SSD in 2.5" SATA 3.0 enclosure

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
M

mikaman

Commendable
Mar 30, 2016
9
0
1,510
So im thinking of buying a ssd (PNY SSD 120GB SATA 3 CS1311) to my laptop, but i want it external, so im going to buy a cheap 2.5" SATA 3.0 enclosure like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/151995831310 will i have the full potencial of the ssd with this cheap one? or only a expensive one will allow me that?
Thanks.
 
Solution
A
Sort by date Sort by votes
JaredDM

JaredDM

Honorable
Jul 8, 2015
716
2
11,665
Issue with an SSD in an external enclosure is that USB has a much higher latency than SATA or PCIe (the normal SSD interface). And latency or seek time is really all that gives SSDs their major advantage over HDDs. A typical HDD is more than capable of saturating the bandwidth of a USB 3.0 connection. So you won't see a huge difference over an external HDD, and it's why you don't see many external SSDs commercially available.

The only real advantage is that it's not as susceptible to physical trauma.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mikaman

Commendable
Mar 30, 2016
9
0
1,510


The thing is that i dont want to lose my warranty by disassembling my laptop, that´s why i want to add an ssd as external, but if you say that the USB as more latency than in SATA connection, is it worth doing the upgrade or because of the latency i will not see any performance improvement?
(My warranty ends in january 2017)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
2,951
3
8,965
It's assumed that when a user plans to utilize a USB 3.0 external HDD/SSD with his/her laptop the objective is using that device for storage, backups, etc., i.e., as a secondary drive in the system. Presumably the internally-connected HDD or SSD will continue to serve as the system's boot drive. Is that not the case in your situation?

Assuming it is, it's perfectly fine to utilize a USBEHD/SSD in the system as indicated above. It will serve its purpose quite well. That particular USB external enclosure you're planning to purchase should work OK but who knows? It's always something of a crapshoot with those very cheap devices but at that price it's probably worth a try.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MusenMouse

Respectable
Mar 24, 2016
466
0
2,160


Usually disassembly of a laptop to change hard drives does not void the warranty. When you do have an issue with the laptop just make sure to pop back in the old hard drive so it matches the original specs that you bought it with.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mikaman

Commendable
Mar 30, 2016
9
0
1,510


Yes probably, but the thing is that in my laptop you need to remove the keyboard and the mouse just to be able to change the HDD, it is not as simple as some other laptops. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmsFDi_qsnQ)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mikaman

Commendable
Mar 30, 2016
9
0
1,510


My thought was to use the ssd as boot drive and as external at the same time (being the fastest way to upgrade my pc easily) but if that way its not the fastest in terms of system performance i guess i will need to use the ssd internally connected and not external. Using the ssd as external and boot drive will never make me lose my warranty but such as MusenMouse said: "Usually disassembly of a laptop to change hard drives does not void the warranty. When you do have an issue with the laptop just make sure to pop back in the old hard drive so it matches the original specs that you bought it with." i probably will not lose the warranty, but i will need to disassembly the keyboard and the mouse just to be able to change the HDD.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmsFDi_qsnQ)
Thanks
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MusenMouse

Respectable
Mar 24, 2016
466
0
2,160
Ahh I see. Yeah that looks pretty in depth, plus once you start opening up the laptop like that it never is quite the same because parts start getting bent.

I will agree with Jared on this one and say that the SSD probably is not going to give you much of a performance boost. There might be some responsiveness increase compared to external HDD just due to the fact the HDD has a physical platter, but not much else. What are you planning to with external SSD? Put steam games on there?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mikaman

Commendable
Mar 30, 2016
9
0
1,510


Im planning to use as boot drive with windows 10, install only the most important apps (chrome, skype, steam, antivirus and ccleaner or probably one or two more apps). In steam games, i only have one in the moment (CS:GO) but if i install more they will be light in space. I can also create a new partition for example 300gb one using that space from the HDD for anything else.
Thanks

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
2,951
3
8,965
I honestly do not believe what you are proposing is a sensible objective based on the following...

1. You have not indicated the OS you're working with but I'll assume it's either Win 7 or Win 8 (8.1). First of all you cannot fresh-install the OS onto a USBEHD/SSD and create a bootable drive. Windows will not allow it. Are you aware of that?

It is true that (depending upon the disk-cloning program) you can clone the contents of your present boot drive to an externally connected USB SSD and thus create a bootable drive, at least with respect to the OSs noted above. Win 10 is an exception; we have not been able to reliably create a viable cloned Win 10 OS on a USBEHD/SSD device.

2. You will most certainly lose operational speed on a day-by-day basis from an externally connected USB drive as compared with an internally-connected SSD. Make no mistake about that.

3. And even if there were no speed of operation discrepancy between the two configurations, do you really want to continually live with an external device connected to your PC where it's completely unnecessary to do so?

4. Doesn't it make more sense to utilize your USB-connected drive as a secondary drive for storage/backups? Even consider frequently cloning your internally connected boot drive to the USB device as a comprehensive up-to-date backup system? Seems to me that's a more sensible approach.

The video you referred us to seems very clear & straightforward in terms of replacing the laptop's internal HDD. Of course if you feel uncomfortable in undertaking that process I would hope you could have a local computer shop accomplish the switch. It shouldn't be particularly costly to do so.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mikaman

Commendable
Mar 30, 2016
9
0
1,510


Sorry for the misunderstanding, but the operating system that i would install is the Windows 10. So what you are saying is to disassemble the computer as in the video and change the HDD for the SSD, and then connect the HDD via USB as an external backup drive. I dont mind having an external drive because my laptop is always on a desk and i rarely move it to anywhere else.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
2,951
3
8,965


Absolutely that's the way to go.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
M

mikaman

Commendable
Mar 30, 2016
9
0
1,510


Ok, thanks!

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom