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Thread: Laptop Question

  1. #16
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    You can get a 1TB for less than $100 now. Cloning it is pretty easy, with Macrium Reflex or others.

    I don't know your computer, but the 4 I did it on were simple enough.

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wade Lippman View Post
    You can get a 1TB for less than $100 now. Cloning it is pretty easy, with Macrium Reflex or others.

    I don't know your computer, but the 4 I did it on were simple enough.
    This tat way you will have a copy of what you have now

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Wade Lippman View Post
    You can get a 1TB for less than $100 now.
    Don't go cheap on SSD drives, as the ones that are 1TB and under $100 are "off" brands like Adata. One of those came with my desktop, and it failed horribly and without warning. Had a laptop with a cheap brand, same thing. Replaced both, years ago with Samsung, and they are super reliable. At $150 or so, worth it.

    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...73&ignorebbr=1

  4. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Roy Petersen View Post
    Don't go cheap on SSD drives, as the ones that are 1TB and under $100 are "off" brands like Adata. One of those came with my desktop, and it failed horribly and without warning. Had a laptop with a cheap brand, same thing. Replaced both, years ago with Samsung, and they are super reliable. At $150 or so, worth it.

    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...73&ignorebbr=1
    I agree with Roy. Get a good ssd, such as Samsung or Crucial. Those cheap, off-brand ssds are reported to fail too quickly and when they do, you can lose a lot of data. Personally, I like the Samsung. A 1TB Samsung is less than $150.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  5. #20
    Julie Moriarty,

    Laptops are not as easy to upgrade as desktops/towers, but a laptop with a 17.3" screen - is it a Dell Precision? as there is a GTX 1060 present suggests that the system should accommodate a wide range of add-ons.

    For a single drive system with reasonably good performance, consider a Samsung 860 EVO 1TB- $148

    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-673-_-Product

    OR>

    As the system appears to be a current model and is likely to run NVMe memory, if disk performance must be at top rates (e.g. simulation, rendering), and there is a dedicated PCIe Gen 3 X4 connection/slot for M.2, consider a Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB or 1TB as OS/Programs.DATA drive or is the systrem can accommodate an dM.2 _ 2.5: SATA, use a 250GB 970 EVO M.2 for OS/Programs and add the Samsung 860 EVO 500GB or 1TB SATA drive as data drive.

    For either configuration, place the new drive in a USB 3.1 Type C external enclosure.

    Transfer all the data from the orirignal drive to another, external drive or a desktop with a lot of stoarge for safekeeping.

    Use Partition Master to setup the new drive with GPT partitions. > The OS partition must be the same or slightly larger then the original partition size.

    Install the new drive in the place of the original drive. Windows 10 will have the NVMe drivers already or they can be added.

    Place the original drive in a USB 3.1 Type C external enclosure, and use Partition Master to clone the original OS/Programs to the new drive.

    Check the function of the new OS drive and when satisfied all is well, use Explorer or Partition Master to migrate the data to the the new data partition or to the second drive if configured.

    The original drive in the external enclosure then becomes the backup drive and overflow data drive. As it's portable, it can be connected to a desktop for large size file transfers. I keep a 4TB SATA 3.5" HD in a USB 3.0 enclosure and only run it while backing up, thereby protecting it from hacking or viruses.

    Set up an incremental backup scheme with Acronis True Image or similar and also create and keep a system recovery image in case of virus or drive failure.

    The simplest solution is the 860 EVO 1TB, but if high performance is necessary, the M.2 + SATA could be very effective. This seems rather complex and it is time-consuming, requiring care and attention to details, but in the end, the configuration and storage space can be adequate for a long period. I ran out of space on the office second system recently and it created a domino effect of buying a drive and moving about 14TB of data over many hours. If I'd had a 4TB drive where a 3TB was, all that effort and expense could have been avoided.


