What is better a dual 7200 rpm HDD 500gb or a 256GB SSD + 1TB Hybrid drive

[Nicholaswithaquestion]

I want to get a laptop for gaming, both are Toshiba Qosmio X75-A7295(8), the only difference is one has a dual 7200 rpm HDD 500gb and the other has a 256GB SSD + 1TB Hybrid drive. The hybrid hard drive is only 5400 rpm. But the 1TB Hybrid drive laptop is 400 USD more expensive, so is it worth it?

 

[jaguarskx]

The 256GB SSD + 1TB Hybrid Drive will allow your laptop to boot / shutdown faster and programs can load / save faster. But they will not improve your frame rates at all. $400 is a waste of money. Simply get the dual 500GB HDDs.

Better yet, customize it yourself unless you are getting a real good deal. The base price is $1,049 in the link below.

http/www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/qosmio/X70/X70-ABT3G22

All you need is 8GB for a gaming laptop; more than enough actually. Having 16GB is nice I guess, but that is wasted money. Going from 4GB (2x 2GB) to 8GB (2x 4GB) of RAM is a ripoff for $100. You can actually buy 8GB of RAM for a little less than $100 on your own, and replace the 4GB of RAM which you can sell on ebay for maybe $20. Hell, you will still save a bit of money even if you smash them with a hammer.

This pair of Crucial 8GB RAM (2x 4GB) is guaranteed to work with the Qosmio; I checked Crucial's website. It sells for $90.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820191523

However, generally speaking any good brand RAM will work with any laptop (or desktop). Click the link below for all DRR3-1600 8GB kits sold at Newegg. These are 1.35v RAM sticks, don't go for the 1.5v versions. The lowest price is $75. For decent budget RAM I would go with Mushkins for $80.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007609%20600000401%20600000410%20600000279&IsNodeId=1&name=1.35V

Since you are customizing the laptop yourself you can simply choose one hard drive if you wish. Choose whichever one you want. I would simply choose the 500GB 7200RPM HDD for an extra $20. You can select a 256GB SSD if you wish for faster booting/loading/saving/shutdown times if you want. But like I said, it will not improve frame rates. $300 is expensive though. You can buy your own 256GB SSD for less than $200, and you can always go to the storage sub-forum here at THG to ask for recommendations and instructions on how to install it as your primary drive.

Other than that, everything else is optional. I forgot to mention, but there is a free upgrade going from the dual core i5 CPU to the quad core i7 CPU (save $100). I believe that option was already selected for me so I didn't have to do anything. Based on my upgrade to the 500GB 7200RPM HDD, this laptop is going to cost me $1,070 at check out; excluding any taxes and shipping costs. Add $90 for the 8GB of Crucial RAM and the total works out to $1,160.

Sell the 4GB of RAM on ebay for $10 - $20 + the cost of shipping, pour gasoline and set 'em on fire, whatever. The important thing is that in the end you are not pay more for somethings you may not need. Of course, if you want to select some of the options then go right ahead. It's your laptop that you are customizing, not mine.

 

[Nicholaswithaquestion]

Thank you so much that was very helpful, i do not build laptops or comptuers so i dont really know what i am doing. That seems really helpful but if i got my own harddrive i dont know how to install drivers nor put them in correctly and i have tried in the past and failed miserably so i am trying to keep the drivers from when i buy the system. (if that makes any sense)

 

[JoeandTabby Wynecoop]

Really...Won't improve frame rate? What the hell are you talking about? The faster the video card determines frame rates. I would have gone for the extra $400 for upgrades, laptops tend to outdate themselves within a year or two. The SSD + 1tb hybrid insane speed regardless of the 5400rpm. The slower drive isn't effected because all the information is being transferred between the drive automatically. The SSD loads all the data then you store it to the 1tb, either way. All programs will run faster, save times will be shorter, every aspect will improve.

 

[jaguarskx]

SSD does not improve frame rates.

It improve load times in games including loading areas while playing. When areas load faster, the FPS does not drop as much, but that is it. The SSD will not increase the in FPS.

If you don't believe that, then post your theory that the SSD will increase FPS performance in the storage sub-forum. I am pretty sure that notion will be shot down immediately.