Can I swap the Intel Optane SSD to a WD Blue 550 and if so will I see an improvement ?

[G213]

Can I swap the Intel Optane SSD to a WD Blue 550 and if so will I see an improvement ?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Since the Intel Optane memory requires the M.2 slot to support NVMe drives, yes a standard NVMe drive such as a WD Blue should work fine.

Before installing a NVMe drive you will need to disable the Intel Optane memory in the RST utility and in the BIOS, and I believe in that order.

How to Disable System Acceleration with Intel® Optane™ Memory

Using the NVMe drive as a boot drive should give you much better performance than accelerating the mechanical hard drive with the Optane memory.

[G213]

So if I disable the Optane memory all my data is still on the hard drive and I can migrate to new SSD ?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

That is correct, but I suggest you back up your files before proceeding.