ssd upgrade help

[jafrisi]

Hello,

I want to upgrade this new pc with an SSD and boot from it.  I was planning on keeping the existing 1tb hdd as a 2nd drive.  I realize I'll need some cloning software.  I know the Menlo motherboard has a free m.2 slot and from what I've read it does support NVMe.  I would like to verify that this is correct.   Will the 290 p0035qd support an NVMe ssd in the m.2 slot?

I found this in the support section and it appears this customer did use and NVMe SSD in the m.2 slot, but he had the 290 p0014.  A lsighly different model, but the same menlo montherboard.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/M-2-SSD-slot-configuration-AND-...

Thanks

[banhien]

@jafrisi

From the following image, looks like the M.2 slot for SSD supports SATA 3 SSD, not NVMe SSD.

    

Source:   https://support.hp.com/au-en/document/c06002033

The following vendor also supplies SATA M.2 SSD drives.

     http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/HP---Compaq/hp-slimline-290-p0035qd

Regards.

[jafrisi]

Thanks for the quick reply!
I've studied that image before and can't find anything on it that says what type of m.2 it is. "From the following image, looks like the M.2 slot for SSD supports SATA 3 SSD, not NVMe SSD" What do you see?

Also, did you see that other support forum answer I referred to, seems he has the same system..close enough...and did use an nvme in the m.2. It's a recent discussion from about a week ago. Thoughts on that?

[jafrisi]

Or is the m.2 possibly nvme but x2 instead of x4?  I'll settle for sata, but I'd love nvme, even if its only x2.

Thanks!

[jafrisi]

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@banhien wrote:

@jafrisi

From the following image, looks like the M.2 slot for SSD supports SATA 3 SSD, not NVMe SSD.

Hi Banhien,

I am getting conflicting info.  It seems somebody has installed and NVMe and it worked.  Can you confirm that the m.2 is sata and NOT NVMe?  If so, how is that being confirmed?

Thanks!!

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[Grzwacz · Accepted solution]

Hi Jafrisi,

Look at the Menlo MB.

There are only two SATA ports.

One SATA port could be disabled it this motherboard's M.2 socket only supported a SATA gumstick (M.2) drive. This would not be a good thing for the user. You may lose a SATA port.

HP has decided to go with PCIe 3.0x2 or PCIe 3.0x4. Also notice this motherboard has only one x16 slot and one x1 slot. A PCIe M.2 socket needs two or four PCIe lanes. The number of PCIe lanes required is dependent upon the M.2 bandwidth HP has included with the proprietary, modified, Intel H370 chipset.

This motherboard only supports a 2280 M.2, NVME, PCIe 3.0 x2 or PCIE 3.0x4 storage device.

Intel's H370 chipset specs can be reviewed here (Link). HP modifies the chipset. This motherboard does not utilize all possible Intel PCI Express Lanes (20).

Regards

[trinlv]

I didn't purchase a SATA SSD, I only did the NVME interface. On the Menlo motherboard, it connected at x2 speeds which is certainly pretty fast. However, I work with large database files (tens of millions of rows) and wanted fast load times. Therefore, I used the only PCI slot and a $24 interface card to get the x4 speed. Boot up time is essentially the same between x2 and x4 speeds, but loading of my database tables was faster. Remember that the power supply is only 180 watts, so it's doubtful that I'd ever use a graphics card on the PCI slot. Overall, I spent $800 for a really fast machine.

[jafrisi]

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@trinlv

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Thanks to you both, I really appreciate it.  Since its only x2 I picked up an XPG SX8200 480gb NVMe.  Seems like a great 'budget' drive and that seems ok considering I won't use it's full potential.

[trinlv]

Cool....let us know how it goes....even x2 is really, really fast.  Your boot time will be incredibly fast. Enjoy!

[Grzwacz]

Hi Jafrisi,

You're very welcome.

ADATA makes good stuff.

You will see a noticeable boost in performance.

You can always do what trinlv did to get PCIe 3.0x4 bandwidth.

Regards