MSI GT780 DXR-US446 hdd upgrade to a ssd inquiry.

Howdy fellas, new to the forums! I'm currently still reading the MSI 780 Owner's Lounge thread but it takes awhile with 912 pages, WHEW! I own a MSI GT780 DXR-US446 I bought from Newegg( link) somewhere around 2 years ago and I love it! Well I'm finally ready to start doing upgrades, and I want to start with a SSD. I think it would really increase the speed and performance out of all the upgrades to start with and would make it significantly quieter. I'm looking at the SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series. I was wondering if anyone could lend their advice on this matter. My concerns are the difficulty of physical installation procedure(I'm new to playing with laptop parts),setting up windows and previous files from the old HDD to the new one, and whether I can keep the extra 750GB HDD as just a storage device. If I am in the wrong area to ask this, guidance to the correct area to ask the question would be much appreciated.

Have a good un'!:hi2:

Tango_V

 

I have 3 SSDs in my GT780DX....ODD is obsolete.

You can get many answers to your question from satisfied users of different models.

Price and capacity are usually the most important things as most top of the line SSDs from the major players will be good choices.

The SanDisk Extreme 2 would be at the top of my list because I've been very happy with my Extremes,the original model.

I've never owned a Samsung SSD but have had Intel,Crucial,OCZ and SanDisk.

An SSD is a good upgrade for your aging notebook since it can be moved to a new model down the road.

My GT780DX is 2yrs,2mos old and I'm beginning to experience a graphics card issue.

CES 2014 is 2 weeks away and there will probably be some new models shown.

BTW,have you visited the SSD forum?
SSD Forum

NBR "For Sale Forum"Samsung 840 Pro SSD
http://forum.notebookreview.com/computer-components/740571-fs-samsung-840-pro-512gb.html

 

Thanks for the info WhatsThePoint! Now you have me eyeballing the SanDisk Extreme 2 240gb, but since you mention the original models are the ones you have, is there anything going bad with the other one?

I've been searching around all the forums and still digging but have not made it to the SSD Forum.

How hard was it to install the ssd, and were you still able to use the old 750GB hdd as a storage? I can see upgrading the 2nd hdd later but I think I'd like to ease into the purchases.

I have not had any graphic card issue yet, and I've traveled and used the laptop alot.

Any more info you can send my way is always welcomed!

 

Installing an SSD is just about the same as installing a hard drive.

Unplug the power cord and take out the battery.

Open the bottom and take out the hard disks that are in there.

Put the new SSD in the primary drive bay(SSD brand label viewed)

Put the bottom cover back on but don't screw it down.

Connect the AC power adapter>then press the power on button while tapping the Del key.

You should now be in the bios.

Change the RAID setting to AHCI if you're not going to use a raid array again and set the boot order where the new SSD is 1st>save and exit.

Now you proceed to clean install the OS(cloning not recommended) on the SSD by press the f11 key on startup and choosing the USB flash drive or DVD media with the setup files.

See my post in the GT780 owners lounge on clean installing Windows 7.W8.1 is almost the same just more tweaking after installation.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi...t780-gt783-owners-lounge-498.html#post8177509

 

Well in the GT780 at least both slots are SATA III.

 

Installing an SSD is not a problem It is always recommended to make a fresh windows install rather than cloning your current HDD, but if you must, you can use acronis to make a backup of your hdd and then clone it back to your SSD.

Id recommend taking time to back up your important files and fresh install the OS of your choice tho. As for SSDs, I have used Intel, Crucial M4 and Sandisk. All have have worked well for me. I have heard good things from the samsung too.

 

Yea I will definitely do a fresh install, I hate to have to redo it all but there is something that is also nice about having a clean slate to start with.

I need to check the procedure for reinstalling windows since I believe the back-up drive contains it. Checking the forums apparently I can also make a boot up disc from windows website. Could someone summarize?

I think I will order a new SSD today from Newegg. I'm going to stick with 240GB size range. The 400+gb ssd is currently out of my price range (Thanks holidays). Any advice on brands? Samsung 840 Pro or Scandisk Extreme II seems like the way to go with all the reviews.

 

Are you going to install Windows 7 x64 or Windows 8.1 x64?

If you need a Windows 8.1 ISO send me a PM.I'll give you a link.

 

I'm not sure which I will install. I guess 7 since it came with the laptop. What would you recommend? Window 7 shouldn't cost a thing since I still have the keycode right?

 

I have Windows 8.1 Pro x64 on 1 SSD,Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on another and Windows 7 home Premium x64 on the 3rd SSD.

It took a lot of time to learn,tweak and setup Windows 8.1 to my liking but now it's my primary OS.

I use the Windows 8.1 RTM ISO unpacked onto a SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 flash drive for the OS installation.

Using the RTM allows me to install without entering in an MS account.

The 1st thing I do after installation is to turn off hibernation( powercfg -h off)to gain back 12GB of SSD space,enter the admin command line( bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy)to get back the f8 Safe Mode and enter the SSD admin command line(WinSAT diskformal) to optimize the SSD since Windows 8.1 doesn't have the WEI.

I also bypass the start menu by right clicking on the taskbar>Navigation>Boot to Desktop.

 

Dag nabbit, I forgot windows 7 "installer" is apparently perma installed onto the hard drive with this MSI laptop and I'm pretty sure it did not come with the windows disk. Do I need to go buy windows? The windows keycode is not on the laptop either, could it be in the books that came with the laptop or is there a way I can find the keycode off of this hdd I'm using currently?

 

*Sorry for the double post, my internet is acting funny and i accidently double posted same msg.*

 

See this post for Windows 7 Home Premium x64 installation instructions from a USB flash drive.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi...t780-gt783-owners-lounge-498.html#post8177509

BTW,I also sent you a PM.

 

WhatsThePoint, thanks a bunch for the help! The ssd is in the mail on its way here.

I've been looking everywhere on this issue but the "Turbo Boost" doe not work at all on the laptop. To be honest I've never activated it since I've owned it. The "P1" button should turn it on but it does nothing. Do you have any advice, or is "Turbo Boost" even worth turning on.

And I'm not talking about the Turbo boost for the fan(the fan boost works great) but the "overclock" ability.

 

If you notebook has a "P1" button rather than a dial symbol it does not support turbo boost.

 

But I could right-click on the Nvidia Overclock Icon and select enable, and the P1 button would light up and the pc would run great. Now the "enable" and "disable" selections are grey-over, non-selectable and there's a check by disable. I would let me select enable yesterday but now I cannot. Any help, because it was running BF4 and Dayz SA smoothly on high setting with it enabled.