Would an SSD help my notebook?

[alxcsb]

It is an older Core 2 Duo machine, a Toshiba Satellite P200-1EE, which translates into a Core 2 Duo T8100 CPU, Radeon HD2600 Mobile and 4GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM. Now, because I can't upgrade the GPU or the RAM, the only thing left would be the processor, but the ones that are decently affordable are only around 5-10% faster, and the properly faster CPUs are close to 140 quid, which is too much money really. So, I was thinking about changing the mechanical HDD with an SSD. Would that work or is the mobo going to have issues running it? And if you guys think it would work, would it be justified in terms of performance? I only use the laptop for surfing, a movie here and there and the odd gaming session, but nothing upwards of Torchlight 2 or World of Tanks @ minimum in terms of system requirements. Thanks for any ideas.

 

[yassarikhan786]

It depends on the SATA interface of the motherboard. If it's SATA II, which is most likely the case, then you'd be best off with a SATA II SSD. There would be no point in spending money on a SATA III SSD when you will never reach the max read and write speeds.

A new SSD will only increase the speed of boot up and of any programs installed on the SSD. If you find that the current HDD is too slow, then an SSD upgrade might be a good idea. Otherwise I would just leave it.

 

[NRG!]

From what I gather an SSD is the best upgrade you can make for a laptop. Even @ sata2 speeds it will take a dump all over a HDD. It will also improve battery life.

 

[Spiderz]

It depends on the SATA interface of the motherboard. If it's SATA II, which is most likely the case, then you'd be best off with a SATA II SSD.

I'd have said go with one of the newer SATA III SSDs, newer tech in them, would get the full benefit of them if and when there is an upgrade plus the newers ones tend to be more reliable. Throw in that I haven't seen a large difference in prices and the backwards compatibility of SATA then a SATA III one is the way to go.

Re OP, an SSD would show quite the performance boost and may also improve your laptop's battery life as well. It is the only real cost-effective upgrade available to you at the moment.

 

[alxcsb]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-VTXPLR2...TF8&colid=2T2W20V99RL87&coliid=I2LVFWCLST2JGW I was looking at this one, only because it seems decently priced and I would need the space, but I have to admit I know almost nothing about SSDs. If not this one, than what would be a decently priced 240-256GB drive that I should look for? Thank you.

 

[yassarikhan786]

OCZ is generally not recommended as many members have had bad experiences with them. I think the newer drives are OK though. I've never had one so I can't really say with certainty. Maybe go for one of Samsungs or Intels SATA II drives?