The best upgrade I've done - SSD FTW

Discussion in 'hardware' started by berryracer, Mar 12, 2012.

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  1. berryracer

    berryracer Suspended Member

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    So I've upgraded my Notebook every year just for the heck of having the latest. I always prefer the gaming notebooks although I don't play any game, but just for the fact that they usually boast the highest performance components.

    Everytime I upgrade my Notebook to a newer once (since 2009) I barely feel that the new notebook which I just paid for, is just merely 5-10% faster, nothing to be excited about, and certainly not something to pay at least $1000+ for.....

    I have always had i5 Notebooks...

    This time, I found a very good deal at a local store for an ASUS G73SW and the price was just $1400 USD and I loved it because I've always dreamt of owning a 17' Screen Notebook with a 7200 RPM HDD, and this one came with 2 SATA ports so I was very happy!

    It was definitely much faster than my previous i5 laptops, but again, nothing to get so excited about. My main bottle neck was the HDD, even @ 7200 RPM, I was not getting past the 5.9 mark in the performance test of Windows (yeah I know this test is crap but my HDD was always the bottleneck)

    2 days ago, I bit the bullet, and purchased a Kingston KC100 120 GB SATA3 HDD and since I have 2 places/slots for HDDs, I got rid of one of my HDDs and replaced it with the SSD and boy am I shocked to see the speed of my notebook unleash! It's mind blowing how different are SSDs to HDDs! It's like IM using a laptop from the future! I am so happy now!

    1 question though:
    I know I have the 2nd generation i7, but what is the difference between the first gen i7s and the 2nd gen i7's?
     
  2. philby

    philby Registered Member

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    Best upgrades I've made too!

    First and second generation i7s are compared here (5 pages).

    You could also go to Intel's site to compare specific models directly.

    philby
     
  3. Hungry Man

    Hungry Man Registered Member

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    I hear this all of the time. The absolute biggest difference people feel in terms of speed is when they move to a SSD.

    I'm waiting for an affordable 256GB drive but moving form my 5400RPM to my 7200RPM Hybrid SSD there's been a really noticeable difference across the board.

    I also went ahead and upgraded to 8GB of RAM - really nice for games like Civ5 and being able to run VMs with dedicated 4GB is great.
     
  4. berryracer

    berryracer Suspended Member

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    Yeah my notebook came with 8 GB RAM, it has 3 slots, one internal that you can't see, and 1 that had a 4GB stick, and one free RAM slot, so I got tempted and bought another 4 GB for a total of 12 GB, it just costed me $20 USD for a Kingston DDR3 PC1333 4 GB stick! RAM prices have become so cheap these days

    I also disabled my pagefile now and with all my programs loaded (I don't play games) I still have 8 GB free after using Windows for a few hours so it's all good :)
     
  5. Keyboard_Commando

    Keyboard_Commando Registered Member

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    You have the useful function of Widi with your processor. Widi

    You need a Widi Receiver hooked up to a TV/Monitor but they're reasonably cheap. Some of the newer TV/Monitors have the ability to receive the signal built in. Lg Widi TV

    I haven't tried Widi yet but people are saying good thing's about it. I will wait a while and try a TV with it built in.

    There is no going back once you've tried SSD.
     
  6. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

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    As I understand it SSDs have a limited read write life, one that is much shorter than regular drives. Are you folks using the SSDs for just the OS so as to avoid (or minimize) this issue?
     
  7. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    The 1st gen Core i7 architecture was called Nehalem and the 2nd gen Core i7 are called Sandy Bridge, the different can get very very technical (Which i don't know) BUT the basic things of course is that Sandy Bridge are mainly based 32nm architecture and are faster of course .
    One thing that might be interesting also is that the new Sandy Bridge architecture incorporates an integrated GPU (From Intel of course) in the same die as the CPU. :thumb:
     
  8. berryracer

    berryracer Suspended Member

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    As you can see from the SSD Life Pro screenshot, the SSD is able to run until the 14th of February 2021.

    Even if it runs for 3 to 5 years from now I am happy as I am sure I will upgrade to a bigger SSD once they become affordable

    IMO, the hype about SSDs having a limited lifetime is just a bunch of BS

    Some people make it sound like if you defragment it, it will die the next day which is not the case.