    Alan Caro

    PS: HP z620_2 (2017) Xeon E5-1680 V2 8-core@ 4.3GHz / HP z420 liquid cooling / 64GB DDR3-1866 ECC registered / Quadro P2000 (5GB) + GTX 1070 Ti 8GB / HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 256GB AHCI + Samsung 970 EVO M.2 500GB NVMe +HGST 7K6000 4TB > HP OEM Windows 7 Prof'l 64 bit > 2X Dell Ultrasharp 2560 X 1440 27"

    > The Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe I'm using as a projects drive is astoundingly fast- 74GB transferred in under 3 minutes.

  6. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Julie Moriarty View Post
    For a project I've been working on, I recently bought a new laptop. The internal drive has only 250GB of space and it's rapidly vanishing. What are the best options for adding a larger drive? I'd like to keep the existing drive.

    If it matters, here are the laptop's specs:
    • 17.3" Full HD (1920 x 1080 ) WLED IPS display, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 with Max-Q Design 6GB GDDR5 dedicated Graphics
    • 8th Gen Intel Hexa-Core i7-8750H @ 2.20GHz (9 MB SmartCache, Max Turbo Frequency 4.10GHz)
    • 32GB DDR4 SDRAM, 256GB Solid State Drive, No Optical Drive
    • 802.11ac Wi-Fi featuring 2x2 MU-MIMO technology (Dual-Band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.1, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C (up to 5 Gbps): 1 x USB 3.0 (with Power-off Charging): 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x Headphone/Microphone Combo Jack, Virtual Reality Ready, Two Built-in Stereo Speakers, HD Webcam
    All that information and we don't know what laptop you have. That's the main thing we need to know. I have a Dell Precision Workstation laptop and I can put 3 drives in it. If it new enough it's likely you can put a SATA drive and a M2 drive into it.

  7. #22
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    Thanks for all the great information. I need to absorb all this. But I'm thinking maybe two external drives, the second being for backup.

    Here's everything I can find on the laptop:
    2019 Acer Aspire 717-72G Premium Flagship 17.3" FHD VR Ready Gaming Laptop Computer, 8th Gen Intel Hexa-Core i7-8750H, 32GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, GTX 1060 6GB, 2x2 AC WiFi, BT 4.1, Type C, HDMI, Backlit KB, Windows 10

    CPU Type: Intel Core i7 8th Gen

    CPU Speed: 8750H (2.20 GHz)

    Number of Cores: 6-core Processor

    Core Name: Coffee Lake

    Turbo Frequency: Up to 4.1 GHz

    CPU L3 Cache: 9 MB

    Display Screen Size: 17.3"

    Touchscreen: No

    Wide Screen Support: Yes

    Display Type: Full HD

    Resolution: 1920 x 1080

    Panel: IPS

    LCD Features: In-plane Switching (IPS) Technology

    Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

    Graphics - GPU/VPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060

    Video Memory: 6 GB

    Graphic Type: Dedicated Card

    Storage SSD: 256 GB

    Memory: 32 GB

    Memory Speed: DDR4 2400

    Optical Drive Type: No

    Communications - LAN: 10/100/1000Mbps

    WLAN: 802.11ac Wi-Fi featuring 2x2 MU-MIMO technology (Dual-Band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)

    Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1

    Ports - USB: 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C (up to 5 Gbps): 1 x USB 3.0 (with Power-off Charging): 2 x USB 2.0

    HDMI: 1 x HDMI 2.0

    Audio Ports: 1 x Headphone/Microphone Combo Jack

    Audio: Optimized Dolby Audio Premium sound enhancement: Acer TrueHarmony Sound System: Built-in Dual Digital Microphone

    Speaker: Two Built-in Stereo Speakers

    Output Device - Virtual Reality Ready: Yes

    Input Device - Touchpad: Precision Touchpad (supporting Windows Modern Touchpad gestures)

    Keyboard: Dedicated Numeric Keypad, Media Control Keys

    Backlit Keyboard: Backlit

    Webcam: HD Webcam (1280 x 720) supporting High Dynamic Range (HDR)

    Card Reader: Secure Digital (SD) Card
    Last edited by Julie Moriarty; 01-02-2019 at 7:55 PM.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  8. #23
    It looks like (from the specifications I found on the web) that you have a slot for that 256GB ssd and it also has a SATA slot. If that's correct, all you have to do is get a 1TB SATA drive, such as the Samsung 860 for less than $150 and put it into that slot without touching the 256GB ssd.

