Just a few SSD questions

I see quite a few people have went for an upgrade to SSD.

I just bought my M11X but with the 500GB HDD as it was all I could afford and it seems as far as saving on the SDD I wouldn't be loosing out on much if I upgrade later.

Basically I can store all music, films, photos etc externally which isn't an issue (as a side note can you have your iTunes open up from an external with all your music?)

I have been looking into a SDD and it basically has came down to either the Intel or the OCZ.

Main question was ... How well is 120-160 GB lasting people who are doing a lot of gaming? Would be nice to grab the 240GB but I can't afford the £400 price tag.

Also I am assuming I will still be covered under warranty by Dell if I upgrade to an SSD.

How easy is the transfer ... Are there any different connections for am SSD.

And lastly it is 2.5" which I would be buying I assume?

Sorry all this may of been answered and may be real basic stuff but I am very much clueless when it comes to SSD.

Thanks

 

I made an error the intel is actually about £330 for the 160 GB so it would just be the OCZ which would be 120 GB thanks.

 

You will void your warranty, unless you purchased the device from Dell and had dell installed it, I think it will be okay if you swap the OEM product back.

When you call up for support they will ask you to download a dset software which will tell them your system configuration memory + hard drive + drivers etc.

From your service tag they will be able to see what type of OEM / default configurations you had.

You can also check this by going to https://support.dell.com

I am currently using a Samsung 120 GB SSD and I could say the game loads a lot faster and run smoother I have also placed an order for the extra 8GB RAM set.

 

Ah for some reason I was under the impression from reading elsewhere that CPU, GPU and Drive upgrades where under warranty providing the new hardware was not the cause of the problem.
How is 120 GB doing for you as far as storage if you are using it for gaming?

 

Space is not really an issue for me I have about 10 games installed and that is enough, a few mp3 albums.

I play SC2 and Black ops, the others can be uninstalled if it ever goes low. I have a 2TB SAN drive which I store music and movies on so there are no problems there, only down side is Dell went with a 100Mbps NIC rather than a 1Gb on no idea why...

Lets hope they get it 100% right with the R3

 

Great that pretty much sums up me getting one if you can comfortably have 10 games on I will only have about 5 main games I will need and dreamweaver and Photoshop are only major programs I need.
So can you run you whole music library off an external I have like 60GB of music and would prefer if I could just get it all straight up on iTunes.

 

I seem to be safe warranty wise as long as I hang onto the original hard drive.
So the thread has pretty much summed up everything I need to know for now thanks!
I have another related question as I have never used an internal hard drive as an external. Would I need to totally wipe the internal before using it cause I assume having the OS on it won't be necessary not sure if it would affect how it works?

 

Just to be clear, drive or memory replacement does not void the warranty for the notebook. However, components you add will not be covered under warranty. If you add an aftermarket SSD Dell is still going to service your notebook.

 

Glad that's cleared up cause the SSD comes with its own warranty anyway.

 

120GB is plenty of space. I have a 120GB SSD with OS, applications, about 5 games, and still have over 40GB free.

The stuff that really eats up hard drive space on any computer is media (videos, music). Keep that stuff on a separate external USB hard drive based off of a mechanical HDD, and use your SSD only for items with load times (OS, apps, games).

The warranty will still be in effect for anything unrelated to the SSD. Memory, chassis, motherboard, CPU, screen, hinges, etc - all still covered. Obviously, your SSD will not be covered by Alienware. If there is a problem with your SSD, you will need to obtain service from the SSD manufacturer.

And keep the original hard drive, regardless. If anything happens to your system where you need to send your entire unit back to Alienware, send the unit back in its original factory condition. If you send it in with your SSD still installed in it, you most likely will not get that SSD back.

Just about every SSD is a regular 2.5" SATA drive. You just plug it in to your laptop, and your system sees it and treats it as a regular drive.

And yes, you can transfer the contents of your old drive on to your new one just like you would do with any hard drive swap. Use a drive imaging tool like Acronis True Image to clone your old drive onto your new SSD, and you're ready to go.

 

Awesome that is all really helpful there are some trusted sellers on eBay selling 120 GB OCZ vertex 2 for around £100.
What I meant before which I was not really clear about is if I get the casing to use my original internal hard drive as an external will I need to format it differently since it has the OS on etc or can I just browse it like a normal external if you know what I mean?
I apoligise for any spelling or missing grammar I am bound to my iPhone till my M11X arrives!

 

I don't know if I fully understand your question, but I think the answer you are looking for is:

Yes, you can buy an external USB enclosure, put your old mechanical HDD in it, and access it just like any other drive. You do not need to reformat your old mechanical HDD to read files off of it.

A reformat of your old HDD inside an external USB enclosure is a nice-to-have, simply to clean off the OS and application files that may still be on that drive. However, this is a convenience for the sake of keeping that drive organized, and not a necessity for using that drive.

 

Yeah you answered my question haha I will format it as I have all images videos etc backed up on external but would like them backed up twice for security.

 

Newegg.com - G.SKILL Phoenix Pro Series FM-25S2S-120GBP2 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m15x/516410-windows-7-optimized-ssd-install-5-5gb.html

 

Brilliant really helpful thanks unfortunately I am in the UK otherwise I would gran that SSD I am scanning the Internet for good UK delas.
On Amazon can get that g.skill for about £160 which is still real reasonable.

 

Overclockers UK have the Patriot Inferno (120GB) for a little over £150.

It has the same Sandforce controller as the Vertex 2E drive from OCZ so should perform roughly the same (or at least so close that only a benchmark would show the difference).

Patriot Inferno

I am very tempted to get one for my M11x when I next get paid.

Another option of the Seagate Momentus XT. It is faster than a normal HD (at least a 2.5" model) thanks to the 4GB NAND Flash memory yet is considerably cheaper than a proper SSD (500GB is £99.99).

 

Says offer this week only and I won't be paid till end of month might have to break out the creditcard cause that's a great deal.
I already have the 500GB would you say the momentus is worth the extra £100 to replace what I have?
I mentioned earlier there are some OCZ 120GB ones on eBay picking up about £100 which is pretty cheap and providing it is a trusted seller shouldn't be an issue to buy from them.

 

The price for the SSD really nice.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...ssd-thread-benchmarks-brands-news-advice.html