HDD for Gaming Laptop

Hey guys,

I own a Toshiba Satellite L655-10U, which I bought about 4 years ago. The built-in 640GB HDD was good enough for gaming but stopped working after 2 years. I switched it with a 300GB drive. It worked fine the first two weeks but now lags even when opening Windows Explorer.

I want to buy a good but affordable HDD for this laptop so that I can play the latest games without any lag. This laptop works flawless for games upto 2013, even at High settings. But it struggles to run the latest games like Dying Light even at lowest settings.

I am going to buy a new laptop within a year, so I don't want to spend a lot on this one. Which HDD 500/750 GB do you suggest I install into this laptop? It must be durable, under $100, and able to run games without slowing down. I don't plan on running the latest games as this laptop just can't take it, but I want to be still able to play games released in or before 2014. It would be better if you provide an eBay link.

The complete specs of my laptop could be found on this link: http://www.toshiba.co.il/en/discontinued-products/satellite-l655-10u/

Thanks.

Just get a Western Digital BLACK.

@leeuwenhok: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Laptop-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000LM014/dp/B00B99JUBQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423294700&sr=8-1&keywords=seagate+hybrid+1tb+momentus

Seagate 1TB hybrid Momentus drive. SSD cache mixed with a normal HDD. Faster than normal but with large capacity.

-Byshop

If you have 4gb of RAM, up it to 8gb first.

My ASUS G46VW has a "slow" 5400rpm Samsung 750gb SATA hard drive. Yet, it hasn't caused the laptop to lag up to now probably because the ASUS also has 8gb of RAM.

Any one hard disk on which everyone agrees? I'm a newb when it comes to buying computer parts. It's the reason I still haven't been able to decide whether my next PC would be a laptop or a desktop.

Yes, a solid state drive is what everyone will agree on but you've already said you can't afford to get one.

Get a hybrid-drive. But it's not your HDD that's lagging your laptop, it might stop games from loading quickly, and may have a negligible effect on your FPS, but it's the rest of the components in your laptop that truly matter.

Also, if you're serious about gaming you have to get a desktop. Laptops don't cut it.

A solid state drive is what everyone will agree on but you've already limited us by your requirements.

Get a hybrid-drive. But it's not your HDD that's lagging your laptop, it might stop games from loading quickly, and may have a negligible effect on your FPS, but it's the rest of the components in your laptop that truly matter.

Also, if you're serious about gaming you have to get a desktop. Laptops don't cut it.

I strongly believe its my HDD that's causing the lag. I know it because with my old HHD, GTA IV used to run at 20 fps without any lag at all. But now it's running on even lower FPS but the lag is so much that it's unplayable. Besides, the laptop lags even when I try to open Windows Explorer or Start Menu while a large file is being copied. That's definitely the HDD's fault.

I would like to get specific hard drive models. One point that'd narrow down the search is the price should be about $60-80, or maybe less if the HDD is still good enough. It's not that I can't afford it but that I don't want to spend much on this laptop. I learnt from the laptop's official page that if I install 4GB more RAM, then the laptop would be able to use a significant amount of it as the VRAM. That's a good thing, 'cuz games these days require more VRAM than RAM. So I would also like suggestions regarding a 4GB RAM compatible with my laptop.

I'll get to the laptop/desktop discussion later, in a couple of days.

@Byshop: How is it different from this one: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Momentus-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST500LT012/dp/B008BTOBWA/ref=sr_1_22?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1423330975&sr=1-22&keywords=2.5+laptop+hard+drive

The main difference I saw was that it has the SSD-related technology you talked about which increases speed. Is that much of a big deal? And it has a spin speed of 5400rpm as compared to the above link which has 7200rpm. Plus, it is double the price of the second one.

I don't understand hardware much. Pretty much explains why I bought this sh*tty HDD when my old one gave way. Help me out here, if you will. Thanks.

@leeuwenhok: What it comes down to is this: The faster the RPMs, the faster things will load. SSDs load the fastest, while I believe the fastest laptop HDD available is 10000 RPM.

As for RAM, you will need to buy two sticks of 4GB RAM. You can't add different RAM into the laptop.

You mean that the RAM already in my laptop isn't available anymore? And what's the price of 2 sticks of RAM these days?

One more question, is the SSHD good enough that I should buy the 1TB version and put the same in my new PC when I build it in a couple of months?

Or should I buy the 500GB SSHD now and get another one later?

You don't need to discard the 4gb RAM SO-DIMM stick you already have. Just buy another stick of 4gb SO-DIMM DDR3 1066. Your laptop specs show you have two RAM slots with one occupied. Just fill up the other slot.

I also hope you uninstalled much of the bundled junkware that Toshiba is famous for.

@jun_aka_pekto: Thanks for the reply. I'll bear that in mind when I buy the new RAM stick. And yes, I discarded all that junk and have Windows 8.1 installed atm.