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    SSD + HDD in laptop

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by MtnMike, Jan 5, 2009.

  1. MtnMike

    MtnMike Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'm considering a solid state drive but the one I want is only 80GB and I will need more. Fortunately, my laptop has 2 drive bays so I'm wondering what it'd be like to use my current HDD as my user data disk (Documents, Music, Video, etc) and getting a new SSD for my C drive and installing Vista 64bit on it?

    I'm looking for a peppier PC basically:
    1) boot faster (even with readyboost, it takes too long to boot now)
    2) load apps faster
    3) better frame rate and loading within games

    Vista, Games and other apps would be installed on the SSD drive. So loading the next mission in the game would be data stored on the SSD or DVD, however if I saved a game and it used Vista's SavedGames folder, the save would be on the HDD.

    My uneducated assumption is I'd see an improvement in all 3 areas I listed above.

    Am I right? Anyone experience this?
     
    MtnMike, Jan 5, 2009
    #1
  2. davepermen

    davepermen Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    all except better framerate.
     
    davepermen, Jan 5, 2009
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  3. MtnMike

    MtnMike Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yeah, not sure why I put frame rate in there. For games, some just take a while to load the map, course, etc. when you start a mission, race, etc. It'd be nice to cut that down. The biggest thing is boot time. I use readyboost but really can't tell if that makes a difference or not.
     
    MtnMike, Jan 5, 2009
    #3
  4. Kamin_Majere

    Kamin_Majere =][= Ordo Hereticus

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    Its because you have a 6860... with 4gb of RAM ready boost is basically useless.

    The SSD will help out alot in load times though. The frame rates will increase with a CPU upgrade the t5550 that the 6860's came with is its biggest "weak" factor
     
    Kamin_Majere, Jan 5, 2009
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  5. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    If you get a good SSD, you will see an improvement in boot and app loading times. The key words here are "good SSD". Given that you have sufficient RAM (3GB of more for the most part), ReadyBoost almost always won't give a significant performance boost.
     
    Commander Wolf, Jan 5, 2009
    #5