB spinner went into a USB 3 external enclosure for the overflow and seldom used stuff. The 750 GB drive that was in it was only a 5400 RPM drive.

EDIT: lol, a Big lap and a big laptop bag required. I'm still looking for a laptop bag big enough to hold it. I'll likely end up getting a back pack.

 

[whs]

I understand what you are doing - it is the typical desktop scenario. OS on the SSD and user data on a second disk (in my case always HDDs).

I just like the larger capacity of the HDD for the user data plus I also keep an extra partition for imaging the SSD (which I also image to an external eSata attached spinner).

On one of my desktops I have 2 HDDs plus the SSD. That is ideal. I never noticed any performance lag for fetching the user data. But those are all 7200RPM HDDs. My OS footprint on the SSDs is usally small (appr. 30GB) and imaging to the internal HDD takes only 5 minutes (with free Macrium).

 

[Faladu]

You have 2 SSD's in a laptop now?

It's possible you are going murder at least one of the SSDs with temp files and virtual memory writes, since the # of writes is finite to a sector, you will know when you start seeing a ton of errors and SSDs should never be defragmented.

Just FYI...

 

[alphanumeric]

Not to worry, no virtual memory file, virtual memory is set to 0. Indexing is turned off, system restore is turned off, fast boot and hibernation are disabled. Windows disabled defragmentation and enabled trim for both drives automatically.

 

[alphanumeric]

I understand what you are doing - it is the typical desktop scenario. OS on the SSD and user data on a second disk (in my case always HDDs).

I just like the larger capacity of the HDD for the user data plus I also keep an extra partition for imaging the SSD (which I also image to an external eSata attached spinner).

On one of my desktops I have 2 HDDs plus the SSD. That is ideal. I never noticed any performance lag for fetching the user data. But those are all 7200RPM HDDs. My OS footprint on the SSDs is usally small (appr. 30GB) and imaging to the internal HDD takes only 5 minutes (with free Macrium).

I'd go that route for my desktop if I ever get an SSD for it. My laptop just seemed a good candidate for an all SSD setup. Less noise, less heat and longer battery life. The second drive if it was a spinner would be running more often than not so I ditched it too.

 

[Faladu]

Just beware, some programs might not like no VM at all, even with tons of RAM... it happens.

Other programs setting their own default temp spots and defaulting to C: is a problem also.

I have survived about 9 months on this SSD so far, with the 7200RPM drive riding shotgun, the system IS still pretty robust.

 

[alphanumeric]

To be honest I'm not worried, not enough to make me put a spinner back in anyway. SSD's are a lot more robust than they were when they first appeared on the scene. Everything wears out eventually. The 128 GB drive was only around $100 Canadian. I would expect that one to fail first as its the OS drive. Maybe I got it wrong but, from what I've read, SSD drives just slowly shrink in size as more and more cells become unusable. When they can't be written to anymore they just get locked out and not used. Only time will tell. Haven't had any complaints about no virtual memory. If I was to try and install Adobe Creative suite or something similar I dare say I would get prompted to enable it. I've got the max 8 gigs of RAM in that laptop.

 

[whs]

Less noise, less heat and longer battery life.

That is an excellent reason. I solved the heat problem with one of my laptops by replacing the HDD with a SSD. I was not too worried about the battery life because it is permanently tethered, but that is a good point too if you run it on battery at times.

 

[Musicandgta]

Alright thanks for all the info, I might just get a 256gb SSD and use one of my current 750gb spinners. Since I'm only 13 and I don't have all that money at the moment