About to order SSD for HP Pavlion DV6 6053ea

Hi,

I am about to order a SSD for my HP Pavilion DV6 6053ea. I upgraded the RAM to 8GB and upgraded the screen to 1080p and the only thing letting it down is hard disk responsiveness. Its just that its a bit expensive and I haven't pressed the order button just yet. I use a lot of applications and I think I will need to go with 512GB.

Below is the SSD I am going to order. I think it works on my laptop but I'm not 100% sure.


Crucial CT512M4SSD2 512GB M4 SATA III 6Gb/s MLC 2.5 Inch Internal SSD: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Question :

Will this SSD work with my laptop ?

 

Yes, but...I would recommend the newer, better performing, cheaper Crucial M500 480GB.

Crucial CT480M500SSD1 2.5-inch 480GB M500 SATA 6Gb/s Internal Solid State Drive: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

It's a bit smaller than the 512GB. But you say it's performs better, hmm.. It might better option but I could do with the 30GB of space

 

It's actually the exact same size it's just over-provisioned (OP) to 480GB. Both SSDs have the same amount of flash NAND. Over-provisioning gives better performance, sustained performance and consistency and longer endurance. If you read this SSD forum you will see recommendations for 30% OPing. Review sites like AnandTech recommend 25% OP.
Filling a 512GB SSD to near full capacity will dramatically reduce performance and increase the WA (write amplification) therefore, reducing the lifespan of the drive.


Why Solid-State Drives Slow Down As You Fill Them Up

WA
Write amplification - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Hi,

Yes I see filling up a SSD seems to be a licence for an early grave. Those URL's are very helpful. I only have one drive in my laptop but I will make sure I won't go over 480GB. I guess if there is a model that does that itself it might be a better option to buy it in the long term.

 

Just don't be paranoid about it. If you do lots of writes to your SSD every day, like 100GB, then you might have to worry about early failure. Typical users use only 10-12GB/day average. If you do LOTS of heavy writes daily then buy an SLC enterprise drive. That's what they're designed for.

 

I just placed the order yesterday for the 512GB SSD. I will have to install Windows and the software that I regularly use but after that I will try and keep the writes down. I have an external USB HD but thats it.

 

I'm just wondering what to do with the laptop with drivers etc when I install the new SSD. They will all be gone.

Its a HP Pavilion DV6 6053ea. It came with Windows 7 (but no disc) and I bought Windows 8 which I have the DVD ready. I was going to go for a clean install but there are a number of things I am worried about like : HP Simple Pass - the finger print reader. Beats Audio - software that improves the music. And all the various graphics drivers etc.

 

See:
Software & driver downloads HP Pavilion dv6-6053ea Entertainment Notebook PC | HP® Support


If the Drivers that Win8 installs by default (and Windows Updates too...) work better - use those, otherwise - install the driver (32 bit or 64 bit as appropriate) from the link above.

This has worked for hundreds of clean installs...


Good luck.

 

Thanks for the URL. It only seems to list Windows 7 and no sign on Windows 8. I think I might have some problems with the older drivers.

I think I have change the IDE mode to AHCI instead of IDE in the BIOS. I was told his enables advanced communication features for SSD drives and also SATA drives. I should be able to run the Windows 7 DVD but I'm not 100% sure

 

Windows 7 drivers are compatible with Windows 8 drivers - just make sure that they are for the correct version (32/64 bit).

Yes, with an SSD change the BIOS setting to AHCI for much better performance.

Why would you want to run the Win7 DVD? Windows 8 is much better going forward (you don't want to do this install on this machine again...).

 

Before doing a cloning of a HDD to an SSD I suggest you first attempt a clean Windows installation on the new SSD to give it the best chance of being trouble free of cloning related issues.

My suggestion if you own a legal Windows 8 key would be to clean install the Windows 8.1 x64 RTM.

The RTM is what is being pressed onto DVDs by Microsoft at the factory at this very moment to be sold at retail on October 18th.

Download a Windows 8.1 x64 RTM ISO from the links provided at the link below in the 8.1 repository
Windows 8

To install Windows 8.1 RTM you will need to use one of 2 installation keys depending on which version you want to use and activate with your legal Windows 8 key.

Windows 8 Core: 334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT
Windows 8 Professional: XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB

These keys are only for installation of the OS and will not activate it.

The W8 Core version is what was preinstalled on most W8 notebooks purchased.

Pro keys were sold as upgrades.

After Windows 8.1 has been installed using one of the keys above it can then be activated changing the key to your legal W8 key.

After activation you can add the WMC feature pack with a legal free or paid key.

Windows 8.1 will probably install all the drivers needed for your hardware except for a card reader.

You will need to get the notebooks utilities directly from the notebook makers site.

I've been using 8.1 RTM x64 Pro since it was leaked.

It's now on TechNet for download by paid subscribers.

If your notebook has a WiFi on/off button that's on during the 8.1 installation a driver will be installed for it to work but it may not be the newest that can be found on station-drivers