So, since searching the internet (the rest of it) has gotten me nowhere, I'll ask you guys. In looking for a new computer, my budget just increased and I am considering purchasing an SSD. So, the question I'm asking you is about hard drives. I know that SSDs are amazing, but the question is HOW amazing. With these specs, would putting a 1TB 5400 RPM HDD in it actually bottleneck the computer's performance? I know that it's the weakest system component in this and want to make sure I am utilizing the computer to its fullest extent.

i7-3610qm
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650 1GB DDR5
8GB of DDR3 RAM (Not sure about exact speeds)

So for 100 bucks, is it worth it? That is the question.

Thanks in advance,
Quapedular

Well the computer I was working on ran out of battery and I couldn't find the cord sorry

Relating to the original thread - a SSD really makes a big performance difference. For HDD intensive applications like Photoshop that uses a scratch disc, or games that load a lot, a SSD will definitely help you a lot.
Just one word of advice. If you have an existing HDD that you want to clone to your new SSD, make sure you have a proper application to do the cloning. I recently discovered that by using the DD function in linux doesn't work so well between HDD and SSDs - it may have an error wth data alignment.

SSD's are more reliable(as in they'll last longer and will not fail that easily) than regular HDD's and give you faster loading speeds(a few seconds). That's it. No other Pro for SSD.
HDD's are cheap ,therefore, you can get one with a higher storage capacity at lower prices than you can for a SSD.
I say, get a 7200 rpm HDD, or better a 10,000 rpm HDD.

Tiger Direct just had another sale on the OCZ 120GB SSD. Even on My Budget $69.99 was a No Brainer. Keep checking, They'll put them on sale again.
I run mine stripped as possible. Everything goes in and out of a WD 1TB Inteli-Power (5400 RPM) Sata3 6GB HD. With Sata3 it's at least 3-6 times faster depending on the app than My 7200 RPM Drive with Sata2 3GB.
So if Your MOBO is capable of Sata3 this is one "Budget" Way of pushing your Rig to the Max.

Well, recently a non-configurable model popped up, but this time it's a 750GB 7200 RPM drive and has the 2GB version of the graphics card for 100 dollars cheaper. I think since I won't be running resource intensive tasks that often I'll keep the 7200 RPM until I find a good sale on an SSD further down the road

About the SSD thing. SSD's currently will make a unnoticeable difference in performance. The difference is there , but in reality you won't notice it. You can get a Barracuda 10k HDD and have almost the same effect on performance. Give it a year or more before SSD's actually show an increase that you will notice.
Before people start showing graphs and what not. I've tested both HDD's and SSD's in systems. Using PS, games, rendering, conversions. There is a speed difference, but to the user you don't notice it.

Yes, for rendering, games and photoshop the performance will be barely noticable. But the important things I'm talking about are boot up times, wake-up times, and the app LAUNCHING. In my opinion, 10,000 (and even 15,000) RPMs are louder, hotter, and more power hungry than it's worth. And I won't be buying this drive soon, but within maybe six months to a year, when prices have fallen a little. I also have a 1.5TB 7200 RPM external for storage and backup.

10,000 rpms aren't worth it in a laptop where good battery life is a primary concern. Just look at this link for power-consumption comparisons between just a 7200.

Well (apart from this getting hijacked at the beginning ) I got some great feedback about this. I'm going to to try to snag that ready to ship one with the 7200 rpm.

That's a good choice. :)

In Sept last year I purchased a new desktop -intel i7 and 8gb ram with 1tb hard drive. I purchased a 64gb SSD and installed windows 7 OS and kept all my data on the original hard drive. By March 2012 I was experiencing issues with the SSD.The whole OS would freeze up and required a reboot and even then it wouldn't always work. I went back to the supplier of the SSD and I Was told they were highly prone to failure.I had a back up OS on the original hard drive so I'm using that and I really miss the speed of the SSD which is amazeballs but I'm wary of investing in another after my initial experience.My advice is to not store any data on the SSD and only run your OS from it in case of failure