it's not a problem. it's just your choice. to solve this just learn to manage the computer yourself. don't worry your computer will be fine if you paid enough attention during the processes.

it's better to do a clean install instead of cloning. make a full back up of your data first.

good job

what was your previous ssd? if you already used a ssd previously in the same computer, yeah sata ssd usually performs similarly. you will not feel any obvious differences between them under normal use. (that's why there is no need to go for high performance ones under normal home/office use)

yeah i know but i still prefer a clean install to cloning hehe

right, all mainstream ssds are similar under normal use; tbh if you're not picky, actually sata2 performance is also similar to sata3

that's estimated time (maybe it's because mlc vs tlc chips; older ssds used mlc usually). however i believe you can use it for more than that, depending on usage.

in terms of performance, z97 with i7 4790k is still relatively strong in the years of skylake and kabylake, if you don't run 64gb ram. for most people, even 32gb is an obvious overkill. the combo still can run 1x gtx1080 at full speed, or 1x gtx 1080 at x8 speed, and 1x pcie 3.0 x4 ssd (gpu running at x8 is still ok relatively compared to x16)

for z77 owners, however, it's worth the upgrade to kabylake. z270 + 7700k will last another 5 years, at least.

It's been a while since we see a good leap in stock clock for intel chips. Hopefully there will be one soon.

I hope there will be one extreme6 later; asrock extreme series is ok imo. The only thing that is not good enough is its m.2 slot which is under the first pcie slot. Lack of air flow doesn't help to dissipate heat from pcie ssd installed there.

if you wanna go for x99, i suggest you go for 6850k which has more pcie lanes (40) than 6800k (28). these cpus are not cheap, and it's very likely you will not swap one with higher end variants after that. (for me, even though i have saved up enough to do cpu/mobo/ram upgrades (6900k), i still tak rela to pull the triggers (5930k is still good tbh; it's a waste of money if i do that now)

edit: also, our myr is still in bad shape; it's really not the right time to do anything :/ (i read that ram price is also expected to run high in near future because of shortage, thanks to samsung :///)

This post has been edited by horns: Jan 24 2017, 06:19 PM

yeah better keep it for a while first hehe

well yeah that's how things go unfortunately.

look at it this way: maybe before that time you have found other things that are worth to use the savings for than hardware components

yeah that's another level of joy when you see them living happily. it's like what our parents did for us lol

.. and talking about hobby, it's weird that samsung is very slow to populate samsung 960x in Malaysia. i have done gpu upgrade, ssd is next (everything else still can wait)

oh then it's better for you to wait for a working bios, or check out other alternatives.

nvme ssds should work well since chips that are several generations back (iinm z97 and up). for older generations of chips, you can also use ssds with option rom built-in (maybe not nvme, but the speeds are still good).

this sucks; it's a good idea actually.

the procedure is called cloning. some ssd manufacturers bundle free cloning tools for this purpose. you might need an additional usb-based hdd adapter if it's not provided. just refer to the manual/tutorials (look these up via search engines, youtube, etc.) because usually the process is very straight forward.

yeah well it depends on the availability of necessary connectors/slots in desktops/laptops. in general, the same ssd can be used in desktops and laptops.

i have done this on w10 (laptops; the oem key were embedded in bios). the os was activated after cloning.

if you're worried, clone the os to ssd, and leave the old hdd alone first. then, go test run ssd as os drive to see if it's activated. if it does, then you can proceed to clean up the hdd for data storage. if it doesn't, you can still call ms for reactivation if it's retail key. (you should also record your key first just in case)

960evo is faster relatively; however for common use, you might not feel the differences. imo since you can reuse the same ssd in future builds, it's justifiable to get speedier 960evo.

to be safe, check the mobo compatibility first. if your current mobo supports booting with pcie nvme ssd (via m.2 slot or pcie slot), 960evo is a better choice. if not, 850evo is the safer option.

for the budget, you will get something like transcend or pny ssd. for normal use, i think it's good enough for starter.

yes it's still one of the better options, even if there is a 960pro now.

i think sata ssd should be working fine for your system. however, it's better to check your mobo manual for sata2 and ahci support first. if both are present, your computer can have a good boost.

yeah it's an old system.

You can try power recycling ssd: turn off pc; plug in only power cable to ssd (disconnect sata cable from ssd); boot up pc and let it run for a while; turn off pc and reconnect sata cable, then boot pc again; see if it can be detected.

If it worked, secure erase ssd also. (After backing up all data)

Good luck.

what form factor are you looking for? sata or msata or m.2 sata or m.2 nvme?

my personal preferences are all from samsung:
- sata: 850pro (or 850evo);
- msata: 850evo;
- m.2 sata: 850evo;
- m.2 nvme: 950pro, 960evo, 960pro

if you wanna put games on ssd, 240gb range is really the minimal you should go. game titles these days are huge in size, e.g. bf1 and 4 alone already take up 110gb+.

ok.

ssd is relatively cheaper these days compared to previous years. (except for possible price adjustments later due to recent reports about nand shortage)

samsung 850evo; MYR 25 for additional 2 year warranty (samsung 850evo warranty is either 5 years or 75tbw)

np; yeah i think the additional 2 years of warranty in time is justifiable too.

don't worry about the 75tbw. it's kind of hard to achieve that mark in 5 years under normal use. my 4-year-old crucial m500 (warranty already expired a year ago) that i use for storing data is at 4.16tbw only now.