Yes another SSD thread...but I need a lot of advice!

Hi all,

Hope everyone is doing okay in this insanely torturous weather. I was hoping to get some sound advice from you experienced tech people about SSDs for my dv6tqe-6100. I know there are other threads about this, but I didn't want to hijack them =)

Anyway, I just purchased a Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD). I paid about $1.56/GB with coupon which was a bit high, but it was the best deal I found for this particular drive.

I wanted to get input on the following questions. A beer to anyone who can answer all of them!! -

1) How much usable space do I have out of the 128GB? How can I best optimize this usage? I can't imagine it is enough to hold all my games and programs, so how should I decide what to install on the SSD and what to install on a external drive? I am so worried that 128GB is not enough =(

2) I currently plan on using the HP service manual to figure out how to remove my current HDD and replace it with this SSD. But I was wondering if I need to purchase any other brackets/mounts to install it? This is a first for me, so I am nervous.

3) The SSD comes with a data transfer kit (software and sata to usb cable). Should I just use that to transfer my hard drive or should I do a fresh install? My current HDD is far too full to transfer everything to the SSD. If I do a fresh install...can I just use the 4 recovery discs that I burned?

4) Do I need to do any prep work before hand to prepare the SSD for a recovery disc fresh install? I currently plan on removing my current HD, pop in the SSD, and pop in the discs during boot and following the recovery instructions. Is that the correct route to take?

5) I also purchased usb 3.0 enclosure for my current dv6's hard drive. Do you guys think that I can run programs from the hard drive and it would be fast enough, or should I only use it to store data? Should I have gotten a eSATA enclosure instead? Also, do you guys think I should reformat it, or should I keep it as is in case I need to replace it back in my system?

6) Are there any other BIOS settings I need to adjust before/after installing the SSD?

7) Would you guys have taken another route for this SSD? For instance, would you think it's a good idea to keep the current HDD, and put the SSD in the optical disc drive dock instead?

Alright - I know...this thread is pretty much like a book report, but this community has been so awesome and helpful that I feel confident in a response.

Thanks again!

 

That's a lot of questions, mainly an SSD is just like a regular hard drive when installing, as long as you got a 2.5" factor (which you do) you just have to swap it with your current hard drive, no brackets or anything else needed. It's always better to do a fresh install, especially with SSDs. Install a fresh Windows 7 to ensure optimal performance. No BIOS settings to change or anything. Next is 120GB is enough to hold all your games and programs trust me..As long as you don't keep installing stuff you don't need and uninstall games you're done with, 120GB is enough. It would be great to use the current HDD as an external drive with a USB 3.0 enclosure and keep all your videos/music and other data on. SSD should be your primary hard drive since windows and all programs would be installed in your SSD.

Hope this helps..Cheers

 

1) You should have about 119 GB usable space. The rest is provisioned for the harddrive. For SSDs to work optimally, they need to have some space allocated to spare. You cant do anything to reclaim this. Programs and games on your SSD and music, videos, pictures on an external HDD. You may have to cut back on installing ALL your games if you have a big collection.

2) No brackets or mounts needed. You can just remove your current HDD and plug your new SDD in. Dont be nervous, it's easy.

3) I dont know much about recovery disks as I always do a fresh retail install of Windows on my machines (mostly to get rid of bloatware). I would not recommend imaging the old HDD onto the new SSD. First youll find it difficult as most imaging programs wont allow for an image from a larger drive to a smaller one. And second, imaging is not always perfect and youll prob end up with some errors down the line. A fresh install of everything is recommended.

4) Should be fine. Dont forget to check that your BIOS is set to ACHI mode (and not IDE). Its important that you have this set BEFORE you install windows.

5) Would not recommend you using an external to run programs off. Programs on your SSD and data on your HDD.

6) Refer to 4

7) Up to you...depends how much stuff you need to have on you laptop. I try to keep things to the essentials. All my music, vids ect are on my desktop. I just have a few games and things like office and CS on my laptop. Depends on your usage.

Final note: you'll love your SSD (should there be no problems with reliability...but thats another story - luck of the draw sometimes but you can always RMA) I have five SSDs now and they seriously rock. I had to use a HDD past 2 weeks because one of my OCZ Vertex's failed and that was tortuous - i forgot how slow HDDs were. While that's being RMAd I bought myself a Crucial C300 as a replacement. Im actually staying clear of the 3rd Gen drives such as the Vertex 3 and M4s at the moment. Seems like the Intel 6 series chipsets dont play nice. I hope your M4 will serve you well though.

 

Thanks for the advice all.

Kurosawa - will it cause issues if I do not switch to AHCI mode? I'm not familiar with the differences b/w AHCI vs IDE mode....some quick googling said that AHCI allows us some features for SSD. Is that true?

I didn't hear about the reliability issues with our intels - I hope it works okay =) I'll let you know!

 

I cant seem to find ahci mode.....can anyone help?

 

I dont have my HP with me but I think it should be an option in the BIOS? If its not there then Id assume the laptop defaults to ACHI mode.

 

I have a 128Gb M4 installed in my DV6-6135dx. I think I read some where that the laptop is in ACHI mode by default, not sure though (no selectable option in BIOS). I did a fresh install of Windows 7. I went from a WEI of 5.9 with the stock 640Gb 5400rpm hd to a 7.9 with the SSD.