Adding an SSD to a slow CPU laptop

[Budza]

Is it worth it? Here's the laptop:

ASUS U32U

With a 1.65 GHz dual core E-450, 4GB RAM as well as a 320 GByte hard drive.

With 2 USB3.0 ports, I can make do with fast enough external storage.

I'd assume that due to the slower CPU, I could grab a cheaper SSD, as I'd probably not see the full benefit of the latest and greatest...

 

[chickenbeef]

It's not worth it. I have a Dell with that CPU and tested an SSD with it and there was no noticeable difference. The CPU is quite weak and runs at 75-100% most of the time with the usual office tasks and web browsing.

 

[bromster]

If you are just doing word processing, movies and internet browsing, I would say yes.

Incredible Connection has had the SEAGATE SSD 120GB (ST120HM000) on special twice for R999, which is excellent value. I tried mine in an old HP Pavilion Laptop (Celeron 1.6 Dual Core, 1.5gb RAM) a few weeks ago whilst doing diagnostics and I was very impressed how much faster and more responsive everything was.

Don't you know anyone who has one you could try?

 

[Nerfherder]

Up the RAM before you put in an SSD.

 

[McGuywer]

Up the RAM before you put in an SSD.

I disagree. 4GB is enough. CPU is the bottleneck.

 

[Budza]

So, that's a NO then. Lucky for my wallet

CPU tops out before RAM.

IE, with a few tabs open and an app or two, the thing bogs down before RAM is past 75%. CPU is close to maxed.

This is my personal laptop, bought as a longer lasting, lower powered media machine. Light use was all it was supposed to do.

I'll just continue using the work one for the heavy lifting.

Cheers.

 

[Pada]

I wasn't impressed by my G.Skill Phoenix 120GB SSD when I installed it on my Dell laptop with a 2.0GHz T7200 CPU, but that same SSD still makes a massive difference with my i7 920 desktop.

The SSD will make it faster, but perhaps not enough to make it worth while for personal use. The power consumption is lower with the SSD and it also means that you can bump your laptop without worrying that your data will be lost, like due to a HDD crashing.
So there are a couple of advantages to having a SSD in a slow laptop.

I was very tempted by that Incredible Connection special where the Seagate 120GB SSD was R1k, but in the end I said I didn't need it in my laptop that I use for just reading Emails, visiting websites, listening to music and watching videos.

 

[wizardofid]

Faster um no, if you manage to get 5 FPS extra on any game as a direct result of using an SSD, then by god it's a miracle, only beneficial thing you will get out of an SSD is programs opening and loading faster, that is all there is to it.