Worth updating
Discussion
Bought a laptop a few years ago ASUS, i5, 4210, 4GB RAM.
It currently has the OEM 5400rpm HD, would upgrading it to a SSD make a noticeable difference?
Similarly will putting more memory make it a noticeable difference.
Anything else I can do to speed it up a bit? for not much? Just thinking about taking advantage of some black Friday deals.
Also how hard are Laptops to upgrade? I haven't built or upgraded a computer in about 20 years ago, I simply bought another when I wanted a new one, last one I built was a 1Ghz AMD Athlon desktop with 256MB Ram..., so I am a bit out of practice...
It currently has the OEM 5400rpm HD, would upgrading it to a SSD make a noticeable difference?
Similarly will putting more memory make it a noticeable difference.
Anything else I can do to speed it up a bit? for not much? Just thinking about taking advantage of some black Friday deals.
Also how hard are Laptops to upgrade? I haven't built or upgraded a computer in about 20 years ago, I simply bought another when I wanted a new one, last one I built was a 1Ghz AMD Athlon desktop with 256MB Ram..., so I am a bit out of practice...
Another "do it!" answer here.
My daily was an 5yr-old 17-in i5-3210M and the SSD upgrade made a HUGE difference. I then doubled the RAM afterwards, and that might have improved things a bit more, but for Office apps, browsing and email the RAM upgrade wasn't noticeable.
None of the above really helped with an app like Blender (obviously), and I wouldn't be trying to edit video on it, but I've had another 2+ years out of it since the upgrade.
My daily was an 5yr-old 17-in i5-3210M and the SSD upgrade made a HUGE difference. I then doubled the RAM afterwards, and that might have improved things a bit more, but for Office apps, browsing and email the RAM upgrade wasn't noticeable.
None of the above really helped with an app like Blender (obviously), and I wouldn't be trying to edit video on it, but I've had another 2+ years out of it since the upgrade.
dmsims said:
Yes to both RAM and SSD (Samsung EVO)
Use Macrium to clone the existing drive
You don't mention the model but some laptops need a fair bit of disassembly to swap the drives
Cheers to all Use Macrium to clone the existing drive
You don't mention the model but some laptops need a fair bit of disassembly to swap the drives
It is an ASUS X555L, 1 TB HD (I rarely go over 45 GB inc. Win 10) OEM is 4GB DDR 3, looks like I will need to break out me tools, as the door on the bottom doesn't want to open
(Joking). It is just a basic laptop, nothing special.For the SSD: is it just extract and fit in the new one, any other adaptors/wiring needed for the SSD? Any advice on what to buy, I assume the Samsung Evo is the 860; 250GB, for around £40 on Amazon?
RAM: I was thinking about 8GB (currently 4GB) does that seem about right?
Anyone know the typical number of memory slots? I am just thinking if there are two slots, and it has 2 x 2GB, should I get 2 x 4GB or 1 x 8GB (I imagine price will lead this), anything I need to know about mixing them (8GB and 2GB OK if they are both DDR3)?
Looks like 8GB starts at about £18, and need an antistatic wrist band. So all in for £60
So how are these changes likely to affect it, quicker, quieter?
No need for the wristband, just touch earth before you go opening it. Touch something like a radiator.
I've built 1000s of PCs and never seen one affected by static.
All the dust and crap inside the fans is more likely to catch fire than anything else, on top of overheating your computer. Heat is more dangerous than anything to electronics.
I've built 1000s of PCs and never seen one affected by static.
All the dust and crap inside the fans is more likely to catch fire than anything else, on top of overheating your computer. Heat is more dangerous than anything to electronics.
The_Jackal said:
No need for the wristband, just touch earth before you go opening it. Touch something like a radiator.
I've built 1000s of PCs and never seen one affected by static.
All the dust and crap inside the fans is more likely to catch fire than anything else, on top of overheating your computer. Heat is more dangerous than anything to electronics.
OK, so I will improvise a wrist band near a radiator... I was planning to clear out all the dust etc while I was in there, is it a good idea to install a new cooling fan or anything (it isn't noisy)?I've built 1000s of PCs and never seen one affected by static.
All the dust and crap inside the fans is more likely to catch fire than anything else, on top of overheating your computer. Heat is more dangerous than anything to electronics.
Faster? Yes. Very much so. Reboot time should be around 20 seconds.
Quieter? Depends how noisy your HDD is.
Try running the Crucial.com scanner to see how much memory your machine will take.
It is amazing just how HDD limited PC speed is in general operation. Don't forget you can pop your old HDD in an external USB caddy if you need to access data on it.
