Looking for help with small storage PCIe SSD upgrade for laptop

Bast

Honorable
Jul 27, 2013
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Hey all,

I'm looking to upgrade my Dell Inspiron 5577 with a PCIe SSD. Currently it only has a 5400rpm 1TB HDD, and yeah, it's pretty slow. This laptop has a slot for a PCIe SSD, so I wanted install one and use it for my OS and commonly used programs and HDD for extra storage.

However, I'm having trouble finding any well reviewed PCIe SSDs under 250GB. I'm not really looking for that much storage because it's overkill for my purposes. I'm looking for probably 128GB so I don't waste money on extra fast storage that I don't need since I'll still have my 1TB HDD installed. Samsung for example doesn't seem to offer any less than 250GB.

Are 120GBish PCIe SSDs significantly slower than 250GBish? Or are they still a significant enough upgrade to justify the price? Can anybody recommend any 120GBish M.2 PCIe SSDs to look at? Thanks in advance!
 
Solution
As much as you want it to be 'only the OS and firefox', it never ends up that way.
All your other small applications also end up on the C drive.
Steam and Origin client, hardware monitoring tools, etc, etc.

$75 for this 240GB drive is a better buy than any 120GB.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820173151

If your budget extends to $100, there are a LOT of ~250GB drives.
Like the WD NVMe drive you listed, IF and only IF your system has native NVMe support.

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
You don't see many 120GB drives for the same reason you don't see any 64 or 32GB drives. No one wants them.

Under 250GB is not cost effective for the manufacturers to actually make and sell.

And a 120/128GB drive is right on the edge of 'too small'. You really only have about 85GB effective space to use, and the OS + applications (not games) can easily get close to that.
 

Bast

Honorable
Jul 27, 2013
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10,640


Thanks, that makes sense. The only things going on the SSD would be Windows 10 and Firefox really, as I would put all my games on the 1TB HDD. I just want my laptop to have faster start up and wake up times. I only use it for browsing and games. That being said, would it make more sense to buy a generic 120GB SSD for $55? Or something like a 256GB WD Black for $100? Here are the links to both I was looking at, though the 120GB is now sold out, but maybe it'll come back into stock.


https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820250084&ignorebbr=1

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0D9-0017-00070

Thanks again for the help!
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
As much as you want it to be 'only the OS and firefox', it never ends up that way.
All your other small applications also end up on the C drive.
Steam and Origin client, hardware monitoring tools, etc, etc.

$75 for this 240GB drive is a better buy than any 120GB.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820173151

If your budget extends to $100, there are a LOT of ~250GB drives.
Like the WD NVMe drive you listed, IF and only IF your system has native NVMe support.
 
Solution

Bast

Honorable
Jul 27, 2013
93
0
10,640
Alright. yes it does have NVME support. to use that SanDisk SSD I'll have to remove my HDD, so I was looking for exclusively M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs. Thanks for your suggestions.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


OK then, yes.
That WD NVMe drive will do the trick.

What you have to think about is not the drive size you need today, but what you might need in 2 years. Especially for the OS drive.