[SOLVED] Upgrading main C drive on Dell OptiPlex 9020: hard drive or SSD? And if the latter, which one?

[hbenthow]

I have a Dell OptiPlex 9020 (running Windows 10) with a 250 GB hard drive. I want to upgrade to either 1 TB or 2 TB, and am unsure as to whether I should get a hard drive or a SSD.

I understand that SSDs are quicker and can speed up the system, but as I run my computer virtually 24/7, I'm worried about long-term reliability and the possibility of sector damage leading to data loss (especially in system files). I make system image backups with Macrium Reflect, but there's the possibility of some files being damaged before I realize it, so I might wind up with a bunch of backups of a damaged system. Is this much more of a concern with SSDs than with hard drives? How reliable do they tend to be long-term with heavy use?

Also, I don't know whether my method of replacing drives (making a Macrium Reflect image, then replacing the old drive with the blank new one, booting from a Macrium flash drive, and restoring/cloning from the system image to the new drive) would work properly with a SSD the way it does with hard drives. Is this a concern? Also, it it harder to resize partitions (necessary when upgrading for 250 GB to 1 or 2 TB) with a SSD as opposed to a hard drive?

Also, what are the best SSD options? I tend to trust Western Digital the most when it comes to hard drives, but how good are their SSDs? How do they compare to Sandisk, Samsung, and other brands?

 

[Lutfij]

SSD for sure however I wouldn't rest all my eggs in one large SSD. In fact I'd advise on getting a small capacity SSD, 250GB or so for the OS and app's, while a larger HDD should suffice for data storage, unless you can shoehorn another SSD in there. Where are you located, what is your budget and what is your preferred site for purchase?

Dell OptiPlex 9020

Which form factor do you have?

Also, what are the best SSD options? I tend to trust Western Digital the most when it comes to hard drives, but how good are their SSDs? How do they compare to Sandisk, Samsung, and other brands?
You might need to state which model you're looking at. Generally the ones that are priced too low often are the ones you avoid, like WD Green SSD's. Samsung's been plagued with a firmware issue but they resolved that with an update. You could look into Crucial's MX lineup of SSD's. If you must look at WD, look not less than a Blue pedigree SSD.

 

[hbenthow]

SSD for sure however I wouldn't rest all my eggs in one large SSD. In fact I'd advise on getting a small capacity SSD, 250GB or so for the OS and app's, while a larger HDD should suffice for data storage, unless you can shoehorn another SSD in there.

I use multiple hard drives for data storage. So far, I have two 6 TB drives, two 2 TB drives, and three 1 TB drives. I'm not interested in using SSDs for storage drives; just my main C drive. However, I have a lot of programs installed, so I want at least 1 TB of space. My 250 GB one only has 17 GB left free on it.

Where are you located, what is your budget and what is your preferred site for purchase?

Mississippi. Ideally $100 or less for 1 TB or $150 or less for 2 TB. From what I've found regarding prices so far, I'll probably go with 1 TB. I have previously purchased from Amazon, Western Digital's website, and Newegg. I would be open to any of those as well as other reputable sellers (B&H, etc).

Dell OptiPlex 9020

Which form factor do you have?

The largest one, all the way on the left.

You might need to state which model you're looking at. Generally the ones that are priced too low often are the ones you avoid, like WD Green SSD's. Samsung's been plagued with a firmware issue but they resolved that with an update. You could look into Crucial's MX lineup of SSD's. If you must look at WD, look not less than a Blue pedigree SSD.

So far, I've been mostly looking at the Sandisk Ultra 3D 1 TB (which is sold by Western Digital) and the Samsung 870 EVO 1 TB.

https://www.westerndigital.com/prod...andisk-ultra-3d-sata-iii-ssd#SDSSDH3-1T00-G26

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QBJ2YMG/ref=asc_df_B08QBJ2YMG1678240800000

EDIT: the Crucial MX500 now looks like a potential strong contender as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX500-NAND-SATA-Internal/dp/B078211KBB?th=1

 

[Lutfij]

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/i...000000000000,22000000000000&sort=price&page=1
From that filtered list, I'd get the MX500, with eyes closed!

 

[USAFRet]

2.5" SATA III SSD.
As noted above, the MX500.

Also, I don't know whether my method of replacing drives (making a Macrium Reflect image, then replacing the old drive with the blank new one, booting from a Macrium flash drive, and restoring/cloning from the system image to the new drive) would work properly with a SSD the way it does with hard drives.

Where will you be saving the Image to?

Does this system have the capability of more than one SATA drive at a time?
If so, direct clone is an option.

 

[hbenthow]

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/i...000000000000,22000000000000&sort=price&page=1
From that filtered list, I'd get the MX500, with eyes closed!

2.5" SATA III SSD.
As noted above, the MX500.

I did some searching last night while waiting for a response, and found multiple articles and forum threads claiming that the Samsung 870 EVO is more durable in comparison (supposedly, so are Samsung drives in general). Apparently, Samsung makes all of their parts in-house, while Crucial outsources some of theirs and thus doesn't have the same level of quality control. I do like the pricing on the Crucial MX500 better (especially their 2 TB model, which is extremely low-priced for that amount of storage), but I don't know if the savings would be worth it if I would be risking lower durability.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think it's true that Samsung is more durable? Is it worth the extra price?

Where will you be saving the Image to?

I have a hard drive that I use for storing all of my Macrium system image backups.

Does this system have the capability of more than one SATA drive at a time?
If so, direct clone is an option.

It does, but I have all of the extra SATA ports filled up with other drives. I could temporarily remove one for the cloning operation, but wouldn't it be easier to use the system image restore method?

