SSD - Cost effective upgrade

[lopburi3]

After 7 years of slow HD drive C on my Lenovo one piece B310 computer have made the change - and wish I had done sooner.  The speed is not only for boot (about 5x faster) - all programs and images open much faster - updates are blindly fast.  Although USB is still version 2 and copy speed is the same there is no read lag time from drive C so effective copy to USB also appears faster.  All in all a very happy camper.  At a cost of 2,290 for Kingston 480GB SSD consider it money well spent.

 

There are videos for DIY and free Mini Tool Partition Wizard is often recommended and what I used to copy C drive to SSD.  I had 3.5" external drive case and just used that to attach SSD - otherwise would need a USB/SATA connector.  Remember SSD will not appear as a drive under Windows 10 until formatted so don't panic when not listed under "this PC".  The Mini Tool will find it fine.  For me had to use second option to just format operating system (drive C) as first will also want to add any logical drive (had a second partition drive did not want).  As long as SSD is larger than drive C data you should be OK as partition size does not need to match.  Did the copy (about 250GB as included a lot of video) and took almost 3 hours as only have USB2.  Apply start on Mini Tool failed after few seconds as drive C in use so just let it reboot and all taken care of outside of Windows with no shutting off display.  Process 1 (of 5) is the long one - others are only a few seconds.  Once done replaced B310 HD with the SSD and worked first time - but no sound (of HD) so was not sure for several seconds.

 

If not comfortable doing should not cost much to have a computer shop do as very easy and it makes a huge improvement in computer operation. 

Edited December 13, 2018 by lopburi3

[longball53098]

I have upgraded 3 PCs with new Samsung Evo 500 GB SSD drives over the last year or so and one more to do this week. One Asus laptop, one HP desktop tower and one MSI mini PC. I agree that the performance is quite noticeable. Recommend this for anyone wanting a faster PC

[robblok]

I am not exactly sure how you did it with an external case. If it still uses USB for the connection its still slow (in comparison to what it could be). For an ssd a SATA connection is advised. I got an Usb SSD and its a lot slower then my sata SSD and that is again slower then my M.2 SSD. 

[lopburi3]

1 minute ago, robblok said:

I am not exactly sure how you did it with an external case. If it still uses USB for the connection its still slow (in comparison to what it could be). For an ssd a SATA connection is advised. I got an Usb SSD and its a lot slower then my sata SSD and that is again slower then my M.2 SSD. 

This was to clone the operating system disc - the external case has a SATA connector for the 3.5" HD normally contained in it - like most HD it had bit the dust.  Once the operating system copied you take the SSD and replace the old HD system disc.  Put the old Drive in the external case and now have that as available storage.  The SSD is in the computer as drive C.

[wgdanson]

18 minutes ago, robblok said:

I am not exactly sure how you did it with an external case. If it still uses USB for the connection its still slow (in comparison to what it could be). For an ssd a SATA connection is advised. I got an Usb SSD and its a lot slower then my sata SSD and that is again slower then my M.2 SSD. 

Then get an SSD without a casing, just SATA connector. It should replace the original no problem. USB3 is pretty fast though.

[longball53098]

In my case the HP full size HDD was replaced with the SSD drive. I needed a mounting adapter to allow installing the SSD into the old HDD bay. The other two were direct remove the old HDD and install the new SSD drive into the mounts. The SSD drives were cloned using the Samsung provided software prior to installing. All 3 went very smooth.

[robblok]

20 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

This was to clone the operating system disc - the external case has a SATA connector for the 3.5" HD normally contained in it - like most HD it had bit the dust.  Once the operating system copied you take the SSD and replace the old HD system disc.  Put the old Drive in the external case and now have that as available storage.  The SSD is in the computer as drive C.

Ah ok i get it now, sorry i thought your PC was so old that it could not use a normal sata connector and you used USB. 

[robblok]

8 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Then get an SSD without a casing, just SATA connector. It should replace the original no problem. USB3 is pretty fast though.

I dont want to replace the usb3 SSD, its just a backup tool. I just commented on the speed difference of sata VS USB for use with an SSD.

[Peterw42]

I think it needs to be mentioned that any overall system speed is often relative to how much RAM you have. A system with plenty of RAM wont be running a big pagefile (useing HD as RAM) and getting stuff on and off a hardrive every-time you do something. Hard drive speed is not as relevant if everything is running in RAM.

Often the systems that show a vast improvement with an SSD is a system that didnt have enough RAM and was grinding away running a huge pagefile. 

Sure, an SSD is a vast improvement but a cost effective speed improvement, in the first instance, can often be found with some extra RAM.

