Home » Questions » Computers [ Ask a new question ]

Will I see performance benefits from an SSD in my laptop?

Will I see performance benefits from an SSD in my laptop?

I have a Dell Latitude D520 1.6ghz, 4gb ram. I'm looking to postpone a laptop upgrade by getting one of the new Intel X25-M G2 SSDs.

Asked by: Guest | Views: 297
Total answers/comments: 3
Guest [Entry]

"You will most absolutely and definitely and positively see an improvement. Laptop hard drives are usually the #1 bottleneck in a system. My Dell Latitude D420 came with a 4200RPM drive. Choke. Cough. Slow. Your D520 probably isn't as bad out of the box, but its drive is still likely an I/O bottleneck.

I installed an OCZ Vertex 250GB SSD in my other laptop, a Macbook, some time back, and it flew compared to the original 5400RPM drive.

These new SSDs are amazing compared to hard drives. But don't go cheap -- some SSDs can be slow. The OCZ Vertex I purchased is a good product, and so is the Intel you're referring to ... it would have been my other choice."
Guest [Entry]

You most likely will see an improvement. As you mentioned there are other bottlenecks, but the SSD will reduce latency to at least some degree. You may want to watch your power usage though, as SSDs tend to chew more power, which is an issue for laptops.
Guest [Entry]

"Just bought SSD and put it in a D520 Dell.
Max benchmark speed: 40 MB.s, average <20MB/s.
Reason:
Dell D520 has an IDE mode controller and even with latest BIOS update no AHCI/SATA mode option. That means that there is no TRIM or NCQ command.

Don't waste money on SSD for Dell D520. Otherwise SSD are a very good option, got one on my desktop an it's heaven, best thing I ever bought.

edit: got an intel chip SSD, which on other comps works great - just to be clear."