Bigger hardrive or faster processor

Do you think that the upgrade to 500gb hdd is better than 320 gb and and upgrade to a 2.66ghz processor from 2.53

specs are posted here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=404245

 

The CPU upgrade is not worth it. For the hard drive, you might want to consider getting an SSD. This would deliver the best possible performance upgrade for your system.

 

Agreed with Bog, get an SSD.

By the way the 500GB 7200rpm is not a very fast hard drive.

 

I guess that entirely depends on what you plan on doing with your notebook. Do you need hard drive capacity more than processor speed? Or do you need a faster CPU more than a bigger hard drive?

Regardless of your choice, and remember, it is exactly that, your choice, remember this: the speed (and thus performance) difference between the two processors you're looking at is 130MHz. That's it. I can tell you without a doubt, that unless you benchmark those CPU's side by side, you will not see a performance difference at all.

A 130MHz upgrade in a CPU is just not worth the extra money in my opinion, especially considering that the only way you're going to see it is in synthetic benchmarking only.

With that said, you can never have too much storage, so I would probably spring for the larger hard drive (something I should do anyway since I'm still scraping by with 320GB). SSD's are a fine choice, but I still can't see spending that kind of money on a 500GB SSD, performance be damned.

 

I'd go for more harddrive space. While you can wait out a few seconds with a slower processor, there is no short term solution to harddrive space short of deleting crap.

Besides, the time it takes to decide what to keep on your harddrive or cleaning up your harddrive space to free up space will far outweigh the savings of a faster processor in the long run.

 

I strongly suggest the CPU my friend. If you never going to use more than that SPACE, then its not as useful as a faster CPU!

 

130MHz on 2.66GHz is less than 5%. Not worth it in my opinion.

 

This is not advisable. Upgrading the slowest component in a computer will always trump any other kind of upgrade in terms of cost/performance ratio. For general system performance, the upgrade in question is almost always the hard disk, by far the slowest component.

Now you could argue that a CPU upgrade is more worthwhile, but it would have to be a substantial ugprade in terms of speed/TDP/quantity of cores or whatever criteria is important to the user's specific needs. But given that the proposed CPU upgrade offers a measly 130MHz increase, this is not worth the cost or performance benefit, which would be very small.

 

Take the hard drive upgrade. The CPU can easily be overclocked for free, so use your cash on something worthwhile like a HDD.

SSD still isn't worth it. Wait till prices go down in the future before considering them. As for space, any decent gamer will eat the space in their computers. It's crazy to say he can't fill up a 320 or 500GB. People can cover that in a few months time depending on what they do.

 

Upgrading a cpu to gain 130 mhz is completely stupid in my opinion. Besides 2,53 mhz is sufficient. As said go for a SSD to boost your rig (or a bigger HDD if you're looking only for larger internal stockage capacity.)

 

Sir I suggest reading his question. He is asking if it is better for CPU upgrade or 500GB HDD upgrade. Suggestion SSD is not an option sir. That is like suggesting him getting a sound card or a PCMCIA external video card dock station. Those are also equally likely to be better for some reason or another but unfortunately, it wasnt what he was asking.

I say if you are going to spend between the two definately get the CPU my friend! Definately!

 

Why does the OP want to ugprade? What are you using the notebook for? Very few people find CPU upgrades useful. The cost for a little bit of performance is very high and only those with lots of money and/or can justify the cost for work should go for them. Nacholambre, unless you have a good reason for your argument for the CPU upgrade, I suggest that you listen to the rest of us.

The HDD upgrade is fairly inexpensive and should considered if 320GB is not enough for you. Speedwise, the difference won't be much. If you are looking for speed, then consider a SSD. IMO, unless you fall under that specific category for users requiring CPU power (gamers don't fall under here), majority of consumers here should get the HDD upgrade instead.

 

if i where you i would opt for more space ignore the SSD the time that you gain in searching isn't even noticeable... maybe if you where going from a 4200rpm drive to an SSD it would make sense but from a 7200rpm theres no real gain other than the fact that it cant be scratch due to being dropped, honestly i would either add more HDD space or even just drop the upgrade and save money... cause the only real reason some one would need to have 500 gigs of storage would be if they deal with a lot of video or photos or if you have a ton of music and even still im sure that a 320 gig would satisfy your needs.

 

A fast SSD is much faster than a 7200rpm drive and it is very easy to notice when opening programs or copying files for example.



Also, an SSD is much better capable of surviving drops than a HDD.

 

Also, a good SSD consumes less power (producing less heat and noise), more shock absorbant (and reliable), is lighter, etc.

 

I'm interested in knowing what the budget is for the potential upgrades. Until then, talk of the OP buying an SSD with a capacity of over 320GB is moot.

 

Without knowing the budget it's possible to say: WD Scorpio Black if he's on a tight budget. SSD if he wants to spend the money.