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Should I add more ram or add a ssd drive? I'm a mild gamer and I run a lot of apps

Tags:
  • SSD
  • RAM
  • Hewlett Packard
  • Windows 7
Last response: in Windows 7
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September 26, 2014 8:57:27 AM

I have an HP Evny Intel Core I-5 2430 M CPU 2.4 ghz with 4gb of ram.
It's about 2 years old and I'm starting to see apps like chrome starting to slow it down now slightly. Would you recommend adding more ram or adding a ssd drive to speed it up. If the community recommends adding the ssd drive how do I install it to use it as cache and for booting up. Thanks in advance for your help.

More about : add ram add ssd drive mild gamer run lot apps

September 26, 2014 9:13:30 AM

Are you using a 64bit OS? Then I would upgrade your ram, otherwise unless you want to reinstall the OS, upgrading to a ssd would be your only option. If chrome is slowing it down... either you're running out of memory or you have other issues going on, make sure you don't have extra programs running (ex: viruses, male-ware, random junk and misc programs).

Both upgrades are really good if you have the money to spend on them, however the ssd upgrade will be a little bit more trouble as you will need to either mirror the contents of your current hard-drive over to the ssd or you will need to perform a clean OS install in addition to all your programs and drivers. Also you should keep a current backup of anything important installed on the ssd because if it fails, it will normally fail without warning and will be non-recoverable.
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September 26, 2014 10:16:38 AM

After you've been using the laptop a while right-click the Windows task bar, and click "Start Task Manager". Click on the Performance tab.

The lower left graph is of your physical memory vs. how much is being used. If it's over about 3-3.5 GB, then you can probably use a memory upgrade. (Assuming you have a 64-bit version of Windows. Click the Start button, right-click on Computer, click Properties. The window that pops up will tell you if you have a 32-bit or 64-bit OS under "System type".)

That said, I would still recommend a SSD upgrade, especially for a laptop. Most laptops use slow 5400 RPM drives, some use ridiculously slow 4200 RPM drives. A SSD makes a huge difference in system responsiveness. The only reason I can think of to hold off on these upgrades is if you want to just get a new laptop. Most SSDs come with software to help you clone your existing HDD to the SSD (if you don't have an external USB enclosure, then buy one, or pay the extra $10-$15 for the upgrade kit version of the SSD which has it). You basically put the SSD in the enclosure and plug it into a USB port, boot off the cloning CD/DVD, have the software clone your HDD to the SSD, shut everything off, then swap the SSD and HDD. It can also be done within Windows if you don't have a CD/DVD drive, but there's a slightly greater chance it won't work. If the drive didn't come with cloning software, you can use free ones like Clonezilla.
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October 16, 2014 3:35:19 PM

when was the last time you defragged your hard drive? you might only need to tune up your computer, if that is all it needs the cost to fix your problem would be 0.00 with free shipping lol
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