[SOLVED] Upgrade for HP 820 G2

[mmitsch]

I have an HP 820 G2 laptop and love it.

It's running Windows 10 and has 4GB Samsung 1600MHz memory in 1 of 2 slots.

I can either add 1 more 4GB module for 8GB or 2 8GB modules for 16GB.

Will I notice a performance boot with these? Is 16GB recommended?

Also, it has an ST500LM021-1KJ152 hard drive with 465.76 GB or storage. Should I get an SSD drive to replace this?

It's got a Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-5200U CPU @ 2.20GHz processor.

Let me know your thoughts.

 

[rgd1101]

what are you using the laptop for?
8GB would be ok for general office stuff. 16 would be better
and yes, get a ssd

 

[punkncat]

Absolutely get an SSD. Running W10 on a HDD is hampering your experience in a major way.
I would recommend having at least 8GB and ideally 16GB for most productivity and play. If you do nothing more than watch videos and surf it likely won't matter that much.

For real though, the SSD will make that machine feel like something far newer to your desktop experience.

 

[mmitsch]

what are you using the laptop for?
8GB would be ok for general office stuff. 16 would be better
and yes, get a ssd

I use it for general office stuff. Another 4GB module would be $10 and to replace with 2x8GB woul be about $40-$50. About $30-$40 difference. Do you think 11-11 vs 11-13 memory timings matter?

And do you have any SSD to recommend?

Mike

 

[mmitsch]

Absolutely get an SSD. Running W10 on a HDD is hampering your experience in a major way.
I would recommend having at least 8GB and ideally 16GB for most productivity and play. If you do nothing more than watch videos and surf it likely won't matter that much.

For real though, the SSD will make that machine feel like something far newer to your desktop experience.

I do mostly general stuff. It’s about $10 to get to 8GB and $40-$50 for 16GB. I guess it’s a $30-$40 decision.

Sounds like the SSD is a must. You have any suggestions for type, brand, etc?

Thanks!

Mike

 

[punkncat]

I do mostly general stuff. It’s about $10 to get to 8GB and $40-$50 for 16GB. I guess it’s a $30-$40 decision.

Sounds like the SSD is a must. You have any suggestions for type, brand, etc?

Thanks!

Mike

Personally am a HUGE fan of the Samsung varieties of 2.5" SSD, 840 and newer. Great drives, available cheap. I have never had a Samsung drive fail on me (knocks on handy bit of wood) and have dozens currently in use.

My other recommendation is the WD Blue series. They have been quite dependable for me as well. DO NOT use their Green line.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Id recommend the Crucial MX500 as it's is pretty cheap these days and one of the best 2.5" drives. The Samsung's where I live are a lot more expensive for the equivalent drives and those priced similarly are not as good.

 

[Nighthawk117]

I use it for general office stuff. Another 4GB module would be $10 and to replace with 2x8GB woul be about $40-$50. About $30-$40 difference. Do you think 11-11 vs 11-13 memory timings matter?

And do you have any SSD to recommend?

Mike

I assume you have two slots, you could just buy a single 8 and have 12GB?

 

[mmitsch]

Personally am a HUGE fan of the Samsung varieties of 2.5" SSD, 840 and newer. Great drives, available cheap. I have never had a Samsung drive fail on me (knocks on handy bit of wood) and have dozens currently in use.

My other recommendation is the WD Blue series. They have been quite dependable for me as well. DO NOT use their Green line.

Is there an advantage to getting the latest 870? And you think I should get 500gb or 1tb? Will it affect performance?

thinking of making a dual boot to have Linux and Windows.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Is there an advantage to getting the latest 870? And you think I should get 500gb or 1tb? Will it affect performance?

thinking of making a dual boot to have Linux and Windows.

How much space have you used on your current drive? As for the 870, I think you'll struggle to find older drives if your looking at new ones. Larger SSD's tend to be faster in some circumstances because they usually support more channels meaning they can access more NAND flash chips at the same time. This is highly dependant on which drives your comparing though, it's not something I would factor into your purchasing decision. Any SSD you buy will be a world away in performance to what your used to. Given it's an older machine, there is a case for buying the cheapest SSD you can find (I would stick to main brands though).

