Replacing HDD with SSD

[David453]

Hi!

I want to replace the hard drive in my old desktop with a SSD, but I have some questions about compatibility and performance. I have a Pavilion P6230F running Windows 7 (64-bit) with the following expansion slots (all Gen 2):

• One PCI Express x16
• Three PCI-Express x1
• One PCI Express x1 minicard socket

It's my understanding that a PCIe drive will be faster than a SATA drive, but I'm not sure I could install a PCIe drive. All the ones I've looked at use NVMe. I'm not really sure what that means, or if they would work in my computer. In particular, I'm considering a WD_BLACK 1TB AN1500 from Western Digital (https://www.westerndigital.com/en-ca/products/internal-drives/wd-black-an1500-nvme-ssd#WDS100T1X0L). This requires a PCIe Gen3 x8 slot. Could I plug it into the PCIe Gen2 x16 slot of my motherboard? The data sheet also says that it's backward compatible with PCIe Gen2 x1, but I'm guessing it wouldn't be as fast.

If I can't install a PCIe drive, I'm considering the WD Blue 3D NAND 1TB (https://www.westerndigital.com/en-ca/products/internal-drives/wd-blue-sata-2-5-ssd#WDS100T2B0A). This is far less expensive that the PCIe drive, but wouldn't be as fast, correct? Would it be significantly faster than the hard drive I already have?

In terms of performance, which would be fastest, the PCIe board plugged into the Gen2 x16 slot, PCIe board plugged into the Gen2 x1 slot, or the SATA drive? 

Thanks.

[banhien]

@David453 

The specs of tour machine is

        https://support.hp.com/au-en/document/c01859865

It is over 12 years now. Please do not think PCIe for storage SSD's on your machine they simply won't work. Your mentioned

• One PCI Express x16
• Three PCI-Express x1
• One PCI Express x1 minicard socket

They are NOT for storage. The best you can do is to upgrade HDD to 2.5" SATA SSD.

Regards.

[David453]

I suspected as much. That's why I posted the question.

Would I see any improvement if I replaced the HDD with a SATA SSD drive, or would it just be a waste of money?

[banhien]

@David453 

You already know SATA SSD's are faster normal SATA HDD's even they use same controller because SSD's do not need to spin and their heads do not have to move around to "seek" ... therefore we always have benefit from SSD's over machanical HDD's.

Regards.