I am going to be 100% honest with you guys and say I have no idea about anything computer related when it comes to hardware. After researching about the clicking noise I get occasionally while on my computer (as well that prevents me from startup 9/10 times) it appears as though my issue is with my hard drive. I have had this computer for ~5 years now and aside from the hard drive issues it serves all my day to day functions, playing the computer games that I enjoy and allowing me to watch videos with no problems. Here are the specs:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2350M CPU @ 2.30GHz
Manufacturer Intel
Speed 2.3 GHz
Number of Cores 4
Video Card 1 NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX
Manufacturer NVIDIA
Chipset N12P-GVR-B-A1
Dedicated Memory 1.0 GB
Total Memory 3.7 GB
Video Card 2 Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
Manufacturer Intel
Chipset Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
Dedicated Memory 64 MB
Total Memory 1.7 GB
Memory 6.1 GB
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit
Service Pack 1
Size 64 Bit
Edition Ultimate

My real question is should I get a new laptop or just get a new hard drive?

Thanks in advance for all the help anyone can give, and if you guys need anymore info let me know!

Just pick up a SSD.

5 years is pretty old for a laptop imo.

It could survive for 1month or 5 more years.

I would have boughta new laptop

dam 5 years on a laptop thats good lol

get a new one prob find better at 300$

Buy a new laptop imo.

Ssd is a decent idea but not worth the hassle

A 500gb laptop drive can be had for 40$.

You will have to choose between dropping 400$ (no mobile GPU) or upwards of 800$+ (laptop with mobile GPU) if you want a newer laptop.

To be honest the specs you listed are fine for a laptop and if it does everything you need just throw in a new 500gb HDD and call it a day.

Grab a 128-250GB SSD for performance or if you need a lot of storage grab a 7200RPM 2.5" Laptop HDD (what ever size you want) for super cheap.

His laptop is probably on SATA II tho

Are there any SATA II drives worth getting? I'm about to run into the same issue with my laptop lol. The HDD vibrates so much you can feel it through the whole table

Doesn't matter all SATA drives are backwards compatible.

I'm interested in seeing your CrystalDiskInfo screenshot.