Need to upgrade my Storage in HP EN0001AX

[AsishB]

I have a HP EN0001AX Laptop. I want to increase the SSD Space, as 500 GB is wayyy too less for me. So, I know that my laptop supports NVME M.2 PCIe SSD. My question is -

1. Can I get any SSD that is M2 NVME, where the form factor is or isn't 2280 ?
2. Is the compatibility dependant on Read/Write speed ? Like, if my current SSD's speed is 3200 MB/s, can I use a 7300 MB/s SSD ?
3. What is the current speed of the pre-installed SSD that came with the laptop ?
4. Will my laptop support Gen4 SSDs ?
5. I also have a PC, that has an PCIe, NVME, M.2 SSD. Can I use that SSD here ? In general, can PC/PS5 SSDs be used with my laptop ?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Your notebook has support for two M.2 2280 NVMe SSDs.

The PCIe slot generation is 3.0.

A PCIe Gen 4 SSD will work but not run any faster than the max transfer speed of the Gen 3 slot, which is ~4,000 MBPS.

You would need to look up the model number for the drive HP installed and see if you can find any specs on it.

Otherwise, you can install and run the free Crystaldiskmark 8 utility to measure the current speeds the drive is providing.

The top line of the report is the maximum speeds generated.

CrystalDiskMark 8.0.0 - Crystal Dew World [en] (crystalmark.info)

You can install any single sided NVMe SSD up to 4 TB in the model series.

Below is the link to the service manual:

CrystalDiskMark 8.0.0 - Crystal Dew World [en] (crystalmark.info)

[AsishB]

Western Digital WD Blue SN580 NVMe  -

Western Digital WD Black SN770 NVMe 

Will these two work in my laptop (HP EN0001AX)

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Yes, but since both of those drives are PCIe Gen 4.0, they will not run at their maximum advertised read/write speeds from your notebook's PCIe Gen 3.0 slot.

This table shows the maximum transfer speeds from each PCIe slot generation:

PCIe Speeds and Limitations | Crucial.com

[AsishB]

That is not my concern. My concern is whether the SSDs will have problems like failures, if a Gen4 SSD is connected to Gen3

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Either one will work just fine.

[AsishB]

So, it wont damage the SSD ?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

No, why do you think something like that would happen?

For example, when you install a PCIe Gen 3.0 video card in a PC with a Gen 2.0 slot, it causes no damage.

The card just doesn't run at its optimal performance.

Same for a NVMe SSD...if the manufacturer says it has a maximum 7,000 MBPS read/write speed, you will get ~4,000 MBPS from it from a Gen 3 slot.

[AsishB]

Like, since the SSD has a read/write speed of let's say 5000 MB/s, but Motherboard offers max. of 3000 MB/s, what if SSD tries to run at max. speed , overclocking the Motherboard ?That does not happen, right ?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

That is correct. 

The Gen 4 drive will not overtax/overload the Gen 3 slot by trying to run faster.