Do I need an SSD?

[Maverick639]

Trying to help my grandpas Computer run faster. He has a Lenovo Ideapad 300. He has an intel Pentium 4405U, 4GB of ram, and a 500gb hard drive at 5400rpm. The PC is really slow on startup and opening programs, even when typing in the lookup menu in windows and having what you're looking for pop up. Would upgrading the HDD to an SSD fix this problem? Thanks!

[Adsome2007]

Yes get an sssd 

[Tamesh16]

most likely an ssd would help, when i upgraded my last laptop, it was so much faster at completing tasks and booting, 

but also could be crummy files and applications, reinstalling windows could also be a plus

[Metallus97]

Hell yes!

 

For the daily usage and overall feel of speed when doing anything on your pc: YES! Most important part 

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

14 minutes ago, Maverick639 said:

The PC is really slow on startup and opening programs, even when typing in the lookup menu in windows and having

this loading (especially chrome) usually get 5 min till full loaded. after that your pc shall be ready to use.

get ssd if you cant wait.

 

[Metallus97]

3 minutes ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

this loading (especially chrome) usually get 5 min till full loaded. after that your pc shall be ready to use.

get ssd if you cant wait.

 

yeh, but when starting anything else with a HDD will again take LONG.

Running a os from a HDD is simply not modern anymore and NOT recommended. OSs like Windows 10 aren't even made to ruin form a HDD. Everything is made for SSD

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

1 minute ago, Metallus97 said:

not modern anymore and NOT recommended. OSs like Windows 10 aren't even made to ruin form a HDD. Everything is made for SSD

yes windows 10 is very unfriendly with HDD, and OP could try some lunix based OS (eg ubuntu) which is very easy to use these days. just live with relocation of user interface / naming

[mr moose]

Yes absolutely, but only if you don't cheap out.  Make sure you get one with Dram, otherwise you'll notice the improvement but may not exactly be wowed by it.

[Metallus97]

1 minute ago, mr moose said:

Yes absolutely, but only if you don't cheap out.  Make sure you get one with Dram, otherwise you'll notice the improvement but may not exactly be wowed by it.

yes, but should every reasonable SSD have Dram by now?

[FlappyBoobs]

I bought my wife a cheap lenovo around 4 years ago for her masters. It was okay at first, but she was getting frustrated with the keyboard not always registering presses, it taking several minutes to boot and applications taking an age to load up and being generally unresponsive.

 

I got a new 500gb SSD, put it in my computer and then gave her my old 128Gb one (don't judge, you'd do the same thing) and ever since she has had 0 problems with it (most peoples problems are due to lack of patience and then their frustration). It takes 10 seconds to boot and applications show they are loading almost instantly. 

 

Sure, it still can't run even CS:GO at more than 25Fps, but it has made it a usable laptop for her that should last at least another 2 years.

[mr moose]

Just now, Metallus97 said:

yes, but should every reasonable SSD have Dram by now?

yes, but every now and then you see an ssdnow or WD green that is really cheap and it's very tempting.

 

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

Just now, Metallus97 said:

yes, but should every reasonable SSD have Dram by now?

DRam-less are still cheaper, eg bx500 & mx500

2 minutes ago, mr moose said:

Make sure you get one with Dram, otherwise you'll notice the improvement but may not exactly be wowed by it.

I say not that much difference you would think that dram ssd is faster, they are both fast enough.

you are not into a side by side comparison.

I got a bx500 as OS on old i5 sata3 3gb/s and its very snappy like my main rig with a nvme drive

 

[Metallus97]

Just get some Samsung evo, best price/perf!

[mr moose]

3 minutes ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

DRam-less are still cheaper, eg bx500 & mx500

I say not that much difference you would think that dram ssd is faster, they are both fast enough.

you are not into a side by side comparison.

I got a bx500 as OS on old i5 sata3 3gb/s and its very snappy like my main rig with a nvme drive

 

I discovered first hand which of my laptops had DRAM less ssd's by their performance after the upgrade.  Until then I didn't know there was such a thing.

 

OCZ vertex awesome, Samsung pro awesome,  WD green shit, SSDnow shit, Kingston a400 shit.  It was literally night and day regardless which laptop I put them in. 

 

[SparkShot]

SSD could help, but a complete refresh would do more. Backup his files on an external hard drive and reinstall windows if he still has the spawn disk.
Better yet, just get a newer, used laptop that can handle modern programs. 32bit is on the way out and it won't be able to keep up for much longer anyway.