Upgrade Old Dell XPS 15 9550 vs Buying New Dell XPS Laptop?

Hey all. I posted this a while back but did not get a new battery nor get a new computer. My laptop battery is now 2.5 years and about 92% worn out. I had bought a replacement for it 2.5 years ago when the originally battery lasted for 1.5 years. So I mentioned I play online poker on my laptop... use it with 2 external monitors connected pretty much all the time. I bought this laptop back in late 2016 so a while back. I have the dell xps 15 9550 laptop.


Specs


i5-6300 hq processor
8gb ram
250gb 2.5 inch samsung ssd
32gb m.2 ssd
Nvidia Geforce GTX 960M Graphics Card
1920x1200 resolution
56 whr battery


It originally came with a slow 1tb 7200 rpm hard drive but I had it replaced at a computer shop with an old 2.5 inch samsung 250gb ssd of mine. The 32 gb m.2 ssd came with the system so 2 hard drives. Back then when I bought this laptop, i had no idea it came with 2 hard drives... which meant I was stuck with the 56whr battery. I mean I use this laptop connected almost always... but I rather have the bigger battery. When I used this laptop a while back, I had no idea 250gb would not be enough. Back years ago, I never used more than 100gb max out of the 250gb ssd. But as I used this computer since late 2016, it shows only 22gb available out of 232gb space on my ssd.


I did bought a 56whr battery replacement about 2.5 years ago on ebay... for 100 dollars. My battery now is basically 92% worn out so I need a new battery. But like I said, i use it charged all the time so it isn't an issue. But I want more space on my ssd since I seem to running low on space.

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These are the things I would upgrade.


1- 97whr battery. - $130

So I see on a site laptopexpress that I could buy a 56wh battery for $110. But I could get the 84wh for $120 or 97wh for $130. Now since my ssd is running low on space and i want to replace that, makes sense to just buy a bigger battery right? I do know with the dell xps... if you have the bigger battery, you cannot have 2 hard drives which is what i have. I never had any use of of the 32gb m.2 ssd. So it makes sense to get the biggest battery right?


2. M.2 SSD - $185 for 1tb or $98 for 500gb

Robot Check

This is the best m.2 ssd out there right? I see it is most expensive and seem to have the best reviews. My current ssd which is 2.5 inch samsung 250gb... I have used it since 2013 and I find it very good. So stick with samsung right? I do see other brands out there with 1gb ssd like

WD Black- $163
Western Digital Blue - $114
Crucial P1 - $114
Sabrent Rocket - $131


But seems like best to stick with samsung? Or are those lower cost still good? But samsung is fastest right? Again I know my ssd now is SATA and its already fast for me. So those other ones are all faster than the one i have now right?


3. 16gb ram - $71

Robot Check


Almost all of you have 16gb ram at least? For me 8gb ram is fine but sometimes it lags... so 16gb would solve this issue?


Total = $386


So it would cost around $386 to upgrade. But I don't know how to install these things so I might have to go to repair shop to have someone install it. But if I do this, I'm guessing it will cost probably $150 - $200 to have all these 3 things installed? I do see on the video on youtube, it doesn't seem that hard to replace ram, battery and ssd on the xps 15 9550 series.

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Or Buy Dell Xps 15 From Dell


https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell...a-1fd8e45aac1c

i7-9750h processor
16gb ram
97whr battery
1920x1200 resolution


If you upgrade ssd from 256gb m.2 to 512gb .. it cost $100 more. But if you go from 256gb to 1tb.. its $250 more. So let me get this straight. If you just get the 256gb included in price... but you buy the 1tb m.2 nvme samsung ssd from amazon for $185... and you know how to take out the ssd yourself... you basically save $65 but also get another 256gb m.2 ssd for free as oppose to just paying $250 to pugrade from 256gb m.2 ssd to 1tb m.2 ssd? I guess its because people want it configured and thats why? But would any computer tech savy person never upgrade the ssd here as they save money by buying a separate m.2 ssd from amazon and also the one Dell supplies isn't going to be samsung and a worst quality? What brand name is the ssd dell supplies customers with on the m.2 ssd?


Now if you upgrade it to 1tb... it takes the cost from 1450 to 1700 dollars. Seems to be 10 percent code so it would be 1530 dollars. Then when you factor in taxes and shipping... let say another $150. So basically having it fully configured by dell with those specs and the 1tb m.2 ssd... you would pay around $1680 right?


