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Swap HDD with SSD or add SSD?
I have an Inspiron 17 5759 running Windows 10. I bought it new a few years ago, and it came with a 2TB HDD. Will the Inspiron 5000 models accept an SSD in place of the HDD? Or, even better, is there room in this laptop for both? I'd love a much faster boot up, but not sure I want to replace the 2TB HDD with a 2TB SSD due to the cost. But if I could just add a smaller SSD as a boot drive, I'm good with that.
If it's possible to add the SSD, what size would you recommend if I just wanted to use it as a boot drive?
Are there videos out there for this particular laptop that would help walk me through this?
Are there particular brands of SSD you guys would recommend?
Other computer specs:
- Intel(R) Core (TM) i7-6500U CPU @ 2.50 GHz 2.60 GHz
- 16.0 GB RAM
- 64 bit Operating System, x64-based processor
Thanks!
jphughan
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June 27th, 2018 13:00
According to that system's Service Manual on support.dell.com (direct link here), you only have one drive bay. The only way to install a second drive would be to sacrifice your optical drive and install an accessory like this one, into which you can install a SATA hard drive where the optical drive used to be. Note that I can't guarantee that particular item is compatible. It claims to be, but I haven't used it personally and it isn't an official Dell accessory. I just linked it as an example.
If you don't want to go that route, then yes if you were to buy a 2.5" SATA SSD, you could certainly replace your spinning drive with it. I personally would recommend the Samsung 860 Evo. 2.5" drives have different thicknesses, the most common of which are 7 mm and 9.5 mm, so you may have an issue there, but I doubt it. Eyeballing the drawing in the Service Manual, it looks like the system uses 7 mm drives, which is the same size SSDs use, in which case you're golden. If you currently have a 9.5 mm drive, then a 7 mm drive will of course physically fit, but you may need some sort of padding or bumper to make sure the SSD's SATA connector lines up with the port on the motherboard -- although depending on the system design, sometimes you don't. Basically, if the drive is designed to be installed into the system upside-down, then a shower SSD will cause the SATA connector to sink too low, hence the need for padding of some kind. If on the other hand the SSD installs right side up, then the SATA connector that's at the bottom anyway will still be in the right place, and then you just have some unused air above the SSD.
jphughan
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June 27th, 2018 15:00
Well then another option you could consider would be buying a 4TB USB-powered external hard drive for about $100. That's pretty easily portable, although of course not as convenient as having all of your storage internal, especially if you'd be working with the data on that drive nearly constantly. I personally would bet that you'd find an external optical drive less of a hassle than an external hard drive if you're using Photoshop and Lightroom a lot -- and incidentally there are USB-powered slim optical drives, so they can be quite portable and convenient. Check out some of the options from Pioneer, for example. But if you want a lot of internal storage, fast storage for your OS and applications, AND an internal optical drive, then your only option with that system is to pony up for a high-capacity SSD. Good luck with your decision!
rhodesmk
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June 27th, 2018 15:00
Thanks for your response. I kinda like having my DVD drive in the laptop rather than external, so I may not go this route. But it's great advice. I'll ponder for a while, then probably wait another year until the warranty is totally up on this laptop and just replace the whole thing with better "stuff."
I'm thinking I probably need a gaming laptop, not that this 63 year old games a lot, but I've recently taken up photography and graphic editing as a hobby and need a faster machine to keep from getting frustrated at my editing software (photoshop, lightroom, and others.)
Thanks again!
ktladesign
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January 10th, 2019 17:00
Im having a similar issue with my 5759. It runs sooooo very slow. I've restored it several times using the restore function F8. Im finding that it may be because the existing hard drive is possibly bad? Dell remote couldnt figure it out. ( 2TB.) Im thinking to replace this HDD with an SSD. I've seen problems with installing the Samsung SSD. Do I clone the HDD first? and then install / replace the SSD drive into the HDD location bay? I dont want to buy the drive and then have a problem with installing it. Wont be able to return it if problems. Any ideas?
Thank you.
RAJ54
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August 23rd, 2020 20:00
Old post but things have not changed much in 2020 maybe people have slower older laptops.
I've done two dells by buying a CD/DVD tray for a SSD and kept the original drive.
They were i3s and were super slow, painful to use. I was not sure how much better it would be or if the DVD was SATA3 or better.
OMG the difference was like 20x! Booting from the DVD was fine just as fast as the internal SATA port (some older laptops might only have SATA1 for CD but even then it would be faster than the original mechanical drives.
1. One of them I kept the OS on the original drive and installed a new version of windows on the new SSD drive. Ended up having a dual boot, the old drive still had the old files and could be booted, deleted etc. Saved me time because he wanted a fresh OS install and no loose the old data
If your SSD is smaller than the original drive you wont be able to clone it. I used a 256G Samsung SSD + with original 1 TB mechanical (Slow) worked out great.
2. If you just want to keep the DVD its easier to get a SSD the same size as the old drive, then you can clone it to the SSD (via a usb to sata cable) + macrium reflect software to clone from old to new. Then you pull out the old drive and put in the SSD.
It will have the exact same files (and bloat) the old drive had. This is easiest way.