Upgrade to SSD - Lenovo G50-45

atom14 · Nov 12, 2021

Hi All.

A friend has one of these (2015 model). For normal operations, like start-up/restart and even switching between/running new tasks, it is as slow as a month of Sundays and wet week combined. It's running Win 10 Home. He uses it for web browsing, email, and other non-power-hungry tasks.

He keeps the HDD reasonably clean with occasional defrags, but that does not seem to be the problem. I have checked out its startup tasks and they are lean - basically, just start up. I've also checked running processes during periods of slow operations, but could not pin anything down.

Here are its specs (which I verified with Sysinfo):

Loading…

www.lenovo.com

I have two questions:

1) What would I have to make sure to do besides replacing the old 5400rpm HDD with a Samsung EVO 860 SSD (1TB)?

2) Do you think I should double the RAM to 8GB, or should I make a larger virtual RAM size?

I think that's it, but if something is glaringly absent, please let me know.

Thanks,

atom14.

PHXAZCRAIG · Nov 12, 2021

1. If you upgrade to an SSD, it will be amazingly improved. I did the same to an old i3 laptop from 2013 that was lying around and it's fine for daily use now.

Just try to get an SSD that is larger than the HDD it replaces so you don't have issues fitting your data onto it. It will come with cloning software - but you may need to get some sort of USB drive holder/cable. Depends on the laptop model. It might be that you can stick in a M.2 drive while cloning the SATA HDD to it. Otherwise one drive has to be hooked up via some sort of cable. I can't tell if you want to put in an 860 in m.2 or SATA format, but some laptops give yo u the choice. (The one I'm typing on originally came with a 120GB m.2 drive and a 1TB SATA HDD. I cloned it to a 500GB m.2 drive and a 1TB SATA SSD. By the way, it's often very easy to upgrade the wifi chip too - maybe $25-50 for at least wifi5, possibly wifi6.)

2. I'd max out the RAM for sure - at least 8gb to run WIn 10, but better to have more if it will hold more. RAM is pretty cheap these days. Specs on that model say 16GB max - I'd buy a standard 16GB RAM kit that comes with two matched 8GB sticks. (f you have 4GB in there now you'll almost certainly have to replace it with an 8GB stick to get to 16GB).

--
Phoenix Arizona Craig
www.cjcphoto.net
"I miss the days when I was nostalgic."

Rambow · Nov 12, 2021

That web page doesn't even mention the exact cpu it has, i assume it's something worse than an I3- dual core I3s are fine, but maybe not on W10. Anyway, not a big issue.

Booting up from a hdd shouldn't take more than 40 seconds(you never mention that), if it's more than that the hdd itself is either full of junk/useless apps like antivirus and such, or simply damaged.

Solution: check drive health and remove unnecessary software.

Virtual ram? What is that? Ram- you either have it or you don't. If W10 plus the browser use more than 3 gb ram you can upgrade the ram, if not why bother? Ram usage- again, something you never mention.

Ssd upgrade- yes, a large ssd will make the laptop faster, but the slow(assumption) cpu will become the bottleneck. Again, not a huge deal, but definitely a problem overall.

The gpu is also slow, but not relevant here.

Bottom line, that laptop will be as fast as the cpu installed, upgrading the ram and even the storage drive will not necessarily double it's speed.

Basically this thread is about a guy who knows something about computers trying to help a friend who knows nothing at all. It's OK, i'm also that guy. Next time just be more specific regarding the issue and the actual specs of the machine in question.

Btw i already did the ram upgrade for a friend with a similar machine, it did nothing since the laptop had a slow non hyperthreaded pentium cpu, and that's not good enough even for W7. An ssd would make it a bit faster, but again the cpu remains the bottleneck, not the boot drive.

Rambow · Nov 12, 2021

PHXAZCRAIG said:
If you upgrade to an SSD, it will be amazingly improved. I did the same to an old i3 laptop from 2013 that was lying around and it's fine for daily use now.

