Speeding up an older computer

[novicebuilder1049]

I built my computer in 2014 using Windows 7 Home 64 bit, an AMD FX-8150 CPU, 3.6 GHz, 8 core; a Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 motherboard, PCI express 3.0, SATA 3 6gigs/sec, 16 gigs G Skill GDDR3 RAM; a Gigabyte HD 7850 video card, 2 gigs GDDR5 memory, 256 bit, Direct X 11; a Western Digital black 2 TB hard drive, 7200 rpm; with a Corsair HX 750 watt power supply. My questions are can I move to Windows 10 Home 64 bit and add a 500GB SSD using SATA 3 and get my moneys worth from these changes ? All helpful comments are welcomed. Any suggestions on SanDisk vs Samsung SSDs ?

I'd like to add a Crucial 1 TB SSD now and wonder, if there are any compatibility issues I should research before purchasing this drive ? Help.

 

[Darkbreeze]

These days I typically go with whichever higher end Samsung, Sandisk or Crucial SSD is less expensive at the time. They are all generally reliable and are all generally fairly close to each in sequential and random performance. So as long as it isn't one of the budget models with low quality NAND, then any of them are ok. Stick to Sandisk Ultra II, Samsung 850 or 860 EVO or Crucial MX models. The Sandisk SSD plus, Crucial BX and whatever Samsung's budget line is these days are all also ok but probably those models don't have the long term longevity of the more premium lines due to the use of cheaper flash memory (Nand).

Adding an SSD is probably the single most effective thing you can do to that system to increase overall performance but if gaming performance is what you're after, the only part of that which would be affected are loading times for the game files, maps/levels and textures. Actual gameplay is unlikely to be affected to any degree at all.

In general though, it's worth doing as most other things will see some improvement from faster storage. As for the rest of the system, a newer graphics card, if gaming is your thing, or a newer platform (CPU, motherboard and memory) are about the only thing you can do to improve things. There is not really much you can do other than faster storage that will make any difference on that platform as it stands.

 

[novicebuilder1049]

These days I typically go with whichever higher end Samsung, Sandisk or Crucial SSD is less expensive at the time. They are all generally reliable and are all generally fairly close to each in sequential and random performance. So as long as it isn't one of the budget models with low quality NAND, then any of them are ok. Stick to Sandisk Ultra II, Samsung 850 or 860 EVO or Crucial MX models. The Sandisk SSD plus, Crucial BX and whatever Samsung's budget line is these days are all also ok but probably those models don't have the long term longevity of the more premium lines due to the use of cheaper flash memory (Nand).

Adding an SSD is probably the single most effective thing you can do to that system to increase overall performance but if gaming performance is what you're after, the only part of that which would be affected are loading times for the game files, maps/levels and textures. Actual gameplay is unlikely to be affected to any degree at all.

In general though, it's worth doing as most other things will see some improvement from faster storage. As for the rest of the system, a newer graphics card, if gaming is your thing, or a newer platform (CPU, motherboard and memory) are about the only thing you can do to improve things. There is not really much you can do other than faster storage that will make any difference on that platform as it stands.

 

[mdd1963]

SSDs speeds bootup and responsiveness pretty noticeably!

And at least it's a part you can take with you to next build...

The 850/860 EVO or Crucial MX500 on sale are nice options, but, many manufacturers' offerings are coming close to the classic ~ 540 MB/sec sequential reads these days...

 

[novicebuilder1049]

Thank you for your input ! It was very helpful. For the time being I'm just trying to limp along for a couple more years. I'm waiting for a couple more generations of upgrades to build another computer to allow me to play more graphically complex games.

 

[novicebuilder1049]

SSDs speeds bootup and responsiveness pretty noticeably!

And at least it's a part you can take with you to next build...

The 850/860 EVO or Crucial MX500 on sale are nice options, but, many manufacturers' offerings are coming close to the classic ~ 540 MB/sec sequential reads these days...

 

[novicebuilder1049]

Thanks for your input. It confirms what I thought I was reading in the literature. A new computer build is at least a couple of years down the road for me.

 

[Darkbreeze]

SSDs speeds bootup and responsiveness pretty noticeably!

And at least it's a part you can take with you to next build...

The 850/860 EVO or Crucial MX500 on sale are nice options, but, many manufacturers' offerings are coming close to the classic ~ 540 MB/sec sequential reads these days...

Speed isn't everything, although it's definitely important. Most of the cheaper drives, while having same or similar performance as higher priced models, are using lower quality NAND that does not have the same endurance so while it MIGHT be similar when it comes to performance, these less expensive SATA SSDs are probably not going to have the same kind of TB written specification as one using some flavor of 3d vertical NAND which has much higher endurance than most of these TLC drives.

I'll pay ten bucks more for a drive that lasts a year or two longer before it starts losing cells.

 

[passivecool]

since you have not stated your usage it is hard to say. But a 500gb ssd and a nice fresh install will give you the greatest possible bang for the buck. You will wish you shelled out the $80 a lot earlier.