    If you want to go cheap, you can get a 1TB HDD SATA and plug it into the same slot. Either way, you'll have to take your laptop apart.

    While you can do things with external drives, it's a lot more convenient to have all your storage in the unit. For backup, look at something like Carbonite (there are competitors that are excellent) and you'll be backed up to the cloud.

    Mike
    Last edited by Mike Henderson; 01-02-2019 at 9:06 PM.
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  9. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Julie Moriarty View Post
    Here's everything I can find on the laptop:
    2019 Acer Aspire 717-72G Premium Flagship 17.3"
    Found one that seems to be similar, but comes with 2 drives included. 256 SSD and a 1 TB slow spinner (5400RPM) drive.
    https://www.microcenter.com/product/...mputer---black

    At the least, that suggests yours will allow a 2nd drive in it. If the 2nd drive is SSD as well, that would run a little cooler.

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    It looks like (from the specifications I found on the web) that you have a slot for that 256GB ssd and it also has a SATA slot. If that's correct, all you have to do is get a 1TB SATA drive, such as the Samsung 860 for less than $150 and put it into that slot without touching the 256GB ssd.

    If you want to go cheap, you can get a 1TB HDD SATA and plug it into the same slot. Either way, you'll have to take your laptop apart.

    While you can do things with external drives, it's a lot more convenient to have all your storage in the unit. For backup, look at something like Carbonite (there are competitors that are excellent) and you'll be backed up to the cloud.

    Mike
    Thanks, Mike! I was looking for that. When I was shopping I kept reading about laptops with a 250GB SSD having another drive that was 1TB or so. But my main focus was a laptop that could handle graphic intensive software. I'll look for the SATA drive bay. That would be great if it has one.

    Roy, I'll look into finding an SSD drive. I like the solid state running cooler thing.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  11. #26
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    Yep! There's an empty drive space. Now, which drive to install?

    I did some searches for a SATA SSD and WOW! They aren't cheap! A 1TB Samsung 850 runs in the $900 range. I found a Crucial MX300 2TB 3D NAND SATA 2.5 Inch Internal SSD for $400. It gets high ratings on Amazon. Acer used Crucial for the memory sticks. Any issues with Crucial?

    I also found a Crucial 2TB MX500 2.5" Internal SSD for $280. It appears the difference is the above is SATA and has 3D NAND technology. Though I don't know if those things make the drive worth another $120.
    Last edited by Julie Moriarty; 01-03-2019 at 9:15 AM.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  12. #27
    The speed difference between the spinner and the SSD is quite a bit. In my opinion worth the money. But if it's just for games it depends on how much of a gamer you are. If you have to have the best of the best to get those last FPS then go for the SSD.

    I have M2 drives in my computer and they are faster than the SSD's. I love the 12 second boot.

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Julie Moriarty View Post
    I was thinking along the lines of an external drive.
    At work and at home I have a few Western Digital "Elements" drives. Over the years they have proven to be small, rugged, reliable, fast enough that they are undetectable from the internal drive and inexpensive. A 2TB Elements is about $60 on Amazon. I paid $100 for my first 1TB Elements a few years ago. I also have a small 1TB Toshiba that has worked flawlessly.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  14. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Julie Moriarty View Post
    I did some searches for a SATA SSD and WOW! They aren't cheap! A 1TB Samsung 850 runs in the $900 range.
    Don't know where you're shopping, but here's one at Amazon (860 EVO) that's under $150
    https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Inch-...n%3A6797521011

  15. #30
    I think he's looking at the M2 drives which are essentially a circuit board with no case. Fits into a specialized PCI slot.

    I just got one today, Samsung 970 PRO 512GB - NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD. I waited a while and the price came down to $170.

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