Inspiron One 2330

J_Pico

So I have this Inspiron One 2330 all-in-one pc that I purchased from microcenter around 2014/2015.

Intel core i5-3340S 2.80 GHz, 2801 Mhz, 4 cores / 1TB HDD / 6GB RAM (all standard with original purchase)

Would it be worth it to upgrade the RAM and hard drive? Thinking 16GB RAM and 1TB or 2TB SSD

If so, what products would you recommend? I don't know much about the RAM brands. I have used Samsung SSD in a build and am happy with it.

I am confident in my abilities to install the hardware. My only concern is with transferring/cloning the hard drive. I am novice when it comes to that and really don't want to lose Windows 10 and a handful of apps

Thanks,

asianse

Hey @J_Pico

The biggest upgrade you can make to the speed of your computer is a HDD -> SSD upgrade. You are going to want to replace the internal hard drive with a 2.5" SATA SSD. Since the Inspiron One 2230 has a 3.5" bay, you will need an adapter (literally a something that confines the smaller drive and prevents it from shifting in the case). Here are some examples: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=2.5+to+3.5+hard+drive+adapter&crid=1KNGTXBDM1UR3&sprefix=2.5+to+3.5+%2Caps%2C126&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_11

For me personally I am still able to get by with a 1 TB SSD for my main C: Windows drive. However, I use additional external and cloud storage. If you want to get the 2 TB drive it would be a great future-proof and you wouldn't worry about storage capacity ever. Also, SSD prices are at an all time low now so it could be worth it?

For RAM, 6GB is barely enough with today's taxing applications. DDR3 RAM should be extremely cheap now. For example you can pick up 16GB of RAM at microcenter for just $72: https://www.microcenter.com/product/508284/gskill-ripjaws-x-16gb-(2-x-8gb)-ddr3-1600-pc3-12800-cl10-dual-channel-desktop-memory-kit-f3-12800cl10d-16gbxl-red. You could also try other websites for some cheaper RAM. I wouldn't recommend mixing and matching with the one you currently have. RAM works best when the frequencies match between the sticks. If you could find which RAM you have maybe you can pick up additional sticks of the same one.

Finally, about the cloning you will probably need to clone it while having both your old HDD and new SSD plugged into the same computer. You can follow this guide which uses Macrium Reflect a great cloning software: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/copy-your-windows-installation-to-an-ssd. You may need an adapter/dock for one of the drives that connects to USB so you can have both attached to the same computer at the same time. This you can find as a SATA to USB adapter. And as a bonus when you finish migrating you can have the old drive as an external storage that you can wipe and store stuff on with the use of the adapter.

Good luck! Let me know if you have any more questions

J_Pico

Thank you asianse, this was very helpful.   I will definitely get the 16gb RAM and most likely get the 2TB SSD.  Good call on the old drive, I have another PC that I built with some free space and will toss the old drive in there because why not.