SSD for laptop upgrade

[BAhern96]

I am looking into upgrading from my 5400 rpm hard drive to a ssd. I have been thinking of going with the 850 Pro or the V310. I use my laptop mainly to run autocad. Any recommendations would be helpful.

 

Thank you

[Sir Asvald]

I am looking into upgrading from my 5400 rpm hard drive to a ssd. I have been thinking of going with the 850 Pro or the V310. I use my laptop mainly to run autocad. Any recommendations would be helpful.

 

Thank you

Get the Samsung.

 

/thread

[scottyseng]

-snip-

 

Yeah, get the Samsung. If you're on a budget and want more space, get the 850 Evo. Upgrading from a hard drive from a laptop is worth it. You don't have to worry about shaking killing that hard drive and your system responsiveness is a lot better. You'll get a little more battery life as well.

 

On my Acer (2013), the hard drive it came with slowed down to a crawl (took 4 min to boot), and upgrading to a M400 (The only good budget option then), the laptop is very fast, even now. I would recommend clean installing Windows on the SSD if you can though. 

[BAhern96]

I have a acer laptop as well had the 5400 rpm hard drive fail on me within a year.

[BAhern96]

Yeah, get the Samsung. If you're on a budget and want more space, get the 850 Evo. Upgrading from a hard drive from a laptop is worth it. You don't have to worry about shaking killing that hard drive and your system responsiveness is a lot better. You'll get a little more battery life as well.

 

On my Acer (2013), the hard drive it came with slowed down to a crawl (took 4 min to boot), and upgrading to a M400 (The only good budget option then), the laptop is very fast, even now. I would recommend clean installing Windows on the SSD if you can though. 

I have a acer laptop as well had the 5400 rpm hard drive fail on me within a year.

[scottyseng]

I have a acer laptop as well had the 5400 rpm hard drive fail on me within a year.

 

Mine still worked still, but it was so slow (I'm sure if I would've kept using it, it would've died). The laptop's specs (CPU, RAM, etc) were good, but the hard drive just made everything so painfully slow. So $120 later, I installed a 240GB M400 and have been really happy sense.

 

The only other things I've done to my laptop is change from 4GB to 8GB of RAM, sand the stock heatsink, and change out the thermal paste (Man, that was a lot of time to tear the laptop apart...acer caked the CPU / GPU in thermal paste as well. After doing my mods to it, my CPU temps dropped 15C. Laptop runs way quieter too).

[BAhern96]

Mine still worked still, but it was so slow (I'm sure if I would've kept using it, it would've died). The laptop's specs (CPU, RAM, etc) were good, but the hard drive just made everything so painfully slow. So $120 later, I installed a 240GB M400 and have been really happy sense.

 

The only other things I've done to my laptop is change from 4GB to 8GB of RAM, sand the stock heatsink, and change out the thermal paste (Man, that was a lot of time to tear the laptop apart...acer caked the CPU / GPU in thermal paste as well. After doing my mods to it, my CPU temps dropped 15C. Laptop runs way quieter too).

I already have 16gb of ram in my laptop I looked at upgrading it to crucuial ballistic sport memory but I don't think I'll do it yet

[BAhern96]

Mine still worked still, but it was so slow (I'm sure if I would've kept using it, it would've died). The laptop's specs (CPU, RAM, etc) were good, but the hard drive just made everything so painfully slow. So $120 later, I installed a 240GB M400 and have been really happy sense.

 

The only other things I've done to my laptop is change from 4GB to 8GB of RAM, sand the stock heatsink, and change out the thermal paste (Man, that was a lot of time to tear the laptop apart...acer caked the CPU / GPU in thermal paste as well. After doing my mods to it, my CPU temps dropped 15C. Laptop runs way quieter too).

What tool kit did you use to open the laptop up?

[scottyseng]

What tool kit did you use to open the laptop up?

 

It really depends on the type of laptop. If it's a ultrabook, depending on the model, I would just give up. If it's a normal laptop, I just used a set of small precision screwdrivers (Usually you just need the tiny Philips bits), plastic prying tools (to open the ribbon cable holders), a good aftermarket thermal paste (after all, going through that much effort only to use regular thermal paste isn't worth it) and a nice wide open flat area with a place to keep all of the screws. As for sanding the heatsink, I went from 400 grit to 800 to 1000 to 2000. You'll need some alcohol or thermal paste remover as well. Take your time and photograph your steps as you disassemble the laptop.

