Advice and Guidance

[15bs168cl]

Just received HP 15-bs168cl. Some online research told me upgrading hard drive is first step to unlocking full potential, but I am completely clueless when it comes to technology. Not even sure what operating system I have, Windows 10 (32bit/64bit (no idea what bit means)) ANY help is much appreciated.

[banhien]

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@15bs168clwrote:

Just received HP 15-bs168cl. Some online research told me upgrading hard drive is first step to unlocking full potential, ..

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@15bs168cl

What is your plan ?

There are many options to upgrade.

• The first thing many people to look at is RAM (or memory). Your machine has 8 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM (1 x 8 GB) now, you can upgrade to 16GB.
• then the next thing would be storage (HDD). Your machine has 2 TB 5400 rpm SATA, plentry of room but slow, you can upgrade to SSD, this will improve speed.
• Nowdays upgrading CPU could be a very expensive upgrade because many CPU's now are soldered to the system boards (or motherboards).

As you mentioned above, you have clueless about computer. You can ask your friends or pay someone to do that for you.

Regards.

[Huffer]

Well you have a 2 TB 5400 rpm standard SATA 2.5 inch hard drive. 

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05787862

It is true that this is a slow legacy storage option and what you want these days is a solid state drive. Yours is not capable of using the fastest kind on the market called PCIe/NVME. You can however, use a SATA type SSD. A SATA SSD will be 4 or 5 times faster than a hard drive, and an NVME SSD is 4 or 5 times faster than a SATA. Still a SATA SSD is a game-changing upgrade. Boot time is a fraction what it takes with an old school "spinner" disk and apps pop open; you have to experience it once and you will never go back. 

Here is the Service manual:

Manual

The easiest thing for you to do is to replace the 2.5 inch SATA spinner hard drive with a 2.5 inch SATA SSD. Problem: you have a very luxurious 2 TB of storage. Even a 1 TB SATA 2.5 inch SSD is going to cost over $400.

You can instead add an M.2 "gumstick" type drive. Problem: compatibility and level of difficulty. We are talking about a fairly sophisticated tech operation here. 

So before I spend time writing specific directions let's take a step back and see what you have learned here and where you want to go from here. We will stick with you as long as you are still engaged. 

[15bs168cl]

Pleasantly surprised to get off work to 2 responses! Wasn’t expecting any help on here. @banhien my plan is to talk to smart people like you and become educated before I make any hasty decisions. Will a 16GB RAM improve performance? @huffer Can I keep 2TB and improve speed? I haven’t spent a full 10 minutes on the computer and I can already tell it’s slow so if 1 TB and additional storage would make up for the lag I would consider losing storage space. Again thank you guys I have no idea what 99.9% of these acronyms you’re throwing at me are but thank god google. And forums.

[Huffer]

Honestly I would say 8 gigs RAM is plenty for you. Yes you can keep the 2 TB storage you have now and add in a faster M.2 disk. Are you able to deal with a pretty significant disassembly and a software reinstall? We have helped hundreds through it I assure you, but it can be tricky. 

[15bs168cl]

Yes I can definitely handle that. I’ll start doing some research on what an M.2 disk is haha

[15bs168cl · Accepted solution]

SSD 860 EVO M.2 SATA 2TB=$600, I’m guessing I’m going to want to spend over a certain dollar amount (value=quality [for the most part]). But as to which brand/model/price I will wait for a response from the almighty.

[15bs168cl]

I am buying the SSD 860 EVO M.2 SATA 1TB on sale through 6/2 for $300 and a free Farcry 5 download haha. WIll post again once delivered along with tools and supplies. Can't thank you both enough, wouldn't have had a clue without you. Look forward to working with you in the future. Semester starts 6/13 so will be soon. 

[Huffer]

In this Forum thanks are provided with Kudos and Solutions. You gave yourself the Solution. Thanks. 

[15bs168cl]

I didn’t know. Sorry. How do I know if ssd’s are compatible with my computer? Earlier you said m.2 OR SATA so is an m.2 SATA as one okay?