adding a ssd

[Cancerous]

... 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.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Considering even opening the laptop case voids the warranty,

Not always. If there are stickers sealing the screws, then yes. My HP Ultrabook needs to be opened just to replace the battery or add more memory, and my warranty is still intact.

 

[Britton30]

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

 

[smarteyeball]

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.

 

[Wordsworth]

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.

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.

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.

 

[LeftC]

... 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