x60 SSD Upgrade Question

[Slope]

I was looking to upgrade the hard drive in my x60 to an SSD drive to make it snapier and save on battery life. Since I got my iPad, I haven't used the x60 nearly as much so I don't want to fully replace the laptop, merely update it a little and it should support my web browsing, picture viewing, and resume work without a problem (much cheaper then getting a new laptop to do the same, basic type work).

Anyway, I was looking at getting this drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820171740

I have search the forums and many of the drives that have been recommended are older models (some of which I can't find anymore). Please forgive another "will this drive work" type questions. I couldn't determine if this drive supports TRIM, so was hoping someone here had experience or could guide me.

Thanks for the help.

[ajkula66]

A *significantly* better drive for the same buck:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820147188

TRIM only works if the OS supports it, and if you're running Windows that means W7 or W8.

[Slope]

The laptop is currently running Windows XP, but will be installing Windows 7 (haven't decided about 32 vs 64 bit yet) on the machine with this SSD.

Just for my own knowlege, what makes the Samsung drive better than the Sandisk? Is it the controller? Just curious how you make that determination (trying to learn along the way).

Thanks.

[ajkula66]

The laptop is currently running Windows XP, but will be installing Windows 7 (haven't decided about 32 vs 64 bit yet) on the machine with this SSD.

Unless you're in a possession of one of the fairly rare X60 units with a Core 2 Duo CPU, 32-bit is your only option.

Just for my own knowlege, what makes the Samsung drive better than the Sandisk? Is it the controller? Just curious how you make that determination (trying to learn along the way).

Thanks.

At this day and age, you can hardly ever go wrong with Intel, Crucial or Samsung when it comes to SSDs. I've used all of them extensively with no issues.

[Peptate]

Just keep in mind that if you do decide to opt for the Samsung 840, it uses TLC NAND instead of MLC which may be an issue if you frequently transfer large volumes of data.

[tjwasiak]

Just keep in mind that if you do decide to opt for the Samsung 840, it uses TLC NAND instead of MLC which may be an issue if you frequently transfer large volumes of data.

AFAIK only newest 840 EVO series uses triple level cell flash while 840 and 840 PRO were using MLC NAND.

[Slope]

What model would you guys recommend?

I wanted a MacBook Air, but I can't justify the price for what I still use my laptop for (I usually use my iPad) so I've decided to upgrade the 'ol X60 instead.

The model I have is the 170997U (Core Duo, 1.83 GHz, 4 GB RAM). It already has 4GB of RAM (I know, only 3GB are visible to 32-bit OS's). I want to put a SSD in it (64GB should be more than enough, frankly 32GB would probably work), and I think Windows 7 64-bit. What do you think?

Also, any recommendations on an external CD drive I can use to load Windows 7 from? I have been borrowing my buddy's, but it would be nice to have whatever it is I need.

Also, I have read some stuff around upgrading the BIOS. Is this something I should do as well? I have been running the stock BIOS (I can check what version if you need/want to know).

Thanks again for the help.

Brian

[ajkula66]

The model I have is the 170997U (Core Duo, 1.83 GHz, 4 GB RAM). It already has 4GB of RAM (I know, only 3GB are visible to 32-bit OS's). I want to put a SSD in it (64GB should be more than enough, frankly 32GB would probably work), and I think Windows 7 64-bit. What do you think?

With that CPU, all you can do is 32-bit. Also, 3GB is a *chipset* limitation on these machines and has nothing to do with the OS. As for the SSDs, Intel, Samsung or Crucial (apart from V4) would be my recommendation.

Also, any recommendations on an external CD drive I can use to load Windows 7 from? I have been borrowing my buddy's, but it would be nice to have whatever it is I need.

An UltraBase can be picked quite cheaply nowadays...

Also, I have read some stuff around upgrading the BIOS. Is this something I should do as well? I have been running the stock BIOS (I can check what version if you need/want to know).

If you want to run a non-Lenovo wireless card in that machine, you'll need a modded BIOS. That's pretty much the whole story.

[Slope]

Interesting. I thought I read that if I ran 64-bit I would see the whole 4GB of RAM but 32-bit only saw 3GB. Maybe that was a different model...too much research. So, 32-bit Windows 7 it is.

