Replacement HDD for Omen 870-244

[Apollo117]

What size HDD will the motherboard on the Omen 870-244 accept? Mine came with a 1TB HDD, but I would like to install a larger HDD. I found the specs page for the Omen model that I have: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05380412. However, neither the spec page nor any research of the "Thimphu-K" motherboard has answered my question of what size HDD is acceptable. 

[krzemien · Accepted solution]

Any SATA disk (HDD or SSD) will be fine - I would propose Western Digital disks myself. I am guessing it's the space you're after.

You could also consider adding second, parallel SATA SSD disk - or even NVMe SSD disk as your MoBo supports it - and get OS migrated / installed there whilst keeping the above disk as a data drive, which should speed things up quite considerably.

[Apollo117]

I appreciate your explanation. I am leaning towards your second suggestion of installing a second drive. Then, installing the OS on the new drive and using the older drive for storage. 

I just find it odd that the MoBo spec page does not explicitly list accepted HDD's. Oh well. Again, I appreciate your answer, @Krzemien. 

[krzemien]

Then your choices are:

* SATA SSD (easy addition, however you will need to source SSD tray and also SATA cabling, I think as they are not provided within the PC)

or

* NVMe SSD (will most likely requires removal of graphics card in order to gain access to M2 slot so might be a bit tricky and risky)

And subsequently:

* Disk Clone

or

* Afresh start, with source being either

-HP Recovery Media

or

- Windows ISO

Plenty of threads on this forum showing the detailed approach for each case.

[MHLHiker]

I put a EVO-970 1TB SSD (M.2) and a EVO-860 1TB SSD (SATA) in this PC (HP 870-244 Omen).  The graphics card has to be removed to access the M.2 slot.  You can see the SATA SSD (blue SATA cable). The SSD is 18x's faster than the HDD and the PC will boot in 11 seconds.

[MHLHiker]

M.2 slot with the graphics card removed...

[krzemien]

Thanks for your update - most useful as I endeavour to do something similar (migrate from SATA to NVMe SSD) later this year (once 970 Pro I'm thinking about buying reaches the target price I have in mind).

You did not have any problems sourcing this M2 screw? I may actually have some available from older PC lying somewhere around...

Also, I hopefully assume that although it's a bit tight there, removal & reinstallation of graphics card did not pose any significant issues?

(Honestly, I do not even know why I ask these questions: I built & upgraded few PCs in my life...!)

[MHLHiker]

I got the screw at Ace Hardware (M3x50). 

Two screws to take off the mount holding the graphics card. The one on top is obvious, the other is adjacent the optical drive (follow the ground lead to it). After replacing the PSU (mostly due to a more attractive cabling option), I opted not to reinstall the mount since the card felt secure. May be overkill for shipping purposes but definitely ugly. The EVO-970 is the way to go; Deals on Amazon show up from time to time. It makes a huge difference in the overall performance of the PC, just making it feel "snappy" as apps load and exit faster. A Windows update takes seconds instead of minutes. However, what I like best is, I can immediately start using the PC after it boots. No lag as other programs load.