Just had a look at pricing, your area may be different but the budget drives like the WD Blue are only slightly cheaper than the more premium drives. The Samsung 870 Evo and Crucial MX500 are two of the best 2.5" SSD's, the latter is cheaper where I live so that would be the one I would pick. I have used mostly Samsung SSD's but I have drives from Crucial, Sandisk, Sabrent and Adata as well. Never had a problem with any of them, feature set is more important than brand imo, I think you would struggle to notice the difference between any of the ones your likely to pick.

 

[mmitsch]

How much space have you used on your current drive? As for the 870, I think you'll struggle to find older drives if your looking at new ones. Larger SSD's tend to be faster in some circumstances because they usually support more channels meaning they can access more NAND flash chips at the same time. This is highly dependant on which drives your comparing though, it's not something I would factor into your purchasing decision. Any SSD you buy will be a world away in performance to what your used to. Given it's an older machine, there is a case for buying the cheapest SSD you can find (I would stick to main brands though).

Just had a look at pricing, your area may be different but the budget drives like the WD Blue are only slightly cheaper than the more premium drives. The Samsung 870 Evo and Crucial MX500 are two of the best 2.5" SSD's, the latter is cheaper where I live so that would be the one I would pick. I have used mostly Samsung SSD's but I have drives from Crucial, Sandisk, Sabrent and Adata as well. Never had a problem with any of them, feature set is more important than brand imo, I think you would struggle to notice the difference between any of the ones your likely to pick.

I have a 500 gb now. Just trying to decide if I shoud go bigger if I'm repacing.

As far as the brands, I have an EVO 860 now and it's good (in another machine). Good to hear the Crucial's been good -- I'll check models to seee if I can find the MX500 too.

Appreciate the help!

Mike

 

[Nighthawk117]

Difficult to judge size without knowing what you use your computer for. If you've used over 50% or more of your current drive then I'd go 1TB, if you don't use very much space then I'd probably stick to 500GB. I would say though, it's better to buy too much than too little, I've bought too little before and ended up buying two drives.

The 860 Evo is a good drive but you won't get one of those cheap, or at least I've never seen one. Modern equivalents now would be the 870 Evo and the MX500. There are cheaper drives like the Sandisk Plus, PNY CS900 1TB 3D and WD Blue, however none have a DRAM so in some circumstances they can perform very noticeably worse to the previous two. The WD Blue isn't bad for a dramless drive but where I live it's more expensive than the MX500 so would be a silly purchase. Amazon in the UK are actually now selling the MX500 cheaper than all the budget drives but I'm not sure how things are where you are.

Ones I'd look at are Samsung 870 EVO, Crucial MX500, Adata SU800, Samsung 870 QVO (QLC drive), Sandisk Ultra 3D or the Teamgroup Vulcan G (not familiar with this one but seems quite good).

 

[mmitsch]

Difficult to judge size without knowing what you use your computer for. If you've used over 50% or more of your current drive then I'd go 1TB, if you don't use very much space then I'd probably stick to 500GB. I would say though, it's better to buy too much than too little, I've bought too little before and ended up buying two drives.

The 860 Evo is a good drive but you won't get one of those cheap, or at least I've never seen one. Modern equivalents now would be the 870 Evo and the MX500. There are cheaper drives like the Sandisk Plus, PNY CS900 1TB 3D and WD Blue, however none have a DRAM so in some circumstances they can perform very noticeably worse to the previous two. The WD Blue isn't bad for a dramless drive but where I live it's more expensive than the MX500 so would be a silly purchase. Amazon in the UK are actually now selling the MX500 cheaper than all the budget drives but I'm not sure how things are where you are.

Ones I'd look at are Samsung 870 EVO, Crucial MX500, Adata SU800, Samsung 870 QVO (QLC drive), Sandisk Ultra 3D or the Teamgroup Vulcan G (not familiar with this one but seems quite good).

Thank you for you reply. I will look for an 870 EVO (Samsung) I think. Have an 860 EVO in another machine and have had no issues. And I also didn’t know they had some technical advantages as you explained above.

I have to explore dual boot setup as I’d wanted to run Windows & Linux on the laptop.

Again, thanks!