does switching hdd to ssd make any difference in a netbook?

[OctupleGolf001]

specs: intel atom n570
ram:2gb
storage:200gb hdd
i found it in my garage untouched for years.....

 

[Athlonite]

YES yes it does as the biggest problem with HDD's is the very slow file access speeds where SSD's do not as they don't need to spin up from sleep nor do they have to position a read or write head because there are no moving parts the real problem will be that crappy n570 atom cpu being able to process the data quick enough although it will be still substantially faster than when using an HDD

 

[Toothless]

It would help, but man those old Atoms arent very strong to begin with.

 

[MIRTAZAPINE]

It would help but I would not spend too much on an ssd at all. That atom just could not do much.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I agree it would help. But if me, I would bump up the RAM, if possible, first.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Mostly not. It will be bottlenecked by the CPU thread speed on disk operations, not the disk itself.

 

[OctupleGolf001]

I agree it would help. But if me, I would bump up the RAM, if possible, first.

the maximum supported ram is 2gb

Mostly not. It will be bottlenecked by the CPU thread speed on disk operations, not the disk itself.

thats what even i was wondering......, will the cpu bottleneck the drive so badly that it would make no difference between hdd and ssd?

 

[Bill_Bright]

A CPU is not going to bottleneck a SATA drive.

"IF" that netbook supported a PCIe SSD, then maybe the CPU would be the limiting factor. But it is highly unlikely an old netbook supports adding a PCIe SSD - especially since you are talking about replacing the HD.

I see no reason to put any money into that computer. You said it has been sitting "untouched for years". That would include the battery. I say take the netbook to Best Buy and toss it in their electronics recycling bin and declare it a "win" for helping to declutter the garage.

 

[Liquid Cool]

I see no reason to put any money into that computer.

This is sound advice.

Use the money towards something else. If the budget is tight(and you have to have something)...shop used on ebay. You can purchase excellent laptops for $50 to $100 - easily. I just purchased a HP MT42 Thin Client(same as HP 745 Elitebook G3) for 54 bucks and it came with 8GB's of memory and a M.2 SSD. It is essentially just like brand new and easily handles Skyrim at 60 FPS.

Best,

Liquid Cool

 

[seth1911]

it would help, but take a 30$ SSD thats enough for a Sys like that

 

[thesmokingman]

i found it in my garage untouched for years.....

Recycle it...

 

[newtekie1]

A CPU is not going to bottleneck a SATA drive.

Have you used one of these old Atoms? The CPU will most definitely bottleneck a SATA SSD. Even doing basic things like load webpages and opening programs will be slowed down by the CPU.

thats what even i was wondering......, will the cpu bottleneck the drive so badly that it would make no difference between hdd and ssd?

It is going to make a difference, even a noticeable one. I had an ASUS EeePC back in the day with one of those Atom processors and swapping out the HDD for an SSD made a definite noticeable difference in general performance. However, I wouldn't put a huge amount of money into the PC at all. If you have an older SSD laying around and you just want to toss it in there, then sure. But I wouldn't buy an SSD with the purpose of using it in the computer. Luckily you have the 2 Core 4 Thread version of the Atom. It's capable of basic office type stuff like Word, and internet browsing. The 1 Core Atoms were utter trash. Though even something like watching Youtube can be too much for these systems anymore. You might be able to get away with 360p youtube, but that's about it. I know my EeePC started to struggle with even 480p youtube and that's why I finally got rid of it.

On the other hand, if the netbook is in really good condition, you can just sell it on ebay. I don't know why, maybe it's because they are becoming something of a collectors item, but they are selling on ebay for way more money than they should be. Like in the $150 range last time I looked. Then you can just take that money and get a Chromebook and that will do what the netbook is capable of and more.

 

[Ferrum Master]

the maximum supported ram is 2gb


thats what even i was wondering......, will the cpu bottleneck the drive so badly that it would make no difference between hdd and ssd?

Depends on the task, it will boot a bit faster, but other things not much, like browsing. In my experience when upgrading such weak PC's, it wasn't worth the effort, I always saw some thread capped at 100% doing something and not waiting on the SSD. You can se the drive afterwards as an upgrade item elsewhere. HDD is slow enough or fast enough to be in balance with the Atom based PC. So I would leave it as it is.