 

 

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

20 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

I think it needs to be mentioned that any overall system speed is often relative to how much RAM you have. A system with plenty of RAM wont be running a big pagefile (useing HD as RAM) and getting stuff on and off a hardrive every-time you do something. Hard drive speed is not as relevant if everything is running in RAM.

Often the systems that show a vast improvement with an SSD is a system that didnt have enough RAM and was grinding away running a huge pagefile. 

Sure, an SSD is a vast improvement but a cost effective speed improvement, in the first instance, can often be found with some extra RAM.

When you start the PC everything is on the disk and nothing is in RAM. So first it has to get from the disk to RAM. That takes time. And that takes especially a lot of time if the computer has to read many small files from many locations on the hard disk.

Some data does not have to be saved to the disk like looking at lots of web pages, etc. The PC should have enough RAM to keep it all in the RAM.

But if someone works i.e. in an accounting program then that program will save data to the disk to be sure the data is not lost if the computer crashes.

It's easy to see in the task manager how much RAM is used. In some cases 4GB RAM is enough, in many cases 8GB is enough, and only few people need 16GB or more.

[Pib]

Yep, the 4 SSDs I've put in my 4 laptops over the last 5 years made a very significant improvement in computer responsiveness/speed such as boot time and for many (not all) software programs.  Biggest improvement was seen on the lower power CPU machines.   These were machines running Win 10, 8, and 7.  

 

When I took two of the machines from 4GB to 8GB RAM I didn't really see any responsiveness/speed improvement for the basic software I use....4GB RAM was enough as around 3GB RAM was all the machine was ever using when monitoring with Task Manager. 

 

But I'm still glad I went to 8GB to have that extra RAM just in case. Once I went to 8GB the machines started using around 3 to 3.5GB RAM according to Task Manager leaving over 4GB as reserve.   For the basic user having LOTS of RAM is really overhyped....4 to 8GB is more than fine for the great majority of users except maybe if you are a big gamer.

[lopburi3]

RAM can also be problematic as different kids do not like to play nice together - so probably would have to change it all.  Been there and have the scars.  

[Pib]

Regarding extra RAM, whenever I upgrade RAM on a machine like where I'm adding a RAM module(s) I do my absolute best to get the exact same manufacturer/model of RAM as currently installed.  

 

Although numerous manufacturers make RAM for computers I want to make sure the additional RAM module(s) is a twin of the module(s) already in the computer as I want to minimize the possibility of different manufacturers' RAM modules not getting along all the time...giving me that occasional BSOD.  

[atyclb]

6 hours ago, longball53098 said:

In my case the HP full size HDD was replaced with the SSD drive. I needed a mounting adapter to allow installing the SSD into the old HDD bay. The other two were direct remove the old HDD and install the new SSD drive into the mounts. The SSD drives were cloned using the Samsung provided software prior to installing. All 3 went very smooth.

in desktop computers i have often used duct tape to secure a ssd rather than looking for a 3.5 to 2.5 bay adapter. 

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, atyclb said:

in desktop computers i have often used duct tape to secure a ssd rather than looking for a 3.5 to 2.5 bay adapter. 

I just used double sided tape on mine - even if falls not going anywhere - one piece computer not subject to handling of a laptop.  Duct tape would probably work fine even in active unit.

[SpaceKadet]

6 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

I think it needs to be mentioned that any overall system speed is often relative to how much RAM you have. A system with plenty of RAM wont be running a big pagefile (useing HD as RAM) and getting stuff on and off a hardrive every-time you do something. Hard drive speed is not as relevant if everything is running in RAM.

Often the systems that show a vast improvement with an SSD is a system that didnt have enough RAM and was grinding away running a huge pagefile. 

Sure, an SSD is a vast improvement but a cost effective speed improvement, in the first instance, can often be found with some extra RAM.

 

 

 

 

You should never run a system that uses pagefile (or swap for Linux). That is a performance killer. RAM is cheap enough to afford plenty of it. In fact the first thing I do on a new Windows install is to remove the pagefile.

And the HDD speed is very relevant. Try to load a big application, like Photoshop, from a slow spinner and compare it to loading from SSD. I won't even bother to mention modern games.

 

2 hours ago, Pib said:

Regarding extra RAM, whenever I upgrade RAM on a machine like where I'm adding a RAM module(s) I do my absolute best to get the exact same manufacturer/model of RAM as currently installed.  

...

Agree with that Pib, but sometimes the RAM is no longer manufactured, specially if you want to upgrade a few years later. I am desperately trying to source Crucial 4x8GB RAM ( 2400MHz, CL16) to upgrade my main rig to 64GB. In my experience, as long as the speed and the CL clock is the same as existing, it will work fine.