Buying an ssd has become the internet's magic solution for people who don't know how to use a computer for years now.

Guess what, i have a 2014 X1 carbon with I5, 8 gb ram and oem ssd- it's still not fast, why? I'il give you a hint, it's the dual core ULV cpu inside. An SSD will speed up windows boot up time for sure, but if you start a game you might not notice much difference.

Up until recently i had dual core machines from 2008 running just fine on their factory hdds and windows 7, no ssd needed or wanted. The trick is not to install software that can't run on the given specs, a light linux distro for example does more for a computer than simply getting an ssd.

atom14 · Nov 12, 2021

Thanks, Rambow for some interesting points I was able to extract from your reply.

There's a print of the Sysinfo summary for the machine below.

I've disabled all but the essential startup processes, and have ensured the HDD is not too full (about half), and regularly defragmented. It's been months since I've looked at it, so I can't recall any details.

It takes well over a minute - nearly two - to start most times (I've seen it), and when there's been a Win update, up to a week - seemingly - elapses, though it's really only about 5 mins. Starting apps, like browsers, Faststone, is a fairly sedate process, at times taking a good minute to open the new app.

(What else...? - Ah, yes...) About 6 months ago I did the last HHD "health check" using Disk Sentinel. That showed "100% healthy" (if I recall its terminology). After that we also did a Chkdsk, but did not need to run any /f as it was without errors.

What's "virtual RAM"? - It's my clutching-for-the-right-term-in-a-hurry for "Windows page file". Sorry to have upset you with that one.

(Umm..., any more? - Nope!) So here's the Sysinfo summary:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.19042 Build 19042
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name LAPTOP-D9OISFPL
System Manufacturer LENOVO
System Model 80E3
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU LENOVO_MT_80E3_BU_idea_FM_Lenovo G50-45
Processor AMD A6-6310 APU with AMD Radeon R4 Graphics, 1800 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date LENOVO A2CN40WW(V2.08), 21/08/2015
SMBIOS Version 2.8
Embedded Controller Version 1.40
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer LENOVO
BaseBoard Product Lancer 5B2
BaseBoard Version Not Defined
Platform Role Mobile
Secure Boot State On
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.906"
User Name LAPTOP-D9OISFPL\kjan1971
Time Zone AUS Eastern Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.46 GB
Available Physical Memory 949 MB
Total Virtual Memory 9.21 GB
Available Virtual Memory 4.83 GB
Page File Space 5.75 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware No
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

atom14 · Nov 12, 2021

Rambow said:
PHXAZCRAIG said:

If you upgrade to an SSD, it will be amazingly improved. I did the same to an old i3 laptop from 2013 that was lying around and it's fine for daily use now.

Click to expand...

Buying an ssd has become the internet's magic solution for people who don't know how to use a computer for years now.

Guess what, i have a 2014 X1 carbon with I5, 8 gb ram and oem ssd- it's still not fast, why? I'il give you a hint, it's the dual core ULV cpu inside. An SSD will speed up windows boot up time for sure, but if you start a game you might not notice much difference.

Up until recently i had dual core machines from 2008 running just fine on their factory hdds and windows 7, no ssd needed or wanted. The trick is not to install software that can't run on the given specs, a light linux distro for example does more for a computer than simply getting an ssd.

Rambow, about the points I have put in bold...

1) I am indebted to you for this apocryphal information, although its relevance to the discussion is elusive.

2) Indeed, this (and the starting up of apps) is what the aim is here.

3) Going back a few years now to when this machine was bought, I recall that it was modest in its performance even then.

How can we ever hope to convince the world of computer users of their erroneous ways when all they have to start with is ... lemons?

atom14 · Nov 12, 2021

PHXAZCRAIG said:
1. If you upgrade to an SSD, it will be amazingly improved. I did the same to an old i3 laptop from 2013 that was lying around and it's fine for daily use now.

