Can I add an SSD and extra 8gb ram?

helltaimer

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Jan 27, 2015
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Hello my friends from TomsHardware, I'm in need of a new laptop for my upcoming year in college (I'll be studying Programing) and my budget is around 1000$.

I saw the laptop ASUS ROG GL551JW-WH71(WX) (link: http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=34-232-848) and I simply fell in love with its design and most of it's specs (love that red backlit keyboard).

However, me being a really knitpickig person, didn't enjoy the idea of a 5400 rpm HDD and lack of SSD. Since I have the money, I wanted to know if I could add an additional 8gb ram stick and a SSD, as well as how to install both. I made some research on the Amazon post about this Laptop and found several answers:
-"You can't add a SSD, unless you change it for the HDD".
-"You can add a data SSD".
-"You can't add an SSD at all".
-"You have to replace the disk reader if you want to put a SSD in".

As you can see, all these replys are very confusing, if anyone could clarify it for me it would help me a lot. If you have a short review of the laptop of another suggestion which is similar or better than this laptop I'd love to hear it as well. Thank you!
 
Solution
Assuming you can gain access to those parts then yes you can total upgrade to an SSD by replacing the HDD and either expanding or swapping out the RAM for more. Having a terrible time pulling up that laptop on their support site though (flashback of helping my mom with her ASUS PC) so I can't vouch for that ability.

edit: boom someone on amazon posted a direct link for upgrades. http://rog.asus.com/376092014/g-series-gaming-laptops/g551-upgrade-guide/

why_wolf

Estimable
Aug 28, 2015
221
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5,110
Assuming you can gain access to those parts then yes you can total upgrade to an SSD by replacing the HDD and either expanding or swapping out the RAM for more. Having a terrible time pulling up that laptop on their support site though (flashback of helping my mom with her ASUS PC) so I can't vouch for that ability.

edit: boom someone on amazon posted a direct link for upgrades. http://rog.asus.com/376092014/g-series-gaming-laptops/g551-upgrade-guide/
 
Solution

lunyone

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Feb 22, 2006
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Yeah I've spent the last 20 min trying to find if there is an M.2 slot for additional HD, but I don't think so. So I think you only have 1 HD slot, but I'm assuming you can pull the DVD drive out and use a HD caddy for additional HD support. If you don't use the DVD drive this might be a good option. I also believe that Asus can ship a 1 TB HD w/128 gb cache SSD in it (i.e. Hybrid drive).
 
Hi helltaimer,

Nice system! Asus makes a pretty good laptop. You can, in fact, add an SSD and still keep the mechanical drive if you want to, but you would need to sacrifice the optical drive (CD/DVD drive) and install a caddy in its place to accomplish this. The GL551JW-WH71 only has one dedicated port for a 2.5" storage drive. You can also add an additional 8 GB of RAM to this model.

 

lunyone

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Feb 22, 2006
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You would need to remove the DVD/CD drive (usually only 1 screw that holds it in place. Then replace it with the part below w/the HD installed in it.

SATA 2nd HDD caddy for 12.7mm Universal CD/DVD-ROM
41BGODPKJRL.jpg
 

Looks like lunyone beat me to it. The caddy is essentially an adapter; it fits the optical (CD/DVD) drive bay just like an optical drive, but has a cutout for a storage drive. You put the storage drive into the caddy, insert the caddy, and secure it with the provided screw that held the original optical drive.

One thing to note is that the optical drive bay may utilize SATA Gen 2, whereas the primary storage drive port should be SATA Gen 3. You would want the mechanical drive in the caddy, and the SSD in the primary bay, in order to fully utilize the SSD's performance. :)