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Worth considering upgrade?

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  • Storage
  • Motherboards
Last response: in Storage
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August 23, 2013 4:53:59 AM

Hi everybody!

So, at the start of this summer, I have begun to upgrade my somehow outdated PC... So far, with huge help from the Tom's Hardware forum comunity, I upgraded most parts and went from:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4@3GHz
RAM: 4GB DDRII
GPU: Gigabyte AMD HD5750
Motherboard: MSI G45-780XT

to this:
CPU: Intel Core i3 @3.40GHz
RAM: 8GB DDRIII
GPU: Gainward nVidia 650Ti
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2PV

The only thing I have not upgraded since, dunno, 2009, is the HDD. It's quite old Seagate @5400RPM with 500GB of capacity. Now I am starting doing 2D graphic, 3D rendering, DTP and about a ton of other things that put the HDD in quite the pressure because of my school (hence why I upgraded the PC).
Here is my question - will upgrading my disk help me get faster response from my computer, and/or make it even more qiet? And if so, should I just add some small-ish SSD disk for most frequently used stuff, or go with new disk field altogerther?
The noise is not usually THAT much of a problem, but if I start rendering some scene that loads tons of objects, or start any game, the HDD gets pretty loud pretty quickly (well, sometimes it also gets "chirping" in Windows, but I am pretty sure that's non-eliminable unless I go SSD). It surely does stop, but once or twice it was chirping weirdly for about an hour, before it went to reasonable noise levels.
The response and app loading time, on the other hand, is somewhat serious concern, because every minute not spent looking on "loading" screen is a minute spent working or gaming.

Thanks in advance for any reply!

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August 23, 2013 10:47:06 AM

ACed0503 said:
You don't need to replace your hard disk but if i were you i would install a new 500gb HDD and at least a 64gb SSD if not a 120gb SSD.

Here are some links:
64gb SSD: http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDSSDP-064G-G25-64GB-SA...
or
120gb SSD: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Series-120GB-Solid-Stat...

HDD: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Green-500GB-Des...

This should overall make your PC faster and more responsive - The HDD wont make as much of a difference compared to getting an SSD, so i would consider getting the SSD first. Get the Samsung 120gb SSD if you can or if your budget is tight then go for the 64gb. It's totally up to you . . .

I hope i helped.

PS. I am not completely sure your HDD will be compatible with the WD Caviar Green 500gb because yours is only 5400RPM but i will look into it.


Thanks a lot! I will consider buying an SSD then (I am not from UK though, so I'll have to find someplace that I can get it cheap. International shipping is a no-go due to our overzalous customs). Now I just wonder - if I install the second disk, can I simply re-fromat it in Windows and then move the C:\ partition to it? Or do I have to make clean installl?
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a b G Storage
August 23, 2013 11:03:52 AM

Recommended to do a clean install mainly because Windows will make some changes to optimize it once it recognizes the SSD. I would get at least 120GB SSD for your OS and programs you use often and just use your old 500GB HDD for storage(Exactly what I do). This will greatly improve speeds.
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August 23, 2013 1:11:48 PM

Fouchey said:
Recommended to do a clean install mainly because Windows will make some changes to optimize it once it recognizes the SSD. I would get at least 120GB SSD for your OS and programs you use often and just use your old 500GB HDD for storage(Exactly what I do). This will greatly improve speeds.


Thanks for the advice!
I have just tried to clean every unused fle and app on the C:\ partition, so that only system + codecs + basic apps needed for work will remain here. Total, I got to 62GB with all temporary files, cookies, any non-vital app, and so on deleted. So I guess 64GB SSD is a bit too small for me. But yeah, not having to get two disks, but rather just getting the SSD and using my old disk as a data-storage until it wears out sounds... Cheap-er than new array.
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a b G Storage
August 23, 2013 1:44:17 PM

Illsteward said:
Fouchey said:
Recommended to do a clean install mainly because Windows will make some changes to optimize it once it recognizes the SSD. I would get at least 120GB SSD for your OS and programs you use often and just use your old 500GB HDD for storage(Exactly what I do). This will greatly improve speeds.


Thanks for the advice!
I have just tried to clean every unused fle and app on the C:\ partition, so that only system + codecs + basic apps needed for work will remain here. Total, I got to 62GB with all temporary files, cookies, any non-vital app, and so on deleted. So I guess 64GB SSD is a bit too small for me. But yeah, not having to get two disks, but rather just getting the SSD and using my old disk as a data-storage until it wears out sounds... Cheap-er than new array.


Yeah I have never recommended anyone trying to use a 64GB SSD(They usually end up regretting it). Not sure what shape your old HDD is in but if you just use it for extra storage and maybe backups until it starts to give out you'll be better off. You never know how long they might last; I have one in my desktop that has been running since 2005 ;) 
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August 24, 2013 1:08:38 AM

Fouchey said:
Illsteward said:
Fouchey said:
Recommended to do a clean install mainly because Windows will make some changes to optimize it once it recognizes the SSD. I would get at least 120GB SSD for your OS and programs you use often and just use your old 500GB HDD for storage(Exactly what I do). This will greatly improve speeds.


Thanks for the advice!
I have just tried to clean every unused fle and app on the C:\ partition, so that only system + codecs + basic apps needed for work will remain here. Total, I got to 62GB with all temporary files, cookies, any non-vital app, and so on deleted. So I guess 64GB SSD is a bit too small for me. But yeah, not having to get two disks, but rather just getting the SSD and using my old disk as a data-storage until it wears out sounds... Cheap-er than new array.


Yeah I have never recommended anyone trying to use a 64GB SSD(They usually end up regretting it). Not sure what shape your old HDD is in but if you just use it for extra storage and maybe backups until it starts to give out you'll be better off. You never know how long they might last; I have one in my desktop that has been running since 2005 ;) 


I don't really think that the HDD itself is in bad shape exactly, it usually performs just fine, I am just a bit concerned about too much random R/W operations going on when I open certain applications (*AHEM* Origin *AHEM*) or while working. I certainly don't want my only disk to crash soon simply because I didn't pay attention to it. I've been thinking Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB, since a lot of our local shops have it for decent price...
Will have to yet find how to mount it into 3.5'' HDD position though... But I think that this capacity is enough for my needs.
By the way, I am in a few hours leaving to our family's summer house - while having no internet there, we have one computer that run from 1997 (W95 and everything, including floppy disk drive) and it still runs just fine, or at least it did last year, so yeah, if handled carefully, I bet that a disk can last a looong while.
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