[Help] First time buyer of an SSD

gterwin

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Jan 13, 2013
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Hi everyone, so I have a 1.5TB HDD that I use for everything and I herd that getting an SSD is way better and one of the best upgrades you can do for your computer.

Here's the deal breaker, I got a HP Pavilion 054 around this time last year and I have been upgrading it throughout this past year. (New CPU, GPU, PSU, CASE, CPU Cooler)

Basically, my HDD has Windows 8.1 on it and I don't have an install disk for a new drive if I were to get an SSD so how would I go about using it sense I don't have an operating system disk?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions which one I should get? I only want to put Windows + maybe a game called League of Legends on it and that's pretty much it so I don't need a super large and expensive one.

Lastly, what cables do I need for the best performance out of it? I.e. sata 2 or 3 cables.

Please help, I am clueless.
 
Solution
Use something like this : http://www.acronis.com/en-us/ to clone your HDD

As to which one to get, every one will have an opinion. I say goto somewhere like Newegg.com and filter out SSD's by what size or price you want and by 5 stars only. Then look for the fastest drive you can find read/write. read reviews and pick.

your HP from last year prolly has Sata 3 so get 1 sata 3 cable.

side note, you may need a 2.5 to 3.5 mount kit.

Wastedfun

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Aug 3, 2014
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4,560
Use something like this : http://www.acronis.com/en-us/ to clone your HDD

As to which one to get, every one will have an opinion. I say goto somewhere like Newegg.com and filter out SSD's by what size or price you want and by 5 stars only. Then look for the fastest drive you can find read/write. read reviews and pick.

your HP from last year prolly has Sata 3 so get 1 sata 3 cable.

side note, you may need a 2.5 to 3.5 mount kit.
 
Solution

gterwin

Honorable
Jan 13, 2013
22
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Thanks for the reply, but I use around 180 Gb on my current HDD and I would only like to get a SSD that's 120 Gb so I don't think cloning is an option. How would I go about doing a fresh install of Win8 on the SSD and using the HDD as storage? Btw I don't have a Win8 CD
 

Wastedfun

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Aug 3, 2014
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do you have an external drive that you can move your extra stuff off of? 180gb has to be more than just windows stuff. videos, pics, etc.

Without cd, no fresh install. Your choice is to either lower the space used by deleting or backing up extra files, then cloning. or get a bigger ssd.

From experience I would say put the extra money toward a bigger SSD. you wont regret it. Think of it this way, it may cost you $40 more now to get a big enough size, or another $180 later...
 

gterwin

Honorable
Jan 13, 2013
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I spoke to HP support about this and the guy suggested that I make a recovery USB/CD with my 32 GB flash drive then hook everything up and recover the image it to the SSD. The 180 GBs are from Steam Games and such so I can always store those on my current HDD. The OS and drivers are probably under 32 Gbs though according to the Recovery Manager on my computer.
 

Wastedfun

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Aug 3, 2014
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Well I have used many full disk images fore backup/restore, but never this method. So I call on someone else to provide experience.

If it were me though, I would get a larger SSD, even if it would fit. I am in the same spot you are trying to get too, and I hate it. I have a 120GB SSD, and a 2TB HDD. I use the HD for programs and the SSD for windows. But, temporary files and appdata files that are force on the drive have kept me at the 7GB free space for as long as I can remember. Looking back, I really wish I would have gotten the 180GB SSD I was eyeing down.

I cheaped out though..