Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question
Solved

Replacing SSD on 6440 laptop

Tags:
  • Laptops
  • SSD
  • Storage
  • Dell
Last response: in Storage
Share
July 13, 2014 6:31:48 AM

I have a Dell 6440 laptop and want to replace the 180GB SSD with a higher capacity one. What are the next sizes up from that please? Are they easy to fit? I've always favoured WD internal hard drives before, but do I have to use a Dell one? Are WD still the leaders in SSD drives as well?

More about : replacing ssd 6440 laptop

a c 304 D Laptop
a c 921 G Storage
July 13, 2014 6:43:45 AM

Samsung 840 EVO
256GB-512GB-1TB as your budget allows.
m
0
l

Best solution

a b D Laptop
a b G Storage
July 13, 2014 6:55:43 AM

hdd removal guide... see section 3
http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/19/KC...

generally no, replacing a ssd or hdd is not hard to do. it certainly is easier on models with a removeable panel on the bottom or certain other accomodations but it can be done on versions without any of that. i know i can change out my hdd in about 2-3 minutes. based on the disassembly guide it looks like yours is fairly simple as well.

ssd are typically standard physical sizes so you should be able to use any 2.5" ssd. and have it work. there is no need to buy one from dell as they will just overcharge you for something you could buy elsewhere.

while i agree that wd hard drives are pretty good they really do not have any ssd solutions. there are only two choices that i openly recommend for ssd and those are samsung ssd drives (i would suggest a samsung 840 evo) or intel ssd drives (sorry cannot list specific models). both have good reliability far in excess of the market at large and are the only ones that i personally would trust in my own systems (i stick with samsung in my own systems... but from what i've seen intel also has good reliability). there are other brands which are certainly cheaper and they may definitely work and some of them are even a bit faster however they just dont have the longevity if you are doing quite a bit of writes/rewrites. if however you will just be storing files on the drive and not erasing/rewriting the data then you could use practically anything as reads do not cause wear, only write/rewrite operations.

different manufacturers have different capacity intervals. samsung for instance uses the 120gb, 250gb, 500gb intervals. a 500gb samsung 840 evo will cost you about $260 and would give you over double your current capacity. a 250gb samsung 840 evo will cost you about $150 and would only give you 70gb more which might not be worthwhile. also keep in mind that you really do not want to fill the drives up past 80% capacity or you could shorten the lifespan of the drives

i personally own and i've had zero issues with my own samsung drives. however, they are the pro models so have slightly different capacities and are more expensive. they are the most reliable option you can get however not everyone needs the pro models (even i could have used the evo but i was paranoid after having multiple normal hdd failures so thought it worthwhile)

samsung 830 256gb
samsung 840 pro 512gb

--
TLDR:

it should be easy, i listed a guide

i would get a samsung 840 evo 500gb if you can afford it
Share
Related resources
July 14, 2014 12:57:19 PM

Thank you very much for this help, in particular ssdx for the very detailed post. I would add, that this is for business, with many read/writes every hour of the day - plus, I need fast write/read speeds - bearing those facts in mind, would you all still recommend the samsung 840 evo 500gb for this please?
m
0
l
July 14, 2014 1:12:22 PM

Also, on hdd's you see 5,400 rpm and 7,200 rpm - what is the rpm's on the samsung 840 evo 500gb ?
m
0
l
a c 304 D Laptop
a c 921 G Storage
July 14, 2014 1:35:58 PM

-Chris- said:
Also, on hdd's you see 5,400 rpm and 7,200 rpm - what is the rpm's on the samsung 840 evo 500gb ?


