How much does an SSD drive affect multi-tasking performance in an advanced laptop?

I am curious whether it would be beneficial for me to buy an SSD drive for my new laptop.

It is a Lenovo ThinkPad E540-F

8 Gig Ram
Core i7 (MQ) – 6 meg cache

My typical usage is resource-intensive; I usually open several programs/tasks/windows, e.g.,

Visual Studio
many PDF files
Microsoft Word (several files)
web browser with many tabs/websites
music ....

at the same time.

Considering my system and my usage, I would like to know if an SSD is likely to have any significant/measurable effect on the multitasking performance I need?

Ahmad

Posted 2015-07-17T14:36:00.593

Reputation: 155

@Dave Doesn't it make the system faster because the virtual memory is now faster! I mean I want to have no problem when I open many applications and files – Ahmad – 2015-07-17T14:46:25.443

It will help paging but, you have 8GB RAM – Dave – 2015-07-17T14:50:51.190

I still saw paging on my desktop with 12GB, so maybe he will see that benefit. – Arthur Kay – 2015-07-17T16:06:20.133

Answers

I can tell you that buying an SSD will definitely not hurt performance. It will absolutely improve boot times (that is, booting will be faster). The "maybe you'll notice/maybe you won't" performance boosts will come from how many files or apps you try and load or save concurrently. The more multitasking you do, the more you'll notice.

Another thing to consider is that, being it is a laptop, you may extend the battery life by 30mins or more just by switching it out.

Bottom line, if you can afford it, put it in.

Geruta

Posted 2015-07-17T14:36:00.593

Reputation: 1 185

Thanks Jamie for the edit. I had the right idea, just the wording was backwards :) – Geruta – 2015-07-17T17:58:18.703

I put an SSD in my i7 laptop with 6GB ram and the biggest difference I notice is in startup times. It went from minutes to seconds. You'll really notice a difference after a windows or AV update. Well worth the money in my opinion.

dogbert831

Posted 2015-07-17T14:36:00.593

Reputation: 11

All professional use laptops should use SSDs, especially with 250GB versions going for $160 now. The gains in performance and battery life are phenomenal. My mid-end Asus Flip Book boots cold to windows login off SATA in literally two seconds.

Arthur Kay

Posted 2015-07-17T14:36:00.593

Reputation: 505