2nd SSD Hard Drive - A few questions

AugustusMinimus

OK. I have a Dell D830 and I'm hoping to do the following.

My laptop has a detachable DVD drive which leaves an open bay. I'm hoping to buy a 32GB SSD and an optical bay converter which allows you to place a 2nd hard disk where DVD usually sits.

The plan is to place the SSD in the normal slot and transfer the windows installation to this drive. I'll then put my old HDD into the optical bay converter and into the optical bay.

I like the thought of the SSD being much faster when opening programmes and the additional space on the HDD for holding files. The only down side is having to to change the DVD drive with the HDD when needing to use it.

I'm hoping to remove all files off of the HDD temporarily and then making an exact copy of the HDD (which should only contain windows install and programmes) onto the SSD. Is there a programme out there that will do this ? Is this even a good idea.

Anyone here have a laptop with this setup ? Any speed improvement in general ?

AlmightyCushion

I've done this myself (I picked a larger SSD though) and it's brilliant. You get the advantages of an SSD but still have lots of storage. I still can't wait for the day where SSDs have huge capacities and are cheap as chips. We're getting there.

AugustusMinimus

Thanks.

Do you think 32GB would be big enough for a Windows 7 install with associated programmes. Don't think I'll be going over the top with the number of programmes I'll have.

AlmightyCushion

It would cover Windows 7 and a few programs. You probably wouldn't be able to fit the pagefile and hibernation file on it though. I'd go 64GB at the least.

AugustusMinimus

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

It would cover Windows 7 and a few programs. You probably wouldn't be able to fit the pagefile and hibernation file on it though. I'd go 64GB at the least.

Never thought about the hibernation file. Would be quite sizeable considering what you had open at the time.

This OK ?

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/64Gb-Samsung-830-SSD-Solid-State-Drive-SATA-6GBPS-2-5-Desktop-Kit-MZ-7PC064D-EU-/140763684015?pt=UK_Computing_Solid_State_Drives&hash=item20c62b5caf

AlmightyCushion

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Never thought about the hibernation file. Would be quite sizeable considering what you had open at the time.

If I remember right both the pagefile and hibernation file are the same size as your ram memory.

AugustusMinimus

I'll go with this one

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ssd/20087741/corsair_force_3_120gb_2_5_sata_600/details.aspx

AlmightyCushion

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

I'll go with this one

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ssd/20087741/corsair_force_3_120gb_2_5_sata_600/details.aspx

I'd go with this instead (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-2-5inch-Notebook-Accessory-Norton/dp/B005OK6VJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340487388&sr=8-1). Better drive and cheaper.

AugustusMinimus

Many thanks.

coylemj

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

If I remember right both the pagefile and hibernation file are the same size as your ram memory.

The hibernation file is the exact size of your RAM since it takes a byte for byte copy of all of the data. A pagefile is optional and if you have one, it can be any size you like though the default is that it's a dynamic size. I tend to prefer a big (RAM X 1.5) fixed size file to reduce the processor cycles and HDD activity that is required to constantly tweak it's size.

If you have enough RAM and are conservative with the number of concurrent open programs and files you can do without a pagefile altogether and get better performance.

Having an SSD for program files and putting the pagefile on a HDD for me would be a contradiction because the HDD would become the weakest link and you'd lose the performance benefit of the SSD.

RUCKING FETARD

http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds

U_Fig

do it now!!! i did it and even with the bottleneck of SATA 2 it's still so much faster...also you won't have to remove just get an external enclosure for the DVD drive and run it off USB only cost me like €10

AugustusMinimus

I think I'll just leave the disk cloning off too. Prob easier to do a fresh install on the SSD.

teddy b123

Hijacking this thread a bit

Where are you getting the Optical Bay Caddy from?

Tempted to do the same to my laptop but cant work out the right size caddy to get.

It's an Asus X52J Series.

v.e.r.b.a.l

Built a PC a few days ago with a 120gb Corsair Force Series 3 SSD and it's amazing!! Windows boots up in no time, iTunes opens to playing a song in just over 1 second (no exaggeration!!), After Effects and Photoshop boot in no time at all.

That's all!

AugustusMinimus

teddy b123 wrote: »

Hijacking this thread a bit

Where are you getting the Optical Bay Caddy from?

Tempted to do the same to my laptop but cant work out the right size caddy to get.

It's an Asus X52J Series.

Bought one off of ebay. Thing is I have a Dell D830 and the optical bay in my laptop is in quite a few Dell laptops, hence the caddy is easily available.

Does the DVD drive on our laptop just pull out ?

U_Fig

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

teddy b123 wrote: »

Hijacking this thread a bit

Where are you getting the Optical Bay Caddy from?

Tempted to do the same to my laptop but cant work out the right size caddy to get.

It's an Asus X52J Series.

Bought one off of ebay. Thing is I have a Dell D830 and the optical bay in my laptop is in quite a few Dell laptops, hence the caddy is easily available.

Does the DVD drive on our laptop just pull out ?

I got one off eBay for my laptop too only prinkem was screws didnt line up exacty easily fixed tho..most Laptops have Similar size DVD drives..