SSDs don't have an RPM. No moving parts.
m
0
l
July 14, 2014 1:38:42 PM

Thank you - I'm learning all the time! Now, just need this one answered:
Thank you very much for this help, in particular ssdx for the very detailed post. I would add, that this is for business, with many read/writes every hour of the day - plus, I need fast write/read speeds - bearing those facts in mind, would you all still recommend the samsung 840 evo 500gb for this please?
m
0
l
a b D Laptop
a b G Storage
July 14, 2014 1:41:52 PM

hard drives have spinning disks which is why the rpm is listed.
laptop drives are typically 5400 which is very slow and results in sluggish performance.
desktop drives are typically 7200 which is faster but still only gives average performance.
some high performance drives are available in the 10000 and 15000 speeds and over higher performance at the cost of noise and heat

ssd drives have no moving parts and hence no rpm speed and quite easily beat out even the fastest hard drives.

a better way to compare the two would be mb/s transfer rates and iops (input output operations per second) of all the drives.

generally this is what the difference between "fast" hdd and "regular" ssd would be


or to put it another way... a laptop with a 5400rpm drive and the average windows 7 install will boot from power off state to being able to load a web browser in about 45-60 seconds. with a ssd this number can be as low as 9 seconds (with appropriate quickboot software installed) or in the 15-20 second range with no special software installed. of course the speed differences also depend on what other hardware you are running on the laptop (cpu, ram, etc).

--

if you intend to do a great many WRITES and not just READS in a business setting you may be better off with a samsung 840 pro series since they have a longer life than the evo series. however, this also depends on how much data we are talking about as well.

if you are only writing small files (a few mb) then you might be able to get away with the evo however if we are talking gb upon gb of data then the pro is better.

i'm not sure what kind of files or what sizes you are talking about. for the average user a 500gb drive is typically sufficient however if you write very large files or need more storage than that then a bigger drive may be needed.

for me to tell you if it is definitely the best solution you first need to tell me what kind of files (at least what file size) as well as how often they are written. or just generalize how many mb/gb per day your usage is and what you think you need in GB size for storage of those files (how much of the data is kept or is it constantly erased)
m
0
l
July 15, 2014 5:44:31 AM

Thank you, getting some great help here. Have just seen an ad for SAMSUNG 840 EVO 2.5" Internal SSD - 500 GB. Is this the same as the samsung 840 pro 512gb that was mentioned here please ? Emphasis on the word PRO.
m
0
l
a b D Laptop
July 15, 2014 6:50:15 AM

RPM's mean revolutions per minute which means spinning revolutions. HD drives have platters that spin and the speed in measured in RPM. SSD don't spin they use microchips to store data that is similar to memory. The difference is memory doesn't retain the data once the power is turned off.
m
0
l
a b D Laptop
July 15, 2014 9:59:21 AM

They are a little bit different.

There are more differences between these drives when their specifications are considered. Most notable is the Samsung 840 EVO 250GB (£121) drive uses 3-bit TLC (Triple Level Cell) NAND that stores more data in the same space as the memory chips found inside many other drives (which use dual-level cells called MLC), and it’s also moved from 21nm to 19nm chips – a change that should improve performance.

That also means the lifespan on this drive is shortened, at least on paper, although Samsung has tried to combat this by using more of its NAND for housekeeping and preservation duties – which is why this drive is available in rounded capacities like 250GB rather than the more traditional 256GB.
Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/best-ssd-group-t...

m
0
l
a b D Laptop
a b G Storage
July 15, 2014 10:01:16 AM

the 840evo is not the same as the 840pro.

afaik the 840evo is TLC flash while the 840pro is MLC flash. MLC flash is capable of more writes before failure as well as being somewhat faster. TLC flash is much cheaper.

both the 840pro and 840evo are significantly more reliable than other brands (except intel, which also scores high marks) in consumer MTBF (mean time before failure) stress testing.

if you want something which is reliable without breaking the bank then the 840evo is good. however, if you want the best reliability yo ucan get in a 2.5 form factor ssd then the 840pro is what i would suggest. be aware that the pro is a good $160 more expensive (pro: $420, evo: $260)
m
0
l
a b D Laptop
a b G Storage
July 15, 2014 10:03:54 AM

@orlbuckeye
please do not mark best answers in open (current) threads and always remember to give the thread starter first dibbs at picking a best answer. you should only be selecting answers in older threads where the OP has abandoned the thread without marking an answer.

(of course you could have clicked it by accident, in which case you can ignore the previous statement)
m
0
l
a b D Laptop
July 15, 2014 11:00:28 AM

Yes it was by accident. SORRY
m
0
l
!