If you compare this to upgrading an old xps 15 9550 for around $386... is it a no brainer to upgrade the old xps 15 9550? even if you pay another $150 for someone to install ram, battery and ssd... that would be $536 compared to $1680. But the only difference would be a better graphics card maybe and of course the i7-9750h processor? Now that is much better than the i5-6300hq right? I know my laptop is a quad core and I know years ago, quad core laptops mean more power but also uses more battery. But these i7-9750h processors are not only quad core... but they are energy efficient right? I remember years ago it was get quad core laptop with power and sacrifice battery life... or get a i3/i5/i7 U Series and get better battery life but less power. But now... the processors give you the best of both worlds?


So I read the 9750h is actually 6 core? Again I'm not updated on this but what is the most cores laptops have these days? So the 9750h would be much faster than my already
i5-6300hq?


Would that also mean a 97whr battery on the dell xps 15 7590 last longer than the same 97whr battery on my old dell xps 15 9550 because of the processor?

My vote is for the new PC. After you spend/upgrade you still have the 2016 era PC. Dell only keeps parts for 5 years on PC's so in another year it will be a "legacy" model to Dell. Also, who is to say other hardware problems don't develop that will require investing more money into parts.

There are many that will disagree with me and want to make an old PC last as long as possible.

There is very little chance you will notice the performance difference between any SSDs you consider when playing online poker.

Which is more reliable is largely a crap shoot. It's easy to find online badmouthing of Samsung or anyone else.

Buy the SSD based on size required, cost, warranty, and return privileges with the seller. It might make sense to stick with a well known brand---Crucial, Samsung, Intel, WD. Just hope you don't ever need their customer support.

What you should do mostly comes down to your budget.

Your processor speed is likely more important than moving from 8 RAM to 16 RAM, but might be more costly. The CPU you are considering for the new laptop has nearly triple the Passmark score of your existing CPU.

No one can really tell you if upgrading the existing laptop would be buying oats for a dying horse. Could be. Your guess is as good as anyone's.

You might not notice much performance difference between the existing laptop and the new laptop---depends on how strenuous your tasks are.

If your problems are mostly battery and SSD size related, it would certainly make sense to replace just those 2 items--------if you knew you the existing laptop might last another 3 or 4 years. Another crap shoot.

fireberd said:

My vote is for the new PC. After you spend/upgrade you still have the 2016 era PC. Dell only keeps parts for 5 years on PC's so in another year it will be a "legacy" model to Dell. Also, who is to say other hardware problems don't develop that will require investing more money into parts.

There are many that will disagree with me and want to make an old PC last as long as possible.

Thanks for reply. Well $1680 is a big difference compared to around $386 + $150 in Installing Fees if i were to get all 3 parts installed at a repair shop. So it would be like $1680 vs $536 and over $1000. The thing is my laptop still works fine and is still pretty fast. Thus if say right now my battery was not worn and I had plenty of space on my laptop... I would just upgrade my ram from 8gb to 16gb and thats all. Yea I know its an older model... but its more than sufficient for me. Again im pretty certain if i upgraded ram to 16gb right now, it would be very fast... it already is.

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ignatzatsonic said:

There is very little chance you will notice the performance difference between any SSDs you consider when playing online poker.

Which is more reliable is largely a crap shoot. It's easy to find online badmouthing of Samsung or anyone else.

Buy the SSD based on size required, cost, warranty, and return privileges with the seller. It might make sense to stick with a well known brand---Crucial, Samsung, Intel, WD. Just hope you don't ever need their customer support.

What you should do mostly comes down to your budget.

Your processor speed is likely more important than moving from 8 RAM to 16 RAM, but might be more costly. The CPU you are considering for the new laptop has nearly triple the Passmark score of your existing CPU.

No one can really tell you if upgrading the existing laptop would be buying oats for a dying horse. Could be. Your guess is as good as anyone's.

You might not notice much performance difference between the existing laptop and the new laptop---depends on how strenuous your tasks are.

If your problems are mostly battery and SSD size related, it would certainly make sense to replace just those 2 items--------if you knew you the existing laptop might last another 3 or 4 years. Another crap shoot.

Well my current ssd is an old 2.5 inch 250gb samsung ssd... that is a SATA drive. I bought this back in 2013 i believe... so wouldn't the ssds now that are m.2 nvme all going to be faster than the one i have? I used this same ssd in previous laptops i had before i put this ssd in my dell xps 15 9550. Again for me, its very fast itself.


Well i will buy the ssd on amazon and directly from amazon. Its basically samsung the one i posted most expensive... or something like WD which seem to be a bit cheaper.


