Adding SSD Boot drive to new computer (1 Viewer)

[ChristopherG]

So I just bought a new desktop and haven't yet touched it (meaning it is still in the box). I have already decided I'm going to add a 256 gb SSD to use as the boot drive. I assume I should go ahead and fire new box up (the SSD doesn't deliver until Oct 11) and configure it and then install new boot drive and transfer OS (Windows 10 incidentally)?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I did a clean install when I added an SSD. But I just use the SSD for the OS and the program files; all of the other storage including My Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos etc. are on a much higher capacity HDD.

It definitely did improve my boot speed and program speed. The only small annoyance is when you've been operating solely off the SSD for a while and then you go to access something on the HDD and there's a delay of a couple seconds while the HDD spins up.

 

[ChristopherG]

Adam,

Thanks for the response. In my case (since you don't get a cd with the OS anymore) I'm wondering if I should at least fire up the box initially and do what ever minimal OS configuration is necessary and then install the SDD. I bought a Samsung SDD and from what I understand they provide an outstanding transfer SW that will take move the OS over. I'm assuming it will let me keep the music/docs/photos etc on the HDD.

 

[dpippel]

Macrium Reflect is a great free tool that will allow you to image one drive to the other, among many other things. Works great:

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

 

[ChristopherG]

Thanks Doug.

 

[dpippel]

Good luck!

 

[ChristopherG]

Thanks - the Macrium recommendation was spot on. The SDD is now the boot and program drive and blazing fast - setup similar to what Adam mentioned above - all default library locations are pointed at the HDD. What a huge difference.

 

[dpippel]

Awesome! Glad it worked out so well for you Chris.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Bumping this existing topic, rather than starting from scratch.

I'm possibly replacing my pooched 750 GB Western Digital SATA 2.5 inch internal hard drive with a 240 GB Kingston SSD for my Acer Aspire PC Laptop. Is Kingston considered reasonably reliable in the Solid State Drive realm?

CHEERS!

 

[Clinton McClure]

Kingston makes good RAM but I’ve no experience with their SSDs.

 

[DaveF]

The one review I found from 2013 said, in effect, that particular model is fine if cheaper than the other choices.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/6733/kingston-ssdnow-v300-review/8

The Wirecutter didn't consider Kingston at all. And none of the commenters had anything to say about that.

Samsung and Crucial seem the main brands to buy lately.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Kingston makes good RAM but I’ve no experience with their SSDs.

For me, it's been mainly Memory Sticks and SD Cards, although I may have once used Kingston for upgrading RAM on one of my previous PC Towers.

The one review I found from 2013 said, in effect, that particular model is fine if cheaper than the other choices.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/6733/kingston-ssdnow-v300-review/8

The Wirecutter didn't consider Kingston at all. And none of the commenters had anything to say about that.

Samsung and Crucial seem the main brands to buy lately.

My options are limited, as I'm keeping to a $50 budget for replacing the old SATA HD. That said, based on what I read recently, the 240 GB Kingston SSD should be reasonably sufficient, especially in comparison to my current makeshift 60 GB HD setup (Probably SATA 1), which is extremely given to freeze ups.

Thank you both very much for the feedback!

CHEERS!

 

[DaveF]

That’s $50 CAD?

I’m seeing a $77 USD 500GB Samsung EVO 960 on Amazon. But that’s probably not actually in your target price range after conversion.

I see. The Kingston 240GB is $30 USD. There’s a 240GB Sandisk for $35. I don’t know that the Sandisk is any better than the Kingston.

 

[Tony Bensley]

That’s $50 CAD?

I’m seeing a $77 USD 500GB Samsung EVO 960 on Amazon. But that’s probably not actually in your target price range after conversion.

I see. The Kingston 240GB is $30 USD. There’s a 240GB Sandisk for $35. I don’t know that the Sandisk is any better than the Kingston.

Yes, that's in CAD funds. Canada Computers has the Kingston 240 GB priced at $41 and change, and without the extended warranties, adds up to $46 and change. I'm reasonably comfortable with the built in 12 month manufacturer's warranty.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get the Kingston SSD sometime this week. The SA also told me they currently have more than ten in stock at their brick and mortar outlet, so I'm pretty confident that local pickup shouldn't be a hassle.

I'll post how everything goes with the SSD installation and subsequent Windows 10 clean install.

CHEERS!

 

[Clinton McClure]

Samsung and Crucial seem the main brands to buy lately.

When I replaced the spinning HDD in my mid-2012 MacBook Pro a few years ago, I used a 512GB Crucial SSD. That thing still cold boots to login in about 2 seconds and, once I enter my password, it boots to a usable desktop in another 4-5 seconds. Night and day difference to a spinning platter.

 

[John Dirk]

Hey Tony - SSD's are all about RAM and Kingston is [pardon the pun] one of the Kings in that industry. I think you're fine with that purchase.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Hey Tony - SSD's are all about RAM and Kingston is [pardon the pun] one of the Kings in that industry. I think you're fine with that purchase.

I'm greatly looking forward to all around much faster speeds, although I'm also trying to keep my expectations realistic, as I suspect my 2013 model Aspire Laptop is native SATA II, rather than III. Still, even just doubling the speed would be a significant improvement.

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

It appears that I'm set up for SATA 3:

Nearly 5.5 years on, I remain less than thrilled with the 8 GB maximum memory capability, especially as most of the then newer Laptops boasted 16 GB maximum memory capability. This was the one spec I was unable to locate any information for until months after our Acer Laptop purchases.

CHEERS!

 

[BobO'Link]

Tony, we have a couple of hundred Kingston SSDs in use. We purchased them to replace spinning platter drives to improve performance in older systems. We've had zero issues with them with many in the 3 year old range. You'll be amazed at how much faster your system will run with such a simple upgrade.

8GB RAM with Windows 10 is quite sufficient as long as you don't keep several programs open at once. While that amount would be good for Windows 7 it's very good with Windows 10. Win10 seems to be more efficient and runs better with less RAM. Right now my laptop is using ~6GB RAM with Firefox eating ~4GB of that (and mainly because I'm running 16 tabs and haven't restarted it in over a week). My desktop has only 8GB RAM and I regularly run Firefox with 20+tabs with little issue, often running a session of Ice Dragon browser with a half dozen tabs to do some limited things while FF is open with those 20+ tabs.

That said - look to see if there's a BIOS update for your system. On occasion a BIOS update will allow a system to use more RAM. A few years back we had some Dell desktops that with a BIOS update allowed us to double the amount of RAM they'd take.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Thanks for the tip regarding the BIOS update, Howie! I'll check that out once I get everything installed with the new Kingston SSD. It's good to know they're extremely reliable, as well!

Yeah, thankfully Windows 10 isn't a hog regarding RAM. The 6 GB that our Acer Laptops came with have been pretty sufficient since upgrading from Windows 8/8.1. I experienced a lot of freeze ups with that bloated OS, among other issues.

CHEERS!