Hardware Gaming laptop, 2.5" bay available. HDD or SSD?

DiscostewSM

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I went and got a gaming laptop (Dell 7577) that's basically going to be my main computer, and because it's capable of gaming (GTX 1060 6GB Max-Q), I plan on putting my games on it. But right now, the laptop came only with a 256GB NVMe SSD, so I can't put much on it atm. It has a 2.5" bay available for either an HDD or SSD. Initially I was thinking of getting a Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD via black friday deal ($118, 3D V-NAND), but noticed that it may not be enough for games. For instance, Shadows of Mordor requires over 90GB for install, and while I don't expect all games to be that big, I'm sure others will be quite big. Thought maybe a 1TB SSD would be fine, but prices escalate after 500GB, and I'm not about to go onto eBay for a "used" one. It's too bad that SSD prices only seem to be going up for the passed few years rather than down. So, then perhaps a high capacity HDD would suffice. I already have an SSD to boot my OS quickly, and can put my more common applications on it. Figured, if I'm going with an HDD, then maybe I should try to find a 2TB drive. That way I won't really have a problem with space. Unfortunately, once 2.5" HDDs go beyond 500GB/750GB, they seem to stick to 5400rpm, and that would affect game loading imo, so even if I went with a 1TB, I'd still be stuck with a slow drive.

I do have an small external 2TB 5400rpm drive connectable via USB 3.0, and even thought about putting my games on there, but I don't know how feasible that would be. I'd imagine it would be even more limited than a 5400rpm internal SATA drive. But, if it would be fine, then perhaps I'd go and stick that 500GB SSD I initially planned on getting into the laptop just for added space.

Thoughts?
 
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I would say ssd, but thats my style- i never play more then ~4 games at once and when I've finished playing a game - i backup the save and delete the game to allow me to donwload other games... so i never need more then 250gb for my games... but thats just me..
 

TheLegendofMario

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I say use the SSD as your boot drive and get a 500 GB or 1 TB HDD and use that for your Games and Program, and the games and programs you use the most, put those on the SSD.
 

mgrev

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I have a legion y520 with a 1050 and a 256gb nvme ssd too. I put a 1tb hdd in it, so i can fit more games at once, since i don't have a particularly great internet speed. I'd say go with a 1tb or 2tb drive. Maybe install a game or two on your m.2 if you really want speed
 

migles

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i would say HDD
you have a NVME (are ya sure it's nvme or it's a pretend nvme sata m.2 drive?) you got fast boot, launch apps fast, hdd will be only used during games loading
can you get a laptop drive bigger than 1TB?

but it seems made your mind and want to get the ssd.

also, if your laptop has a optical drive and you don't use that shit, you can install a caddy with another 2.5 inch drive in it
 

DiscostewSM

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i would say HDD
you have a NVME (are ya sure it's nvme or it's a pretend nvme sata m.2 drive?) you got fast boot, launch apps fast, hdd will be only used during games loading
can you get a laptop drive bigger than 1TB?

but it seems made your mind and want to get the ssd.

also, if your laptop has a optical drive and you don't use that shit, you can install a caddy with another 2.5 inch drive in it
Not quite made up my mind on one or the other. There are pros and cons for each, and while many pros go towards SSD for a laptop, it has at least one major con, and there are pros for the HDD. If money wasn't an issue, then I'd probably just go with the SSD, but I've already paid some good money for the laptop, and I don't want to continue the splurge unless it was necessary. There's only so much I can put off to the side while maintaining a living.

Is having an HDD worth it as a secondary drive in a gaming laptop, especially one that while having high capacity is bogged down by spin speed?
 

migles

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Is having an HDD worth it as a secondary drive in a gaming laptop, especially one that while having high capacity is bogged down by spin speed?
for the last years i was using the same old hdd, the hdd is slowish, in windows 7 it worked quite good liek the old days, but since the windows 10, he was just not liking that hdd... (windows 10 hates booting from hdds :C )
well, i got the nvme, mainbly because concerns of the hdd dying of old age and i was scared of loosing data...
installed the nvme, put the games in the same old hdd (who might die soon, but i don't have anything that i can loose there), and well, it's not bad, games load just fine, even faster than before.. faster that i can't read thoose loading screen tips now
the thing is, now that the windows and most programs are in the nvme, the games got all the bandwith and use the hdd almost dedicately
 
Last edited by migles,

Skyshadow101

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Last edited by Skyshadow101,

DiscostewSM

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To be honest, I'd go with a hard drive, since they usually have a better $/gb ratio. Speeds are decent with 2.5 inch drives, and you can find them for cheap on Amazon and such.

Like this,

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00B4QESVQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_2/140-2702744-2968636?ie=UTF8&qid=1511423009&sr=1-2&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_three_browse-bin:4990425011&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&dpPl=1&dpID=41R3CN2RW3L&ref=plSrch

This is a 2.5 inch drive, 7200 RPM, 1TB, should fit most needs.
Unfortunately, it's now too late. Won an auction on eBay for a 1TB 850 EVO on eBay (new) for roughly $240. Figured that was going to be the lowest I'd find one. Had about $89 in eBay gift cards to use, so it helped reduce it more. Then I surprised myself when I had forgotten my Paypal balance of $127.
 

Ryccardo

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Unfortunately, it's now too late. Won an auction on eBay for a 1TB 850 EVO on eBay (new) for roughly $240.
Excellent deal, I paid very little less for a 480GB (way more than I need) in late 2014 and trust me when I say you can't ever go back after you go SSD :)
 

Futurdreamz

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Hang on, does your computer have both a NVMe M.2 and a 2.5" bay? If that was the case you could've kept the old SSD and put in a hdd in the other bay. But $240 for a 1TB ssd is pretty good tho.
 

DiscostewSM

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Hang on, does your computer have both a NVMe M.2 and a 2.5" bay? If that was the case you could've kept the old SSD and put in a hdd in the other bay. But $240 for a 1TB ssd is pretty good tho.
Had the timing of the auction for the SSD and Skyshadow101's post been different/swapped, I probably would have gotten that HDD he linked instead.
 

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