 

Depending on the design of the laptop, you may be lucky (if the CPU socket is facing the bottom of the laptop) or unlucky (You have to remove the whole motherboard and keyboard (the case with my acer). If your laptop doesn't turn on after reassembly, redo the ribbon cables from the power button assembly (It happened to me while working on my friend's sony laptop that the ribbon cable came a little loose so the laptop didn't power on. I ended up taping the cable in place with the holder so it wouldn't move). It will take probably a few hours at least, so be prepared for it.

[BAhern96]

It really depends on the type of laptop. If it's a ultrabook, depending on the model, I would just give up. If it's a normal laptop, I just used a set of small precision screwdrivers (Usually you just need the tiny Philips bits), plastic prying tools (to open the ribbon cable holders), a good aftermarket thermal paste (after all, going through that much effort only to use regular thermal paste isn't worth it) and a nice wide open flat area with a place to keep all of the screws. As for sanding the heatsink, I went from 400 grit to 800 to 1000 to 2000. You'll need some alcohol or thermal paste remover as well. Take your time and photograph your steps as you disassemble the laptop.

 

Depending on the design of the laptop, you may be lucky (if the CPU socket is facing the bottom of the laptop) or unlucky (You have to remove the whole motherboard and keyboard (the case with my acer). If your laptop doesn't turn on after reassembly, redo the ribbon cables from the power button assembly (It happened to me while working on my friend's sony laptop that the ribbon cable came a little loose so the laptop didn't power on. I ended up taping the cable in place with the holder so it wouldn't move). It will take probably a few hours at least, so be prepared for it.

I'm just gonna upgrade from hdd to ssd right now. Is the ifixit tool kit really worth it?

[BAhern96]

I'm just gonna upgrade from hdd to ssd right now. Is the ifixit tool kit really worth it?

 

It really depends on the type of laptop. If it's a ultrabook, depending on the model, I would just give up. If it's a normal laptop, I just used a set of small precision screwdrivers (Usually you just need the tiny Philips bits), plastic prying tools (to open the ribbon cable holders), a good aftermarket thermal paste (after all, going through that much effort only to use regular thermal paste isn't worth it) and a nice wide open flat area with a place to keep all of the screws. As for sanding the heatsink, I went from 400 grit to 800 to 1000 to 2000. You'll need some alcohol or thermal paste remover as well. Take your time and photograph your steps as you disassemble the laptop.

 

Depending on the design of the laptop, you may be lucky (if the CPU socket is facing the bottom of the laptop) or unlucky (You have to remove the whole motherboard and keyboard (the case with my acer). If your laptop doesn't turn on after reassembly, redo the ribbon cables from the power button assembly (It happened to me while working on my friend's sony laptop that the ribbon cable came a little loose so the laptop didn't power on. I ended up taping the cable in place with the holder so it wouldn't move). It will take probably a few hours at least, so be prepared for it.

Did you need to have a torque bit screw set?

[German_John]

Did you need to have a torque bit screw set?

The best way to find that out is googling your laptop. 

Usually on anything that's not an ultrabook I'd expect that you have to undo anything between four and ten phillips screws (size may vary), so you should be fine with any toolbox. You may need a torx, but again, most toolboxes should have that. A quick look at your chassis should help.

After opening the chassis, it'll be rather simple to swap the drive. 

Keep in mind that this may void your warranty. Also keep in mind that you may damage the chassis if you're a bit clumsy and snag off some flimsy plastic thing.

[BAhern96]

The best way to find that out is googling your laptop. 

Usually on anything that's not an ultrabook I'd expect that you have to undo anything between four and ten phillips screws (size may vary), so you should be fine with any toolbox. You may need a torx, but again, most toolboxes should have that. A quick look at your chassis should help.

After opening the chassis, it'll be rather simple to swap the drive. 

Keep in mind that this may void your warranty. Also keep in mind that you may damage the chassis if you're a bit clumsy and snag off some flimsy plastic thing.

It past the manufacturer warranty

[scottyseng]

Did you need to have a torque bit screw set?

 

I have yet to see a laptop that uses torque screws. Usually it's all phillips. I just picked up a set at the local home depot for $5.

[German_John]

It past the manufacturer warranty

One thing to not worry about then! 

I don't think you'll screw anything up by opening your laptop.

[BAhern96]

One thing to not worry about then! 

I don't think you'll screw anything up by opening your laptop.

I paid for the extra 3 year warranty in the laptop and had them replace the 5400 rpm hard drive already. They gave me terrible customer service so that's why I am going to an ssd.