Just try to get an SSD that is larger than the HDD it replaces so you don't have issues fitting your data onto it. It will come with cloning software - but you may need to get some sort of USB drive holder/cable. Depends on the laptop model. It might be that you can stick in a M.2 drive while cloning the SATA HDD to it. Otherwise one drive has to be hooked up via some sort of cable. I can't tell if you want to put in an 860 in m.2 or SATA format, but some laptops give yo u the choice. (The one I'm typing on originally came with a 120GB m.2 drive and a 1TB SATA HDD. I cloned it to a 500GB m.2 drive and a 1TB SATA SSD. By the way, it's often very easy to upgrade the wifi chip too - maybe $25-50 for at least wifi5, possibly wifi6.)

2. I'd max out the RAM for sure - at least 8gb to run WIn 10, but better to have more if it will hold more. RAM is pretty cheap these days. Specs on that model say 16GB max - I'd buy a standard 16GB RAM kit that comes with two matched 8GB sticks. (f you have 4GB in there now you'll almost certainly have to replace it with an 8GB stick to get to 16GB).

Thanks, Craig.

On the points highlighted, I usually clone the original HDD while it's still in the machine. I use an external (SATA) USB(3) dock to put the new SSD into. After that I replace the HDD with the newly cloned SSD. It's worked well for the last few times on a couple of early 2000s Toshiba Satellites.

I'll be using a SATA drive to match the present one. I don't know if it can even take an M.2 (???)

On RAM, he does not want to spend too much, and after talking about his needs, I might leave it for now.

atom14.

jboyer · Nov 12, 2021

atom14 said:
Thanks, Rambow for some interesting points I was able to extract from your reply.

There's a print of the Sysinfo summary for the machine below.

I've disabled all but the essential startup processes, and have ensured the HDD is not too full (about half), and regularly defragmented. It's been months since I've looked at it, so I can't recall any details.

It takes well over a minute - nearly two - to start most times (I've seen it), and when there's been a Win update, up to a week - seemingly - elapses, though it's really only about 5 mins. Starting apps, like browsers, Faststone, is a fairly sedate process, at times taking a good minute to open the new app.

(What else...? - Ah, yes...) About 6 months ago I did the last HHD "health check" using Disk Sentinel. That showed "100% healthy" (if I recall its terminology). After that we also did a Chkdsk, but did not need to run any /f as it was without errors.

What's "virtual RAM"? - It's my clutching-for-the-right-term-in-a-hurry for "Windows page file". Sorry to have upset you with that one.

(Umm..., any more? - Nope!) So here's the Sysinfo summary:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.19042 Build 19042
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name LAPTOP-D9OISFPL
System Manufacturer LENOVO
System Model 80E3
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU LENOVO_MT_80E3_BU_idea_FM_Lenovo G50-45
Processor AMD A6-6310 APU with AMD Radeon R4 Graphics, 1800 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date LENOVO A2CN40WW(V2.08), 21/08/2015
SMBIOS Version 2.8
Embedded Controller Version 1.40
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer LENOVO
BaseBoard Product Lancer 5B2
BaseBoard Version Not Defined
Platform Role Mobile
Secure Boot State On
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.906"
User Name LAPTOP-D9OISFPL\kjan1971
Time Zone AUS Eastern Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.46 GB
Available Physical Memory 949 MB
Total Virtual Memory 9.21 GB
Available Virtual Memory 4.83 GB
Page File Space 5.75 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware No
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

Having an SSD will improve these values:

Total Physical Memory 3.46 GB
Available Physical Memory 949 MB
Total Virtual Memory 9.21 GB
Available Virtual Memory 4.83 GB
Page File Space 5.75 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

in term of response time as the page file is slowed by the HDD. Expect doubling the read/write speed, at least, if not more as laptop HDD are usually slow.

But, as noted a few times, you will gain startup speed, and some extra whenever an app calls for loading/storing data and when the page file is used.

Buying more memory can help. But you will get better bang for your bucks with an SSD.

atom14 · Nov 12, 2021

Thanks for your reply, Jerome.