    I use Perfect Disk's SSD Optimization through free space consolidation and I am not the least bit scared.

    http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/1757/ssdlifepro.png
     

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  9. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    I'm one of those paranoids scared of SSD durability.
    I'll probably wait 2 years more to get one. (When i build a new PC, although mine is already crap i have better use for my money) :D
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2012
  10. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    Unless you get a defective drive this is a hugely exaggerated issue. There is no reason to do anything other than plug it in and use it as a normal drive.
     
  11. berryracer

    berryracer Suspended Member

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    you're the only one missing on the extreme high performance...

    keep waiting... people like you will never enjoy the latest stuff

    and trust me, the first time you use an SSD, youll kick yourself for not having upgraded to one way earlier
     
  12. Spruce

    Spruce Registered Member

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    Yeah, SSDs are awesome :cool:
     
  13. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    Hahaha, well i don't pull the trigger for many reasons, the main one is because my PC specs are LAME. I build it back in 2008 and for that time it was a LOW MID END PC, just go wonder what it would be now . . . even a calculator is faster than it /Sarcasm
    And the second one being the money :D
    When i buy things i want them to last because i don't really have a huge budget for these kind of things, my current PC already has 4 years and i'm still planning to use it for a few years more. (4 Years for a supposedly "Gaming" PC is a LOT!)

    Anyways, i'll upgrade to SSD the next time i build a new PC. That's for sure.
     
  14. TheKid7

    TheKid7 Registered Member

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  15. 1chaoticadult

    1chaoticadult Registered Member

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    You won't regret it my friend.
     
  16. Cloudcroft

    Cloudcroft Registered Member

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    Noob, I put an SSD in a five year old Dell Inspiron notebook and installed Windows 7 on it. The notebook is so much "snappier" now, I don't think I'll ever have a computer without an SSD. And my SSD is slow compared to the newer models, but it's blazing fast to me. If you're going to have your computer for a couple of more years, it'll be worth it to install an SSD now. You won't regret it!
     
  17. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    Hahaha thanks for the recommendations, still i will wait until i build a completely new PC. :D
     
  18. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

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    Thanks for the info though I must say I am a bit surprised since there was a discussion on this subject not too long ago on this forum and the consensus was that SSDs had a significantly limited life relative to regular drives. I will be upgrading my laptop next year and may just go the SSD route based on your comments.
     
  19. berryracer

    berryracer Suspended Member

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    o_O
    Yes, the life is limited on an SSD to 20 years LOL!! Who cares! noone keeps an HDD more than 5-6 years IMO so it's 100% safe
     
  20. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    Well i do :D (Yeah seriously, not joking) :D
    I still have my 40GB HDD back from 2003 and i had my 5GB HDD back from 2001 (But it died a few years ago xD) :D
     
  21. berryracer

    berryracer Suspended Member

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    well I was just joking bro :D

    the SSD life according to SSD Life Pro (a program which monitors the health of your SSD) says its estimated life is until 2022 so let's just deduct 5 years to be on the safe side..... that's 2018, by then I think it will be time for you to upgrade your soon to be purchased SSD :D
     
  22. Hungry Man

    Hungry Man Registered Member

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    SSD life isn't an issue anymore. It used to be for older drives and even then it had an average lifespan ~6 years, which is the average lifespan for mechanical drives.
     
  23. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    I hope so . . . Hahahaha
    Actually i don't upgrade my PC too often because PC Hardware here is too expensive, usually when i upgrade it, it's because i went to the USA and at the same time i purchase a few things and finish the build here. :D
     
  24. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

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    :argh: :argh: ten years would be more than long enough to be sure. :thumb:
     
  25. Websurfer53

    Websurfer53 Registered Member

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    Cloudcraft, can you please tell me what model Inspiron you have and what make/model SSD you installed? I have a Dell Inspiron 1520 which is about 7 years old and I'm looking for an SSD for it. I'd like a 120 GB SSD and spend about $150, but will (grudgingly) go as high as $175.

    I've been researching SSDs and it seems that I have to have a certain type which will work with my older chipset/bios, but I'm a bit confused as to what I should be looking for. One post said to only get an Intel SSD to be sure it works with an older Intel processor.

    Can anyone please give me some advice on this what I should be looking for and what would give me the best bang for my buck.

    Thank you in advance for your expertise.

    Larry
     
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