Quieter? Depends how noisy your HDD is.
Try running the Crucial.com scanner to see how much memory your machine will take.
It is amazing just how HDD limited PC speed is in general operation. Don't forget you can pop your old HDD in an external USB caddy if you need to access data on it.
dmsims said:
For the cloning I use a USB enclosure for the SSD - makes cloning simple and you can test the clone works before swapping it, but you can just buy a USB to SSD cable
That's what I used - a short cable with two USB plugs at one end and the data interface at the other. (Not quite sure why it needed two USB plugs - power requirements?)Zad said:
Don't forget you can pop your old HDD in an external USB caddy if you need to access data on it.
On my old Dell, I removed the DVD drive and put the old HDD in its place. IIRC, I bought a simple adapter plate and the drawer-front from the DVD drive clipped on to it.That said, I rarely use that old HDD and it's just dead weight (and unnecessary power consumption).
I would do a fresh install, especially with it being an SSD. With Win 10, once it has been installed once (which obviously yours has) then it should automatically validate any subsequent installations - although it can get a bit sniffy of you do lots of hardware changes at once, usually on a desktop machine. This means Microsoft now allow you to download the OS (as linked above) to a USB stick or whatever.
Thanks to all, according to the crucial score it is "above average" which I am amazed at!
Sorry, just a few more idiot questions:
I was thinking of doing the SSD first, dmsims suggested a Samsung Evo (I have seen 250GB about £40 on amaon (can we get it cheaper?), I keep next to nothing on the Laptop; I rarely hit 45GB including win 10), or should I get a cheapy one?
The laptop is about 4.5/5 years old now (bought as Win 8.1 and upgraded immediately to Win 10). I would probably be OK with the 120GB version (£20), I spend more that that on Christmas biscuits!
Is it worth the extra £10; when I can get a "Crucial" drive: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT240BX500SSD1Z-I... That seems very well rated? TBH, I am not impoverished. just don't want to spend £150 on upgrades and end up buying a new laptop in a year (if this speeds it up probably won't).
I can probably put all the files on a pen drive from the HDD so might just remove that and use in a caddy; will any do for the HDD (I seen a few for £6 on ebay).
RAM
It looks like I have Samsung memory, and 1 slot free (currently 4GB, according to crucial I can go to 12GB) do I need to use exactly the same, or can I mix brands? (Amazon says £23 for 4GB, brand doesn't make much odds). So I think the SSD is first, then maybe memory...
and get back some of my computer building confidence, which I will admit is one of the reasons I am doing this.
Sorry, just a few more idiot questions:
I was thinking of doing the SSD first, dmsims suggested a Samsung Evo (I have seen 250GB about £40 on amaon (can we get it cheaper?), I keep next to nothing on the Laptop; I rarely hit 45GB including win 10), or should I get a cheapy one?
The laptop is about 4.5/5 years old now (bought as Win 8.1 and upgraded immediately to Win 10). I would probably be OK with the 120GB version (£20), I spend more that that on Christmas biscuits!
Is it worth the extra £10; when I can get a "Crucial" drive: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT240BX500SSD1Z-I... That seems very well rated? TBH, I am not impoverished. just don't want to spend £150 on upgrades and end up buying a new laptop in a year (if this speeds it up probably won't).
I can probably put all the files on a pen drive from the HDD so might just remove that and use in a caddy; will any do for the HDD (I seen a few for £6 on ebay).
RAM
It looks like I have Samsung memory, and 1 slot free (currently 4GB, according to crucial I can go to 12GB) do I need to use exactly the same, or can I mix brands? (Amazon says £23 for 4GB, brand doesn't make much odds). So I think the SSD is first, then maybe memory...
and get back some of my computer building confidence, which I will admit is one of the reasons I am doing this.
Edited by GrizzlyBear on Saturday 5th December 23:36
I would get the Crucial drive as the speed difference is negligible.
You can mix brands of RAM, but make sure it is exactly the same type in terms of speed. I usually try to find an identical stick on ebay. I don't usually have any problems with second hand RAM.
It doesn't sound like you use your laptop for any heavy work, so with a fresh installation, i5, 8GB and an SSD it should be fine for years to come.
The clean out may help because it could have been throttling its own performance due to overheating.
You can mix brands of RAM, but make sure it is exactly the same type in terms of speed. I usually try to find an identical stick on ebay. I don't usually have any problems with second hand RAM.
It doesn't sound like you use your laptop for any heavy work, so with a fresh installation, i5, 8GB and an SSD it should be fine for years to come.
The clean out may help because it could have been throttling its own performance due to overheating.
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