SSD upgrade question on M01-F0024

[Ondialup]

Hello, I am trying to upgrade the ssd in my M01-F0024 and after talking with Samsung rep they were unable to tell me if the Gen of the port on this computer is 4x4 lanes or 3x4 lanes and therefore couldn't make a recommendation. 

According to them for the 990pro to support the speeds the port needs to be 4x4 lanes.  Also, can anyone confirm if the heatsink model would fit and if the heatsink is even necessary. 

Thanks for any help!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The Erica2 M.2 SSD slot is PCIe Gen 3.0.

Hopefully it is 3 x 4 because the older model Erica motherboard is only PCIe 3 x 2.

A NVMe SSD with a heatsink should fit in a desktop PC because you don't need to be concerned with clearance above the drive like you might in a notebook PC, where one has to have enough clearance between the drive and the bottom cover of the notebook.

An alternative drive to consider might be the Samsung 980 PCIe Gen 3 drive.

I have one in my HP Elitedesk 800 DM G3 which has a tiny case, and the drive runs cool enough to not need a heat sink.

Samsung 980 PCIe 3.0 SSD | Samsung Semiconductor Global

[Ondialup]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply and appreciate your help.  I thought I used to know everything about swapping out storage but have a lot to learn about SSD. 

So, from your post I am assuming I need to go with only Gen3 SSD as any Gen4 wouldn't give me additional benefit? System information states I have the HP 8643 motherboard not sure if that is Erica or Erica2?

I am confused as to why crucial and another site said my computer supports Gen4? I just ran CPU-Z and it states motherboard HP/8643 Bus specs: PCI Express 3.0(8.0GT/s)  which I guess verifies your reply? Is there anyway for me to tell if it is a 3x4 vs a 3x2?  Appreciate any information as I feel like I have been misinformed by Crucial etc....

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Here are the HP specs for your PC's Erica2 motherboard:

HP Desktop PCs - motherboard specifications, Erica2 | HP® Support

It does indicate that the M.2 slot has 4 lanes.

I found this discussion which seems to indicate that the Erica2 motherboard slot is not running NVMe SSD's using all 4 PCIe lanes.

m.2 PCIe doesn't run at x4 - HP Support Community - 7359819

Note the comments from the folks that indicated a Gen 4 SSD did provide better speeds than a Gen 3 SSD did, but I don't know how that is possible.

This table from Crucial provides the maximum transfer speeds the various PCIe slot generations will run a SSD at:

PCIe Speeds and Limitations | Crucial.com

As far as what Crucial or any other site indicates...yes, a Gen 4 NVMe SSD will work fine. 

It just won't run at whatever maximum transfer speed is advertised.

When you look at the Crucial SSD report for your PC, you can see that they also offer the P3 model which is PCIe Gen 3.0.

HP - Compaq HP M01-F0024 | Memory RAM & SSD Upgrades | Crucial.com

They are listed on page 2 of the SSD report.

So, now I don't know what to tell you other than it does not appear the slot will use all 4 lanes, and maybe you should opt for a Gen 4 SSD and squeeze all of the speed out of it that you can since those two forum members indicated that it did run faster than a Gen 3 SSD did.

[Ondialup]

Thanks again for all your effort!  

Frustrating, I can find all the inormation I need to do ssd uprgrades on my other branded computers but this HP is a pain. No ability to talk to anyone at HP adds to the frustration.  When spending the money on an upgrade my goal is to maximize performance. Hate to spend additional cash with no extra value.

At this point I'm probably going to do Gen4 as it will future proof it somewhat if I move on to another computer down the road.  I'm wanting a 4GB so will just look at the pricing and go from there. 

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Anytime. 

Glad to have been of assistance.