Well I really don't want to spend $1680 for a new laptop now. For me, the laptop works more than well enough for me. Yea i know the processor speed is definitely more important... but i mean i can't upgrade cpu on laptop right? I heard you can only do this with desktop years ago? Yea the ram upgrade from 8gb to 16gb won't cost that much. I wanted to do that years ago but never did.


Well my laptop works fine now still after all these years. But one main issue is the trackpad is raised up... noticed this recently. I read this is a battery swelling issue so i need to get a new battery... and i rather get a bigger one 84wh/97wh one since im going to get a new ssd because it only has around 20gb left out of 232gb. I mean... do you guys have more or less than that much space on your laptop? Is that sufficient? Im concerned the more windows updates... it might get to 10gb or less? Now will computer still work fine if it shows you have like 5gb out of 232gb remaining? The thing is i know the reason i have only 20gb left is because of windows updates and b/c when i play, i use this program called holdem manager 2 that makes the database bigger... and remember i been using it since 2016 so it adds up etc. Thus had i gotten a 500gb ssd a while back... i would have easily 270gb space remaining.


My main issue is battery related and ssd size related. I mean i could buy the same 56wh battery and use it... but if i had more space... i feel better. But can i use my laptop without slow issues if it shows 5gb left out of 232gb remaining? I always heard something like you should always have at least 10% of your harddrive free... in order to work smoothly. Is that true or false?

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Berton said:

I tell my clients about the cost of repair parts and labor then lay out the cost-effectiveness of fixing versus new with at least a full year warranty. Granted, some replacements will carry the same but generally only a few months.

Well its a big price difference even when factoring say $150 for a repair shop to replace my ssd, ram and battery that i bring to them.


Also, i dont have any warranty on this laptop anymore since i got it in 2016.


Again if my laptop didn't have battery issues or space issues... the only thing i would upgrade is the ram... I honestly wouldn't mind using this laptop for many more years. So based on that... do you say best to buy parts and replace them?


Another question I have. I use bitlocker on my windows 10 pro computer. I had windows 10 pro installed by a guy at a repair shop when he installed windows 10 for me... even told me he added windows 10 pro for me. At the time, i didn't care about it. Until years later, I wanted to lock my computer with bitlocker and because i have windows 10 pro... i could use it and still do. Now... my question is also this. I previously considered cloning this ssd to a new ssd. Would you say its good idea or not?


The other thing is this. Let say i want to use windows 10 pro on my new m.2 ssd... i can't do this right since well i have windows 10 pro on this ssd? Imagine i take out this ssd from my laptop and then put in the m.2 ssd. I will only have windows 10? So I also need to buy windows 10 pro code which is $100 or so? But someone told me check to see if you have a valid windows 10 pro activation code and i remember i followed instructions and it does show it... and they said if it does... its legit. Again the computer repair guy years ago who helped me install my windows 10 added windows 10 pro for me.

paulyjustin said:

The thing is my laptop still works fine and is still pretty fast...........its more than sufficient for me.................so wouldn't the ssds now that are m.2 nvme all going to be faster than the one i have? ..................Again for me, its very fast itself.....................the laptop works more than well enough for me.........................i can't upgrade cpu on laptop right.............the ram upgrade from 8gb to 16gb won't cost that much.....................it only has around 20gb left out of 232gb..............I always heard something like you should always have at least 10% of your harddrive free in order to work smoothly. .................................if my laptop didn't have battery issues or space issues... the only thing i would upgrade is the ram... I honestly wouldn't mind using this laptop for many more years..........................If i want to use windows 10 pro on my new m.2 ssd... i can't do this right since well i have windows 10 pro on this ssd?

Look at your own words.

You say that the current laptop works fine, is fast, is very fast, is more than sufficient, and is "more than well enough for me".

So why would you be concerned with getting the fastest new SSD when it costs noticeably more and you wouldn't notice the difference other than in benchmarks?? Particularly when you are budget conscious--as you should be.

It's highly unlikely you can upgrade the CPU for any reasonable expense.

I wouldn't expect 16 RAM to noticeably improve on 8 RAM unless you know for a fact that you are using all of the current 8. You haven't even mentioned that, let alone proved it. If you were not budget conscious and it made you "feel" better, sure go to 16 or 32 or 64.

Hard drive space: I wouldn't get in a lather about whether I could get by with 5 or 10 GB free. It appears you will have zero free before long. You would know how soon. 3 months? 6 months? Whatever. You apparently need to get a new drive one way or the other. You might find a good sale around Thanksgiving.

Windows license: a new hard drive means nothing. If you have a valid and activated license on the current machine, you don't need to buy new Windows when you change drives.

