Advice needed on PC/system upgrade

[breaktwister]

I currently have a stock HP laptop running 32 bit Windows 7, 3 GB ram. Ableton 9 runs OK on this but my VSTi and audio track count is somewhat limited.

I also have a PC with a quite old intel Quad core 2.4 Ghz, 8 GB RAM FSB1333, running 64 bit Windows 7.

I currently use the laptop for production but want to switch to using the laptop for sketching idea's and finishing mixes on the PC. I have a very small budget to get somekind of an upgrade. My mobo takes SATA2 and I have two regular 7200rpm drives in there, one for OS/apps and the other for audio files. I have one free PCIe slot as I am just using the onboard graphics. I know that using onboard graphics used to be a bottleneck but that information is years old!

I need a fast solution for transferring projects and samples to and from my laptop to my PC. Should I just use a USB stick? I'm looking at SSD's, should I get one and use it for my PC OS/app drive or use one for projects/samples? I can use the free PCIe slot on my PC either for a UBS 3.0 hub (my laptop and PC only have USB 2.0 ports atm) or should I put a video card in there?

[breaktwister]

I should add that I ran out of space on my laptop HD so I got a 500GB external HD which I have some Kontakt and other libraries on. Its a USB3 drive but my laptop only has USB2 ports and I fing that it's quite slow in opening up some of the Kontakt patches.

[Buleriachk]

I just upgraded from 7200 rpm drives to SSD's and the difference is HUGE; much better than even my memory upgrade. I used Apricorn IV to upgrade three computers; a midtower, a Laptop and a netbook , without issue (make sure you get the most recent version). All of the increase in speed was quite remarkable, with the midtower and the laptop the most impressive (the netbook showed an increase, but I think there the bottleneck is the atom cpu....)

[breaktwister]

I've noticed a marked price drop in SSDs over the last 6 months so that's why I've started to consider them as an option. If I can only afford one drive should I make a fresh install for my PC OS/app drive or use it as an external drive (I would get a USB3 caddy) for sharing samples/projects between my laptop and PC?

[Buleriachk]

I opted to have it for my pc os/app drive - a 256 gb drive is now only $180 or so. I you like the way you current drive is set up, just clone it using Apricorn EZ Gig IV, replace your current HD, and boot up. It will be just like your previous HD, only MUCH faster. (You might have to reauthorize Ableton and other programs for the new hardware, but no big deal....)

For sharing files, just network the two computers - there are tons of inexpensive options - it is easy if they have Ethernet ports (most do these days). (I have a router and a home network setup with my internet connection).

http://www.wikihow.com/Connect-Two-Comp ... rnet-Cable

I've noticed a marked price drop in SSDs over the last 6 months so that's why I've started to consider them as an option. If I can only afford one drive should I make a fresh install for my PC OS/app drive or use it as an external drive (I would get a USB3 caddy) for sharing samples/projects between my laptop and PC?