The point is good what newtekie1 said... that thing barely handles 720p youtube, what even a RaspberryPI does. I would sell the PC and invest to some other as the first payment. Life is too short to struggle on a crap PC. I remember CPU-Z benchies, where with RTB post the Atom was on par with my old Pentium III Tualatin... so yeah...

 

[Bill_Bright]

Have you used one of these old Atoms? The CPU will most definitely bottleneck a SATA SSD. Even doing basic things like load webpages and opening programs will be slowed down by the CPU.

Yes.

A 1.6GHz CPU is not going to bottleneck a 600MHz (maximum) SATA interface.

If drive access is being bottlenecked, it is by the bus, or something else, not the CPU.

Loading webpages is dependent primarily on the Internet connection and NIC. Loading programs - again, that would be mostly dependent on the drive, the SATA interface, and for sure, in this case, that tiny 2GB of RAM.

Also, I doubt that netbook even has the latest SATA III interface. It is more likely to be SATA II running a maximum 300MHz.

 

[Toothless]

Yes.

A 1.6GHz CPU is not going to bottleneck a 600MHz (maximum) SATA interface.

If drive access is being bottlenecked, it is by the bus, or something else, not the CPU.

Loading webpages is dependent primarily on the Internet connection and NIC. Loading programs - again, that would be mostly dependent on the drive, the SATA interface, and for sure, in this case, that tiny 2GB of RAM.

Also, I doubt that netbook even has the latest SATA III interface. It is more likely to be SATA II running a maximum 300MHz.

While I usually agree with your posts, I really don't think an Atom is going to keep up with the SSD. Having used an Atom and SSD combo before sure it does help, but you're still waiting on the CPU for almost everything.

 

[QuietBob]

Adding an SSD would make a difference, even on a netbook. The main thing you'd notice is increased responsiveness. Booting, loading and file operations would also take less time to complete. The difference wouldn't be night and day with an Atom CPU, but it'd be perceptible. I tested HDD vs. SSD in an even slower single core desktop - the change was noticeable. And the N570 has four threads.

Would the swap be practical? With a spare old SSD, I wouldn't hesitate. Buying one new would probably make less sense, unless you're a retro hobbyist.

 

[Ferd]

Waste of money imo

 

[eidairaman1]

specs: intel atom n570
ram:2gb
storage:200gb hdd
i found it in my garage untouched for years.....

Yes, logic vs mechanical

 

[newtekie1]

Yes.

A 1.6GHz CPU is not going to bottleneck a 600MHz (maximum) SATA interface.

If drive access is being bottlenecked, it is by the bus, or something else, not the CPU.

Loading webpages is dependent primarily on the Internet connection and NIC. Loading programs - again, that would be mostly dependent on the drive, the SATA interface, and for sure, in this case, that tiny 2GB of RAM.

Also, I doubt that netbook even has the latest SATA III interface. It is more likely to be SATA II running a maximum 300MHz.

Go back and educate yourself on how computers work. The storage interface is just part of the entire data handling process to get a result to the user. If there is a bottleneck anywhere along the process, like a slow processor that can't actually process the data, then the SSD will be bottlenecked. This is the case with the Atom processor.

Also, I find it hilarious that you completely mixed up MB/s and MHz. Ignoring the fact that we are way past the whole storage interface is synced with the CPU clock speed(are you stuck in the 486 days?). The SATA interface does not run at 600MHz. The SATA 3.0 standard runs at 600MB/s. Its physical clock speed is 300MHz. Which you can verify literally in page 1 of chapter 1 of the SATA-III host controller data sheet found here.

But the bus clock speed doesn't matter, and hasn't mattered for decades now, the amount of data it can transfer is what matters and if the CPU can actually process that amount of data as fast as the SSD can provide it. And the answer to that is NO it can't.

On top of that, there is the fact that the only compatible chipset for the N570 is the NM10, and that chipset only had SATA 2.0 ports, meaning a max speed of 300MB/s. So if you put any modern SATA SSD in that system, it will instantly be bottlenecked. And then add on top that the CPU still can't process the data fast enough to keep up with the 300MB/s.

 

[Bill_Bright]

That's what I get for trying to post when I needed to get out the door. My bad.

I still contend it is the 2GB of RAM that is the bigger (smaller) bottleneck here.