Cloning: no reason your PC shop can't clone or image the current installation to the new drive. It might be a 30 minute job.

What would I do? You can get a good new 500 GB SSD for under $70. SATA, NVMe, Samsung, Crucial, whatever. Have the shop clone or image the current drive to the new drive. Maybe they charge 100 to do that? Total 170? Leave the RAM alone. Buy the battery of your choice.

So it would be maybe 170 plus a battery change versus maybe 1700 for the new machine? Only you can decide on that. If money weren't a factor, of course you spend the 1700 and get a warranty and all new components.

Hey. I normally use around 5.8gb to 7gb when playing. So wouldn't you say that is a lot of memory being used? My memory always is between like 60-90% or so when playing.


Well it sometimes lags... but thats all. Also i have a ton of chrome tabs up all the time.. could have 30 tabs or more in a few chrome windows. But the ram won't help you there? Someone said you shouldn't have so many chrome tabs open... open it only when you need it etc.


I heard 32gb is way too much and almost nobody needs it... so i wouldn't need to do that.


Well years ago... i had like 100gb free of 232gb. Then it become 80, then 60... then when i did those windows 10 updates... it went to like 20gb. Then when i deleted some old windows update.. i suddenly had like 42gb free. Now with all the updates... it drops below 30gb free. Now this week i saw 25gb free. Then week later its 22gb. But now today.. its 25gb? Why does it change like this especially go back up? I honestly think I would have enough space for at least another year or more to be honest. But just having it showing 23gb free of 232gb doesn't make me feel good... or is that foolish to think that? So I rather do it now... then I won't have to worry about any space issue for many years to come. Again i got this ssd back in 2013 and for many years using it with other laptops, i always had like at least 80gb free. But this ssd into this laptop.. i been using since 2016 so more spaced is used up etc.


Well you would recommend the cheapest 1tb m.2 ssd then? Thing is i read amazon reviews and lot of ppl seem to say those went bad etc. I want to go with samsung b/c i am still using this 2.5 inch ssd bought in 2013 and it works with no issue. So im concerned going with wd or crucial and then it having issues later on. Does that make sense? Because i feel samsung ssds are more reliable. Like i dont want an instance where months or something down the line, my ssd fails b/c i bought some cheaper branded ssd 1tb for 113 dollars when paying the $185 from samsung would make it have less issues. Or is my logic bad here?


Wait, so if i take out this 2.5 inch ssd.. then install the m.2 ssd into it... then it would install with windows 10 pro? But what happens to my 2.5 inch ssd then if i were to say put it in another laptop or say use that thing where you plug a hard drive into usb into a computer then? But most importantly put that hard drive in another laptop? It would be using windows 10 but not pro assuming that laptop is windows 10 only?


I asked this a while back and said i would prefer cloning as nothing gets deleted from my laptop. Thus i would want to transfer everything. You still recommend this if i get a m.2 ssd right? The thing that held me back from this a while back was starting fresh on a new laptop or ssd because i have so many files important here... and im not talking about like files/programs that you downloaded etc. But more like my poker program files and database i have hear that i want to save.


You really say 500gb over 1tb? Do you think years later i would go... i regret not getting a 1tb one? I know it would take many years though for space to run out b/c i dont download much things on this computer. But i just thought 1tb is best for like futureproof if i download things on it?


Well... u would suggest i try to clone it myself? It isn't that hard right? I remember i asked this a while back and people said used mac-rieum?


Well there is a huge money difference when buying new laptop vs... replacing parts. I dont want to spend that much money on a new laptop... so yea.

Do whatever you want to do, Pauly.

ignatzatsonic said:

Do whatever you want to do, Pauly.

So my computer had around 23gb free of 232gb... few days later it was 25gb free of 232gb... now its around 15.8gb free of 232gb. Can someone tell me how did this happen? Also now it shows my ssd with a red bar as oppose to blue bar. I assume thats b/c once you have less than 10% storage space left... that is what it does?

You are vastly overthinking this, it is a good spec and only 3½ years old:

RAM 8 GB - put in 16 GB, that will last you.

SSD/HDD - put in 1 TB drive, that will last you. Obviously choose a well known SSD brand like Samsung, Crucial, WD. It is up to you whether you pay a bit extra for a Samsung drive.

None of those will have much noticable performance increase, it is just that they should last for a good few more years.

It is better to have a too large SSD/HDD even if half is never much used. You would quite quickly fill up a 512 GB drive in future years, a false economy.
If your Laptop never leaves the desk why bother with a new battery. This cost would apply even with a new laptop.