 

[USAFRet]

I did some searching last night while waiting for a response, and found multiple articles and forum threads claiming that the Samsung 870 EVO is more durable in comparison (supposedly, so are Samsung drives in general). Apparently, Samsung makes all of their parts in-house, while Crucial outsources some of theirs and thus doesn't have the same level of quality control. I do like the pricing on the MX500 better, but I don't know if the savings would be worth it if I would be risking lower durability.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think it's true that Samsung is more durable? Is it worth the extra price?



I have a hard drive that I use for storing all of my Macrium system image backups.



It does, but I have all of the extra SATA ports filled up with other drives. I could temporarily remove one for the cloning operation, but wouldn't it be easier to use the system image restore method?

The Samsung 860/870 EVO, or the Crucial MX500.
Literally a toss up.

I have some of both.

'Durability' can't be specified for the singular drive on your system. At least for the top tier drives like those ones.


For the clone process....either an Image, or a direct clone.
See below.

 

[USAFRet]

-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[USAFRet]

1x slot with an Image

Assuming you have another drive (any type of drive) with sufficient free space to hold the entirety of your current m.2 drive:

1. Download and install Macrium Reflect
2. Run that, and create a Rescue CD or USB (you'll use this later). "Other Tasks". Create this on a small USB flash drive or DVD.
3. In the Macrium client, create an Image to some other drive. External USB HDD, maybe. Select all partitions. This results in a file of xxxx.mrimage
4. When done, power OFF.
5. Swap the 2 drives
6. Boot up from the Rescue USB you created earlier.
7. Restore (on the toolbar), and tell it where the Image is that you created in step 3, and which drive to apply it to...the new m.2
8. Go, and wait until it finishes.
9. That's all...this should work.

 

[hbenthow]

The Samsung 860/870 EVO, or the Crucial MX500.
Literally a toss up.

I have some of both.

'Durability' can't be specified for the singular drive on your system. At least for the top tier drives like those ones.

In your experience, the Crucial drives don't seem more prone to failure or wearing out than Samsung?

I've seen some people seem to indicate that Crucial tends to have more issues than Samsung, such as in this thread:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...ssd-samsung-870-evo-or-crucial-mx500.3760544/

I'm especially worried about this problem that I saw someone report having with the MX500:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...only-a-few-bytes-being-written-to-it.3571220/

Currently, the price difference on Amazon between the 1 TB models of the MX500 and the 870 EVO are very small (only about $5). However, the 2 TB MX500 is much cheaper (at $107) than the 2 TB 870 EVO ($149.99).

1x slot with an Image

Assuming you have another drive (any type of drive) with sufficient free space to hold the entirety of your current m.2 drive:

1. Download and install Macrium Reflect
2. Run that, and create a Rescue CD or USB (you'll use this later). "Other Tasks". Create this on a small USB flash drive or DVD.
3. In the Macrium client, create an Image to some other drive. External USB HDD, maybe. Select all partitions. This results in a file of xxxx.mrimage
4. When done, power OFF.
5. Swap the 2 drives
6. Boot up from the Rescue USB you created earlier.
7. Restore (on the toolbar), and tell it where the Image is that you created in step 3, and which drive to apply it to...the new m.2
8. Go, and wait until it finishes.
9. That's all...this should work.

That's how I've always done it in the past when swapping hard drives. It worked well. I just was concerned that maybe there were extra steps when using a SSD. It has also been a long time since I cloned from a smaller drive to a larger one (since then, I've always been cloning from a 1 TB drive to another 1 TB drive), so I forgot how to do the partition resizing. I'll have to look into whether I should do it from within the Macrium rescue media or afterward using a partition manager software.

 

[USAFRet]

In your experience, the Crucial drives don't seem more prone to failure or wearing out than Samsung?

None of my Crucials OR Samsungs have died.

I'm especially worried about this problem that I saw someone report having with the MX500:

I've been watching that one since its inception.
That particular drive is still apparently going just fine.


Again, either would work for me.

 

[hbenthow]

1x slot with an Image

Assuming you have another drive (any type of drive) with sufficient free space to hold the entirety of your current m.2 drive:

1. Download and install Macrium Reflect
2. Run that, and create a Rescue CD or USB (you'll use this later). "Other Tasks". Create this on a small USB flash drive or DVD.
3. In the Macrium client, create an Image to some other drive. External USB HDD, maybe. Select all partitions. This results in a file of xxxx.mrimage
4. When done, power OFF.
5. Swap the 2 drives
6. Boot up from the Rescue USB you created earlier.
7. Restore (on the toolbar), and tell it where the Image is that you created in step 3, and which drive to apply it to...the new m.2
8. Go, and wait until it finishes.
9. That's all...this should work.

I eventually decided on a 2 TB Western Digital Blue drive. I plan on migrating my operating system to it within the next few days, and am now wondering if I should rebuild my Macrium Rescue USB with the "Check for devices missing drivers on boot" option enabled (I have always left it disabled in times past, but I don't know if I will need a new driver in order to successfully use the new SSD).

 

[USAFRet]

I eventually decided on a 2 TB Western Digital Blue drive. I plan on migrating my operating system to it within the next few days, and am now wondering if I should rebuild my Macrium Rescue USB with the "Check for devices missing drivers on boot" option enabled (I have always left it disabled in times past, but I don't know if I will need a new driver in order to successfully use the new SSD).

It probably wouldn't hurt to have that box checked.

 

[Lutfij]

Thank you for awarding my post as the Best Answer, @hbenthow , but I don't think I deserve the award. In fact my colleague above has been more helpful than I which is why I've removed the award from my own.
😉