[Rawairat]

Made this change on a 5 year old laptop, removing the CD drive for a caddy to accommodate my existing HDD and putting a sata SSD in the hard drives place. Vast improvement on start times. Looking at doing my home PC from sata SSD to a VME SSD which should hopefully be a lot faster.  Looking at a Samsung 970 EVO 1 TB for around B7,000 from Australia. 

[wgdanson]

38 minutes ago, SpaceKadet said:

You should never run a system that uses pagefile (or swap for Linux). That is a performance killer. RAM is cheap enough to afford plenty of it. In fact the first thing I do on a new Windows install is to remove the pagefile.

And the HDD speed is very relevant. Try to load a big application, like Photoshop, from a slow spinner and compare it to loading from SSD. I won't even bother to mention modern games.

 

Agree with that Pib, but sometimes the RAM is no longer manufactured, specially if you want to upgrade a few years later. I am desperately trying to source Crucial 4x8GB RAM ( 2400MHz, CL16) to upgrade my main rig to 64GB. In my experience, as long as the speed and the CL clock is the same as existing, it will work fine.

Windows does not recommend running without any pagefile at all. It suggests a minimum of 400 MB to record any problems Windows may have. I run without any as I have 8GB of RAM

[oxforddon]

After many problems on a 2O14 21.5" iMac I recently switched to a Samsung SSD and replaced the supplied original internal HD at Apple iCare at Festival Central. Their service costs are only 990 baht no matter what they do but you have to buy your own parts in these instances. I could have gone the external SSD route but this internal drive is great. Fast and of course with no moving parts the heating issues are diminished. I didn't need more than 250GB so it was cheap and have a 1TB back-up HD that I restored everything from and back up to. Could not be happier.

[kkerry]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

I just used double sided tape on mine - even if falls not going anywhere - one piece computer not subject to handling of a laptop.  Duct tape would probably work fine even in active unit.

 

The drive bay adapters are only 60-100 baht if ever you want to tidy things up. Can be a bit hard to find some places. Last time I had to search about five shops at Zeer before I found some.

[SpaceKadet]

3 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Windows does not recommend running without any pagefile at all. It suggests a minimum of 400 MB to record any problems Windows may have. I run without any as I have 8GB of RAM

I am sure Windows recommends a lot of things, that I for one would not care about. How would you record problems if you had a pagefile? And who would solve any problems if I had them? Certainly not MS.

There is also a recommendation not to put a pagefile on an SSD (or NVMe) due to the nature of the NAND memory used.

 

I have been running without pagefile since Windows XP. Had plenty of BSDs due to bad nVidia drivers, or severe overclocking, but never because of lacking pagefile.

[Pedrogaz]

Do SSDs work with Macs?

[Pib]

8 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

Do SSDs work with Macs?

yes.

[BurgerGung]

Amazon.de sells brand name 120 GB SSDs for 22-24 €. Beat that!

 

SSDs are wonderful...

[lopburi3]

59 minutes ago, BurgerGung said:

Amazon.de sells brand name 120 GB SSDs for 22-24 €. Beat that!

 

SSDs are wonderful...

Easy - Lazada

Or 850 for this

Edited December 13, 2018 by lopburi3

[KneeDeep]

18 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Easy - Lazada

Or 850 for this

 

Western Digital Green SSD are low spec. So no reason to spend more on it than the Pioneer.

 

But where are the actual links? Pics on their own aren't that useful.

 

Never mind. Found it; https://www.lazada.co.th/products/ssd-pioneer-120gb-25-inch-aps-sl3-120gb-520400-mbs-3-i272233648-s429610195.html

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/ssd-pioneer-240gb-25-inch-aps-sl3-240gb-520450-mbs-3-i272220553-s429546675.html

 

These days everyone can afford fit an SSD as their Boot drive.

Edited December 14, 2018 by KneeDeep

[lopburi3]

SSD was very useful today as had Windows10 update and instead of the normal 20 minutes or more and often needing reboot all done in about 2-3 minutes.  

[KneeDeep]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

SSD was very useful today as had Windows10 update and instead of the normal 20 minutes or more and often needing reboot all done in about 2-3 minutes.  

 

SSD really makes a difference when it comes to the six monthly feature updates. 

[lopburi3]

Found this the hard way - you may need to remove indexing for the C drive when you replace with SSD (it is not required).  If you do not it may start read/write actions to SSD to extent that computer will hang until finished (much like this forum).  Select the drive/left click for properties and uncheck bottom item in general tab.  If you get another popup and can not do because busy don't worry about it as does not seem to matter - just want to remove that check mark.

[NanLaew]

On 12/13/2018 at 9:33 AM, kkerry said:

 

The drive bay adapters are only 60-100 baht if ever you want to tidy things up. Can be a bit hard to find some places. Last time I had to search about five shops at Zeer before I found some.

lazada has heaps of them.