New SSD for MSI GT780DX

Hi all,

I have an MSI GT780DX that I purchased in April 2012. The laptop is still awesome - has Core-i7 CPU, GTX-570, 16GB RAM, etc. I have a standard 500GB (7200RPM) hard drive. It came from the factory pre-set into 2 partitions: "C" drive and "D" drive. I wanted to know if I can add a second hard drive - a 500GB SSD (to act as the primary OS drive), while still keeping the old hard drive for extra storage.

Does anyone know if my GT780 can hold two internal hard drives (1 legacy and 1 SSD)???

Thank you so much friends!

 

See:
MSI GT780DX HDD upgrade - YouTube

See:
MSI Genuine GT780R GT780DX GT780DXR GT783 MS 1761 Notebook Hard Drive Bracket | eBay


You should be good, just note that you may need the HDD caddy for a proper install.

 

Thanks for the awesome info. I was thinking of getting the EVO 840 2.5" SATA III SSD (500GB capacity; 540/520 MB/s read/write). Does anyone have any recommendations on that?

 

Stay away from the Evo.. it has a lot of performance issues.. I would look at the 850 Pro if you can afford it or IMO, the Sandisk Extreme II/Pro are much better options and more reliable.. If all of this out of your budget, just get the Crucial MX100.. Its like the cheapest SSD out there...

 

Thanks for the info. I think I'll go with the Sandisk Extreme Pro. Do I need to buy a "conversion kit" of sorts, or just buy a USB-to-SATA and use a free software to clone my existing hard drive? I have an MSI GT780DX laptop.

 

Tbh, your better off with a clean install.. Backup the important stuff on your main drive somewhere and reinstall everything... Just one thing to note, your laptop might not be supporting SATA 3 so SSD's will run at SATA II speed but buying one of these is kind off like futureproofing.. You can reuse it in a new laptop...

 

Good idea. Since I don't have a Windows install disc (my new laptop didn't come with it), I wanted to know how I can restore my PC to the original factory state with the new SSD hard drive as the primary OS drive? (I still have the old hard drive, but I don't want it to be my primary OS drive anymore, just a secondary drive). Do I just create a "System Repair Disc" and boot it with the new SSD in place, or do I use the BIOS install option?

 

Install the original HDD, don't be connected to the internet.

Create the Recovery Disks and shut down the system. This is not the same as a System Repair disk, btw.


Remove the old HDD, insert the new SSD and use the disks you just made to install the O/S exactly as it was on the HDD when you first bought the system.