Solved Optimal size of SSD for Win 8.1 and standard apps?

m3110w

New Member
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Hi All,

I'm thinking of getting a new laptop with an SSD internal drive for OS and an external USB drive for all my user files. Based on my research so far, it looks like 128gb SSD should be large enough for Win 8.1, all Win updates, and my programs. The main programs I use are LibreOffice, Chrome, Firefox, MediaMonkey, Kaspersky, VLC, Skype, Audacity, PhotoScape, iTunes, PDF reader and some misc small utility apps. Just the usual apps for a typical user. I'm not a power user, I don't play PC games and I don't edit video or use any Adobe CS apps.

So do you think 128gb SSD is enough? Or should I play it safe and get larger? Thanks! Cheers,

Advait
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
128 is the smallest that I would do these days. For work, when I buy laptops my standard SSD is now 256GB.

It's pretty easy to start with a 128, wait until it's close to full, make an image based backup of it and restore on a bigger SSD later.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
128 GB is more than enough for what you intend to use and it is good to keep Windows and personal Data separated (Easier/Faster to backup/restore without worrying lost of personal data). I use 128GB SSD and have tons of applications installed and it only takes about 40GBs total.

FYI, Windows 8.1 OS only takes about 22~25GBs and most applications will take between 20MBs ~ 100MBs except for those Video, Audio, Image editing software which will take somewhere in between 500MBs ~ 1.2GBs depending on the amount of add-ons/Plugins being added to them. For Itunes: 180MB, Firefox: 70MBs
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
In device manager that has a yellow triangle on it, ( says unknown device code 28 ) . I have no problems at all with computer other than terrible video lag. I got windows 8, didn't have that problem with my windows 7 pc it,s a clean laptop, I got it about 5 months ago. I don't know a lot about any pc, Just average. I haven't replaced anything, I just added usb keyboard and mouse. My laptop keyboard works fine, the usb wireless keyboard is full sized. Is the yellow triangle any concern at all ? Any ideas on video lag, I tried a lot of things, no luck at all.
Thanks Chuck

if you start a new thread instead of posting in this one you'll get better help. It just confuses things having two topics in one thread.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
I consider 128 gb the bare minimum. For me it is anyway. I have a 128 and a 256 in my laptop. I have the luxury of two drive bays though. If it only had the one it would have at least a 256 gb drive. I have windows on the 128 and my data on the 256 gb. I have 256 GB SSD's in my desktop PC's for Windows and regular spinner drives for data. I game on my desktop PC and 128 GB wouldn't be enough space for my steam games etc..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
If it's just for the programs on your list, than 1208 GB will be quite enough, but if you generate a lot of data like pictures, music and videos you'd be out of space fast. How large is the HDD you have now and which is supposed to be replaced by SSD ? Are you going to keep that HDD too ? Laptop or desktop computer ? If only drive consider 250GB, they are faster than smaller ones too.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
I'm happy with my 240GB SSD. I have Windows, Office, AutoCAD, Adobe Suite, Corel X7 Suite, lots of scientific software, 2 or 3 heavy games, and still have some free space.

:)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10.0.10122
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    My Build - Vorttex Ultimate
    CPU
    Core i7 @ 4500 MHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Z87-Plus
    Memory
    32GB DDR3 @ 1822 MHz (OC)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon R9 280X 3GB @ 1180 / 6800 MHz
    Sound Card
    7.1 HDA
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD LG 22" + CRT LG 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1760 x 1320 / 1280 x 960
    Hard Drives
    1 x 240 GB SSD (System)
    3 x 500 GB HDD (Data/Media)
    1 x 2000 GB e-HDD (Backup)
    PSU
    ThermalTake 1000W PSU
    Case
    Corsair Carbide R300
    Cooling
    Corsair H60 (Push-Pull)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    60 Mbps (Down) 5 Mbps (Up)
    Browser
    IE, FF, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG Internet Security 2015
    Other Info
    Some wired stuff
My laptop has a 240 gb Crucial M5 SSD. I keep everything from documents to photos on a family Owncloud share. I also keep another copy of stuff in my box.com account (50gb). I image the SSD on mine and my son's laptop, maybe every 3 months.

The last computer I did for someone, that had a failing platter drive, and we stuck the same model of SSD that I have in it. They were only using around 89gb on the hard drive. That is due to they do like I do, and keep data on a cloud & NAS storage.

My old Acer A0532h Netbook that I gave my daughter. I stuck a 64gb SSD in it. It has Windows 7 on it. She only uses it for Internet surfing and email. If she types anything up. It gets saved on her Google Cloud storage.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Mint 17.2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C850D-st3nx1
    CPU
    AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 1.40 GHZ
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon™ HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M500 240GB SSD
    Mouse
    Logitech M525
    Internet Speed
    45/6 - ATT U-Verse
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    None needed. It is Linux.
    Other Info
    Arris NVG589 Gateway; Router - Cisco RV320; Switch - Netgear GS108 8-Port Switch & Trendnet TEG-S50g 5-Port Switch; Access Points - Engenius ECB350, Trendnet TEW-638APB; NAS - Lenovo ix2-4; Printer - Brother HL-2280DW; Air Print Server - Lantronix XPrintServer

    A/V UPS - Tripp-Lite Smart 1500LCD 1500 Va/900 W.
If it's just for the programs on your list, than 1208 GB will be quite enough, but if you generate a lot of data like pictures, music and videos you'd be out of space fast. How large is the HDD you have now and which is supposed to be replaced by SSD ? Are you going to keep that HDD too ? Laptop or desktop computer ? If only drive consider 250GB, they are faster than smaller ones too.

Thanks for your reply. I plan to keep all my user files (500gb of docs, mp3s, vids, etc) on an external USB hard drive. Plan is for only the OS and apps on the SSD. So based on the replies it looks like 128gb SSD will be plenty enough for me. I don't use any very large apps. And pparks1 is correct that I can image and move to a larger SSD if needed.

Thanks! Question answered. Cheers,

Advait
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
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