G5 Dell, convert 1tb HDD to external to add 500gb SSD?

DigBipper

Hi,

I recently purchased the new G5 series laptop from Dell, with 128gb ssd and a 1tb HDD (5400rpm) drive.
Unsurprisingly the 128 is almost full so I was thinking of changing the HDD to an external and adding a 500gb SSD. I will be using the computer for ArcGIS and gaming.

Is this a good idea? If so for the sake of £100 extra should I just get a 1tb SSD? I have just purchased the computer so the HDD is empty. Should I just leave it as is or would it be best to convert?

Thanks for all the help, am a newbie when it comes to all this lark.

Skerries

would you not just reinstall the programs you use least onto the HDD and save document etc on that as well and just use the SSD for Windows and essential apps?

beauf

Do you have an existing backup drive...

DigBipper

beauf wrote: »

Do you have an existing backup drive...

Yes, I have. Just wondering if it would be of more use to install a larger SSD.

Skerries: Even then there would be very little room left, especially to store games. When I go into installed programs there is nowhere near the amount of stuff that it seems would make any real dent in the SSD drive.

TomOnBoard

Place your My Documents folder onto the Hard drive and keep the SSD for OS, temp files/caches and Programs

DigBipper

TomOnBoard wrote: »

Place your My Documents folder onto the Hard drive and keep the SSD for OS and Programs

Yeah, I plan on doing all that when I get the chance just was wondering if anyone thought it made sense to change out the drive. Thanks for the response

Also my SSD is saying I only have 103gb available, any reason why that is?

beauf

The only reason not to use a SsD is money.

TomOnBoard

DigBipper wrote: »

Yeah, I plan on doing all that when I get the chance just was wondering if anyone thought it made sense to change out the drive. Thanks for the response

Also my SSD is saying I only have 103gb available, any reason why that is?

A) Operating system and installed software
Hidden recovery partition(s)

beauf

Also SSD have a cache of sorts.

Serephucus

I'm a big fan of all SSD storage. My desktop has a similar setup; 250GB SSD for OS/apps, 1TB SSD for games. In my case it was for noise reasons, but I see no reason you couldn't do it for the laptop as well. You can always re-purpose the drive later anyway if you decide to sell the laptop on.

If the 128GB one is NVME then it makes sense to leave the OS and anything you want to be really speedy there. Any SATA SSD should be fine. The MX500 from Crucial and the 850/860 Evo from Samsung are all great. The 860 is an incremental improvement over the 850, though it has much better endurance. Whatever's cheapest really should be fine.

For 1TB vs 500GB, that's up to you, and how much space you think you'll need.

As for the HDD, I use this with an old SSD, works great: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tool-free-Inateck-External-Enclosure-FE2004/dp/B0711DSXKT/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1528024675&sr=8-4&keywords=hard%2Bdrive%2Bcaddy&th=1
There's a micro-USB 3.0 version as well.

DigBipper

Serephucus wrote: »

I'm a big fan of all SSD storage. My desktop has a similar setup; 250GB SSD for OS/apps, 1TB SSD for games. In my case it was for noise reasons, but I see no reason you couldn't do it for the laptop as well. You can always re-purpose the drive later anyway if you decide to sell the laptop on.

If the 128GB one is NVME then it makes sense to leave the OS and anything you want to be really speedy there. Any SATA SSD should be fine. The MX500 from Crucial and the 850/860 Evo from Samsung are all great. The 860 is an incremental improvement over the 850, though it has much better endurance. Whatever's cheapest really should be fine.

For 1TB vs 500GB, that's up to you, and how much space you think you'll need.

As for the HDD, I use this with an old SSD, works great: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tool-free-Inateck-External-Enclosure-FE2004/dp/B0711DSXKT/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1528024675&sr=8-4&keywords=hard%2Bdrive%2Bcaddy&th=1
There's a micro-USB 3.0 version as well.

Thanks mate,

Ended up going with the 500gb 850 EVO, I already have a 1tb external, and soon to have another, so its more than enough space. If I start to run low I can transfer stuff off to one of them.

Skerries

anyone ever use Optane?