Robert Zanatta · Nov 13, 2021

1. Yes

2. Yes

That will make quite a noticeable improvement in a lot of areas of use.

NickZ2016 · Nov 13, 2021

Don't buy anything until you open it up.

Memory can be soldered in place. Drives might be using some bizzare cable. Open it and in thirty seconds you'll know what can fit or not fit. Then buy your parts.

Yes a SSD will make things much easier. Don't worry about the VM file. Windows creates it on it's own. If you can fit more memory in it won't hurt but make sure you can before buying stuff.

atom14 · Nov 13, 2021

NickZ2016 said:
Don't buy anything until you open it up.

Memory can be soldered in place. Drives might be using some bizzare cable. Open it and in thirty seconds you'll know what can fit or not fit. Then buy your parts.

Yes a SSD will make things much easier. Don't worry about the VM file. Windows creates it on it's own. If you can fit more memory in it won't hurt but make sure you can before buying stuff.

Thanks for your reply, Nick.

This is certainly what I do. When I opened my own (Asus Zenbook) with a view of installing some larger SSDs, I found they were indeed stick-type modules. - Luckily I had only bought one SSD, which I now use externally via a dock. (The laptop's still as is.)

So far, I've watched only a few videos for the Lenovo model.

atom14.

atom14 · Nov 13, 2021

Robert Zanatta said:
1. Yes

2. Yes

That will make quite a noticeable improvement in a lot of areas of use.

Thanks, Robert.

atom14 · Nov 29, 2021

...at last, yesterday, and it went well. (And I have a question about RAM below.)

We ran some typical tasks with the original Samsung 1TB HDD installed, then removed it and cloned it using a dual bay (Volans) dock. That took 3+ hours. Installed the new Crucial MX50 1TB SSD and ran the same tasks. Here is a summary comparison of the performance:

Now a Question about RAM:

Can anyone ID this RAM chip type. It's supposed to be DDR 3. Will I just need another 4GB module in the second slot?

Thanks,

atom14.

BobKnDP · Nov 29, 2021

atom14 said:
...at last, yesterday, and it went well. (And I have a question about RAM below.)

We ran some typical tasks with the original Samsung 1TB HDD installed, then removed it and cloned it using a dual bay (Volans) dock. That took 3+ hours. Installed the new Crucial MX50 1TB SSD and ran the same tasks. Here is a summary comparison of the performance:

Now a Question about RAM:

Can anyone ID this RAM chip type. It's supposed to be DDR 3. Will I just need another 4GB module in the second slot?

(snip)

atom14.

Samsung calls it a PC3L-12800S, which is the same as a DDR3L-1600 SODIMM. (1600MHz.)

Ideally, you'd add a second Samsung M471B5173EB0-YK0, to avoid any compatibility issues with the existing SODIMM. May not be necessary.

atom14 · Nov 29, 2021

I've just been looking up some prices. Essentially:

a single stick costs too much ~50AUD /Rolleyes

a pair can be had for some 40AUD, but you waste a stick /Rolleyes with /Backflip and /Pike...

For his (rather modest) uses, we'll probably leave it as it is for now. He's as happy as Larry for the performance increase so far. It's jut that (for me) the startup time is still a bit long, but I'll "have a look" at that.

atom14.

Mystery member · Dec 3, 2021

atom14 said:
Thanks, Rambow for some interesting points I was able to extract from your reply.

I've disabled all but the essential startup processes, and have ensured the HDD is not too full (about half), and regularly defragmented. It's been months since I've looked at it, so I can't recall any details.

Don't waste your time with defragging. Mostly, it adds to wear of the HDD with little benefit. For some reason the defragging process appeals to beginners.

At the very least, with the replacement SSD, defragging becomes not only unnecessary, but positively bad for the SSD.

4Gb RAM is ridiculously small. You'll see an improvement with 8Gb or 16Gb.

You can also try adding a memory stick (thumb drive) to a fast USB port...