I have an Ultrabay for it because I wanted to CD drive. Works great, once you get an OS loaded on it. I can't seem to figure out how to load an OS (from scratch) using the Ultrabay, hence I was using an external CD drive. Is there a trick I don't know about? Assuming not, do you think this would fit the bill? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827136267

As for drives, I was looking at one of these? Any preference or drawbacks to any of these (I don't understand the IOPS numbers)? I don't understand what makes one of these drives better or worse than another. Sorry, don't mean to keep asking the same "what do you recommend" question, but I'm really pushing my experience here.
* http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820167168
* http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820167154
* http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 0AT0Y33195
* http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820171739

Thanks for the help on the BIOS. Why would I want to run a different wireless card? Is there one that's available that's faster than the one that came with it? If so, which card should I be looking at?

Thanks. Brian

P.S. My thought was to take my existing HD that's in the X60 and put it in the Ultrabay (didn't have another use for it anyways). That way when it's plugged in or I need the extra capacity I would be there. This is possible, right?

[ajkula66]

I have an Ultrabay for it because I wanted to CD drive. Works great, once you get an OS loaded on it. I can't seem to figure out how to load an OS (from scratch) using the Ultrabay, hence I was using an external CD drive. Is there a trick I don't know about?

Insert the media drive in the UltraBase, power on, press F12 on boot to choose a temporary booting device, load the OS. Done.

Assuming not, do you think this would fit the bill? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827136267

I see no reason why it wouldn't but that's a pretty penny...

As for drives, I was looking at one of these? Any preference or drawbacks to any of these (I don't understand the IOPS numbers)? I don't understand what makes one of these drives better or worse than another. Sorry, don't mean to keep asking the same "what do you recommend" question, but I'm really pushing my experience here.
* http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820167168
* http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820167154
* http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 0AT0Y33195
* http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820171739

Definite "no" for #4, the rest is simply overpriced. You can do a LOT better around here on TPF, and there are folks who sell brand new, sealed, Lenovo-issued SSDs...feel free to PM me for recommendation...

Why would I want to run a different wireless card? Is there one that's available that's faster than the one that came with it? If so, which card should I be looking at?

Indeed there are. You'd be getting at least 300Mbps with an "n" card, presuming you have a dual-band router.

P.S. My thought was to take my existing HD that's in the X60 and put it in the Ultrabay (didn't have another use for it anyways). That way when it's plugged in or I need the extra capacity I would be there. This is possible, right?

Yes.

[Temetka]

Interesting. I thought I read that if I ran 64-bit I would see the whole 4GB of RAM but 32-bit only saw 3GB. Maybe that was a different model...too much research. So, 32-bit Windows 7 it is.

You are partially correct.

As long as the chipset supports 4GB of RAM or greater, you will need a 64-Bit OS in order to access all the memory.

However on system such as the T60 and X60, the chipset has a limitation whereas it can only address and access 3GB of RAM. Sometimes 3.25GB of RAM. If you run 32-bit Windows on a 64-bit capable machine with 4GB of RAM or more, you will only be able to use 3GB.

So to use 4GB of RAM or more, you need 2 things. The first is 64-bit capable hardware, and the second is a 64-bit operating system. Pretty much Anything newer than and including the T61 and X61 systems can address 4GB or more of RAM.

So in my case, I own an X61T which is a 64-bit machine. So I can run all the way up to 8GB of RAM.

[Peptate]

Just keep in mind that if you do decide to opt for the Samsung 840, it uses TLC NAND instead of MLC which may be an issue if you frequently transfer large volumes of data.

AFAIK only newest 840 EVO series uses triple level cell flash while 840 and 840 PRO were using MLC NAND.

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/5196/ ... index.html

840 and 840 EVO uses TLC, 840 Pro uses MLC.

[RealBlackStuff]

And TLC is worse than MLC, which is worse than SLC.
So pick your choice (and as far as I'm concerned, NEVER TLC).

[Allstar]

Hi,

I'm not sure what the issue is, but my X61s doesn't seem to recognize Kingston 60GB V300 (SV300S372). When I insert it and try to boot from CD for fresh install I get an error message as if no hard drive found. With HDD I can boot from CD just fine.

Is the problem in SSD?

[delingren]

I recently upgraded mine with a San Disk 60G SATA 3 SSD. It seems to work fine and boots Windows 8.1 super fast considering how old this laptop is.