Upgrading Notebook Drive

[ArmoredCavalry]

Right now I have the stock 5400rpm 250GB drive in my notebook.

I'd like to upgrade to get a bit more speed out of it, but can't decide if I want to go with an SSD, or just upgrade to a 7200rpm drive.

What do you think would be a better value for the money?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139004

or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280 + case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817193057

I would be really squeezed on only 64GB, but I think I could make do, if the performance increase is worth it. I'm not really convinced though, at least not for this particular SSD.

 

[angelkiller]

FYI, that SSD is JMicron based, but I've read that it's uses some revised controller and doesn't stutter.

Also, that WD Black is currently on sale at Dell for $55 + Shipping using the following codes

7XRCSVHMT9VDL0 
7LXC0FZZR54P3X

I think in this situation the HDD would have better value. 5x the storage space at 50% of the speed at 40% of the price. (that made no sense but w/e) The hdd seems to make more sense because it's 5x the storage, still very fast (faster than what you have) and it's less than half the price of the SSD. Going the SSD route will double the cost, but performance will not double (but you'll see some sick gains) and storage capacity will be 5 times smaller.

Just to add, I think the HDD has better value, in other words, the most bang for the buck. But that doesn't mean it's the best solution... Purely from a cost/performance perspective.

 

[95Viper]

Unless you are really looking for a increase in capacity, I would forgo the HDDs. If file reads are your main concern go for the SSDs. Some SSDs (first ones to come out) had issues in some laptops. The newer models, not so much. Read/Write speeds have gotten better with the newer SSDs and chipsets.

I put a WD black 7200 in the wifes laptop and got a small increase in read/write speeds and a decrease in access over the 5400rpm oem Hitachi. I only went that route, because the wife was looking for increased storage over speed. As soon as my bracket to install a second drive gets here she will have a SSD boot and OS drive; then I'll move the WD to do storage duty, as 2nd drive. And, she will have the best of both worlds.

Speed = SSD = higher cost per megabyte
vs.
Capacity = HDD = lower cost per megabyte

Happy TPUing!

 

[ArmoredCavalry]

Darn, you guys couldn't agree and make this easy for me. Now I have to think some more.

I've been looking at all the SSD's on newegg, and this one by Corsair seems to have some crazy performance (Samsung controller could be what is helping):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233087

I have the money for it, however, I don't know if I could justify spending that much on my laptop which I use maybe 5% of the time, compared with Desktop 95% of the time.

Edit: Also, my notebook only has 1 HDD slot (Dell m1530), so a two drive solution isn't option unfortunately.

However, I have seen some miniPCIe (sata) SSD's for netbooks. I know the m1530 has an avaliable miniPCI-e slot (It had 3 spare before I installed an additional wireless card). I'm not sure if it could work with a miniPCIe sata though...

Here is an example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609435

Update: darn it sounds like it is actually sata, configured to fit into a miniPCIe port... So wouldn't work...

 

[lemonadesoda]

You'll probably get better return with the following investment:

1./ SSD for your desktop
2./ More memory in your laptop

 

[ArmoredCavalry]

You'll probably get better return with the following investment:

1./ SSD for your desktop
2./ More memory in your laptop

I would love to have an SSD for desktop, but I use a crapload of space for games. I can't see even a 128 GB SSD cutting it... Unfortunately. Heck right now I'm using 336GB, on my o/s and program partition. Whether the performance increase from SSD's is worth 2x128GB in raid, I don't know that is a pretty large chunk of change...

I already have 4 gigs for my laptop. :\

 

[angelkiller]

I would love to have an SSD for desktop, but I use a crapload of space for games. I can't see even a 128 GB SSD cutting it... Unfortunately. Heck right now I'm using 336GB, on my o/s and program partition. Whether the performance increase from SSD's is worth 2x128GB in raid, I don't know that is a pretty large chunk of change...

I already have 4 gigs for my laptop. :\

You don't have to put all your games on a SSD. Just the ones that benefit from fast disk access (lots of level loads, loading screens etc) and the ones that you play most frequently. Just an idea.

 

[lemonadesoda]

Yep. Consider having a TWO drive setup. One drive for your OS, programs and swapdrive, and the other for your data, media, games etc.