Laptop memory upgrade

[haris15]

After realizing that my hard drive is probably failing and my RAM is not that much, I decided that I could do with an upgrade in a month or two.

Here are my specs:

Acer Aspire 5552 Laptop
Athlon II X2 p320 @2.1ghz
320gb HDD
3gb DDR3 memory (1x1gb + 1x2gb) DRAM frequency is 532mhz - does that mean they are 1066mhz sticks?
ATI Mobility Radeon HD4250

I am thinking of getting a WD Mobile Black 500gb. But for the RAM I am not really sure what I should get. My laptop is compatible with 1600mhz RAM, although I have an ideal budget of £60 for this, so 2x4gb isn't really an option for me at the moment.

Or should I not even bother with this upgrade? I have had this laptop for about 3 years ish. I am considering my own PC build, but what upgrade can I do that is economical and allow me to keep this laptop for a few more years, even if I do decide to build my own PC?

 

[drixkarasu]

Get an SSD, it will make the laptop feel much faster and responsive. It's probably the best method to keep an old PC going.
And yes, those are 1066mhz sticks.

 

[haris15]

Get an SSD, it will make the laptop feel much faster and responsive. It's probably the best method to keep an old PC going.
And yes, those are 1066mhz sticks.

Will an SSD be able to work at full speed at 6gb/s? Because if not then there wouldn't really be much difference would there between that and a WD Black? Keep in mind that I can get a 500gb WD Black Mobile for £40, the same price as a 120gb SSD.

Could you also recommend an SSD? Should I just go for the cheapest one?

The WD Black comes with 5 year warranty whereas SSDs in the £40 - £50 range come with 3 year warranty

 

[drixkarasu]

If you use the SSD on a sata 2 the max transfer speed would be limited, but you still get the improved random read speed and IOPS. I had an SSD on my previous Sata 2 desktop and it made quite a nice difference.

 

[haris15]

If you use the SSD on a sata 2 the max transfer speed would be limited, but you still get the improved random read speed and IOPS. I had an SSD on my previous Sata 2 desktop and it made quite a nice difference.

Ok. How about this one? http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDSSDP-128G-G25-SATA-Inches-read/dp/B007ZW2LY4/

Seeing as I won't get the full specs out of an ssd, is there any point in getting a higher spec one?

Also, what do you think of this RAM? http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KQCOSLY/?tag=pcp0f-21

Should I mix it with one of my 2gb sticks, or just keep it on its own.

If I get these my upgrade cost would be £63

 

[drixkarasu]

If you mix the RAM with your 2gb stick it will work at 1066MHz but you will get dual channel and 6GB which for normal daily use should be good enough.
Try reading some reviews about the SSD, it should be good enough but I don't know if you can trust a really cheap SSD to last long.

 

[sora]

Get an SSD, it will make the laptop feel much faster and responsive. It's probably the best method to keep an old PC going.
And yes, those are 1066mhz sticks.

Will an SSD be able to work at full speed at 6gb/s? Because if not then there wouldn't really be much difference would there between that and a WD Black? Keep in mind that I can get a 500gb WD Black Mobile for £40, the same price as a 120gb SSD.

Could you also recommend an SSD? Should I just go for the cheapest one?

The WD Black comes with 5 year warranty whereas SSDs in the £40 - £50 range come with 3 year warranty

I think that the SSD should be able to run at full speeds. I would personally go with a Samsung EVO 120GB SSD.

 

[haris15]

If you mix the RAM with your 2gb stick it will work at 1066MHz but you will get dual channel and 6GB which for normal daily use should be good enough.
Try reading some reviews about the SSD, it should be good enough but I don't know if you can trust a really cheap SSD to last long.

I don't get how a 4gb can run dual channel with a 2gb stick? I though it must be same speed, same size and same cl timings? Or would it be more economical for me to get the cheapest 2gb stick and pair it with that? Wouldn't speed affect graphical performance as my laptop is using shared graphics?

Looking at this: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/your_gaming_laptops_ram_slowing_it_down
I realised it would be better for me to get a kit of 2x2gb 1600mhz RAM. Crucial is selling it for about £27.

So it looks like I will be going for an upgrade just under the £70 mark, which is higher than I wanted. Although, I could always sell of my old parts so it doesn't seem too bad. I could also get a few more years out of my laptop without spending a whole lot.

Thanks for your help.