SSD for XPS M1730

Hey guys, looking to upgrade my M1730, atm the harddrive space is pathetic, 160GBx2 so I'm looking at getting a 160-240GB SSD and a 320-500GB HDD to replace the current drives.

I don't know if there was more than one gen for the 1730's but this one is a T9300 with 2x9800GTX's if that helps.


My first question is how do I know if the SSD will be compatible?
Second question is which one of these would you recommend:
OCZ 120G Vertex II E Series SSD $233.00
OCZ 120G Vertex II SSD 3.5 $215.00
($100 more I can get 180GB, is that good value?)

Last question, can I ghost my current HDD then restore the image to the SSD when I get it, save me installing and configuring for hours and perhaps maybe a recommendation on the best ghosting software.



Thanks guys.

 

I'd recommend a intel x25-m 160 gb drive or even the later x25-V drives. The m1730 is compatible with any SATA II SSD you throw in. I am just not a big fan of vertex II drives.
The chipset of the m1730 is limiting the performance of SSDs so don't expect to see advertised numbers. It is still super fast compared to hdds, - just don't choose drives according to max performance but reliability (that's why I recommend the intels)

 

Thanks, very informative reply.

I was keen on the Intel but it's price is a fair bit higher.

Intel X25-M 120GB 2.5" MLC G2 Solid State Hard Drive $269.00
$55 difference, at that price I would sort of prefer paying an extra $50 and getting the 180G vertex for $320.

Works out 50c/gb cheaper and at 180GB I could install my games on my SSD as well which would make it very attractive.

Do you mind explaining what's with the whole letter system like intel -v/m/e and ocz e/no letter, etc?

I wish SSD's were a little cheaper, I would love a 256Gb, then I could fit everything on the SSD bar.

 

You could grab a 256GB samsung SSD (those that were shipping with dell before the 470 series) such as this one here
it's about 350-370$ and it'll give you great performance.

The Intel lettering is V < M < E (V is the budget drives which are still awesome, M is the mainstream performance drives, E is for enterprise - very expensive).
Not sure about the vertex lettering..

 

Champion mate! Very helpful.

I see I can get one from Israel or USA for $370, 256GB(cheapest in AUS is $500!), now that's EXACTLY what I'm after because I can fit literally my whole operating system on there, no compromise

I had a M15x Alienware before which had a 240 or300GB and I managed, so moving all the big files like movies to the secondary drive will make for an awesome all round performing system.

I'm going to go for a 256GB SSD.

I'm going to ghost an image(bit of research looks like easeus is a good free ghost program) and restore it to the SSD.

Anything I should know before or after installation or will it be a straight forward installation like a normal SSD? After install is there anything I should do like defrag or anything to optimise performance?

So excited can't wait to get a SSD

 

It will be straight forward install, mostly. One thing i wouldn't recommend is to drop an image of your HDD to the SSD.
It's much better for quite a few reasons to install OS from scratch on it.

As for SSD performance, there are quite a few tweaks you need to apply, i had an article here on NBR about it but i moved it to my blog since. sorry can't link there, it's against forum rules.
But i am sure you can find a detailed guide via google.

P.S - there's one in Israel ? where ? I am from Israel, funny

 

Really? I Just installed from scratch yesterday I don't want to go through the whole process again I've already had to do it twice in 2 weeks lol.

It was the first link on eBay you showed me, cheapest buy it now option
I'm from Australia btw

 

I managed to get a 256GB SSD from Aus seller for $405 delivered
Happy to pay the little extra to get it locally.

I checked out my mums broken laptop and it had a 320GB HDD in there so I replaced the secondary 160GB HDD with the 320GB and I used Easeus to backup/restore image and it worked perfectly, so in a few days I will be up from 320GB to 576GB Much better

Should get the SSD within a few days, will report back how it goes.
Can't wait to get it

 

You might as well buy the latest and greatest, getting an X25-M makes no sense. Crucial M4, Intel 510, etc.

 

And why would he overpay 100-200$ if he can't utilize the drive to the fullest in m1730? Why saving money and getting great performance doesn't make sense to you?

 

Sorry double post.
Mods, can you please delete if you see this.