Loading…

www.techwalla.com

atom14 · Dec 4, 2021

WryCuda said:
atom14 said:

Thanks, Rambow for some interesting points I was able to extract from your reply.

I've disabled all but the essential startup processes, and have ensured the HDD is not too full (about half), and regularly defragmented. It's been months since I've looked at it, so I can't recall any details.

Click to expand...

Don't waste your time with defragging. Mostly, it adds to wear of the HDD with little benefit. For some reason the defragging process appeals to beginners.

At the very least, with the replacement SSD, defragging becomes not only unnecessary, but positively bad for the SSD.

4Gb RAM is ridiculously small. You'll see an improvement with 8Gb or 16Gb.

You can also try adding a memory stick (thumb drive) to a fast USB port...

https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-use-a-flash-drive-as-ram

^ A very interesting link, detailing an idea I had heard of and had completely forgotten about :-|

Rest assured that I know that you don't defrag an SSD (and why, and I hope I never have to do it on an HDD again). I should have said "Analyzed" as that's what he has been doing, and "only sometimes" defrags.

Vernon D Rainwater · Dec 4, 2021

atom14 said:
Hi All.

A friend has one of these (2015 model). For normal operations, like start-up/restart and even switching between/running new tasks, it is as slow as a month of Sundays and wet week combined. It's running Win 10 Home. He uses it for web browsing, email, and other non-power-hungry tasks.

He keeps the HDD reasonably clean with occasional defrags, but that does not seem to be the problem. I have checked out its startup tasks and they are lean - basically, just start up. I've also checked running processes during periods of slow operations, but could not pin anything down.

Here are its specs (which I verified with Sysinfo):

https://www.lenovo.com/za/en/laptops/lenovo/g-series/G50-45/p/88LG80G0570

I have two questions:

1) What would I have to make sure to do besides replacing the old 5400rpm HDD with a Samsung EVO 860 SSD (1TB)?

2) Do you think I should double the RAM to 8GB, or should I make a larger virtual RAM size?

I think that's it, but if something is glaringly absent, please let me know.

Thanks,

atom14.

Changing to a SSD for the Boot Drive will provide a tremendous improvement in Computer usage. My Machine is around a 7 year ago vintage and when I changed to the SSD it is almost like a different machine. The speed increase is notice d primarily for Boot and for loading Programs. I also increased my Virtual Memory which helps since My computer is only 8gb of Ram (also changed from 4 GB) which is all the Mother Board will accept.

I actually can't tell what effects has changed as a result of the change from 4GB to 8GB of Ram.

--
Vernon...

Mystery member · Dec 4, 2021

atom14 said:
WryCuda said:

atom14 said:

Thanks, Rambow for some interesting points I was able to extract from your reply.

I've disabled all but the essential startup processes, and have ensured the HDD is not too full (about half), and regularly defragmented. It's been months since I've looked at it, so I can't recall any details.

Click to expand...

Don't waste your time with defragging. Mostly, it adds to wear of the HDD with little benefit. For some reason the defragging process appeals to beginners.

At the very least, with the replacement SSD, defragging becomes not only unnecessary, but positively bad for the SSD.

4Gb RAM is ridiculously small. You'll see an improvement with 8Gb or 16Gb.

You can also try adding a memory stick (thumb drive) to a fast USB port...

https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-use-a-flash-drive-as-ram

Click to expand...

^ A very interesting link, detailing an idea I had heard of and had completely forgotten about :-|

Rest assured that I know that you don't defrag an SSD (and why, and I hope I never have to do it on an HDD again). I should have said "Analyzed" as that's what he has been doing, and "only sometimes" defrags.

Recent versions of Windows will automatically defrag, but I prefer to turn it off. Years ago, it used to be a favourite hobby of beginners who couldn't think of anything sensible to do with their computer.

All my systems now have SSD boot drives, so no defrag. I did experiment with defragging an early SSD, and it scrambled the OS. I recovered the SSD with a full format, and it was OK.

Upgrade to SSD - Lenovo G50-45

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