SSD upgrade questions

[Der664t4]

I currently have one 500GB SSD and one 500GB HDD installed in my laptop.  I do not have any M2 SATA or other drives which look like RAM modules instead of actual 2.5" drives.  I'm completely out of storage space due to installed games, and I prefer to remain mobile with my laptop and not connecting an external USB drive for more space.  My three questions are:

1. What's the best upgrade option for my particular laptop to maximize my available storage space with regard to both speed and capacity?

2. What's the maximum capacity of the answer to question # 1 with regards to my laptop's hardware limitations?

3. My laptop service manual states that it can handle PCI3-3x4, does this mean that a PCIe Gen 4 will work but only at PCIe Gen 3 speeds, or that it can fully utilize both Gen 3 and Gen 4 at the fastest speed?

Thanks

[banhien]

@Der664t4 

Your machine is a CTO machine, I can't find its REAL specs BUT it supports M.2 NVMe SSD + 2.5" HDD. Please use Device Manager to see what are they. For example o my Omen machine it has

        

It has Samsung M.2 NVMe SSD + 1TB HDS 2.5" HDD. With a clear picture what does your machine have I can make more comments and suggestions otherwise we are walking in the dark.

Regard

[Der664t4]

Hi and thank you for your help!

[banhien · Accepted solution]

@Der664t4 

OK, your machine ha 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD from Samsung and 500GB HDD.

A1&2:

   (a) You can upgrade M.2 NVMe SSD to 1TB or 2TB using compatible drive such as

               https://www.samsung.com/au/memory-storage/nvme-ssd/970-evo-nvme-m-2-ssd-1tb-mz-v7e1t0bw/

   (b) You can also upgrade 500GB HDD to 1TB or 2TB of 2.5" HDD or SSD (better) using compatible SSD such as

               https://www.samsung.com/au/memory-storage/sata-ssd/870-evo-250gb-sata-3-2-5-ssd-mz-77e250bw/

A3.

  PCIe 4 is backward compatible with PCIe 3 that means it will work but only run at PCIe 3 speed.

Regards.

Regards.

[Der664t4]

Great, so this (Crucial P3 2TB PCIe Gen3 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD, up to 3500MB/s - CT2000P3SSD8 https://a.co/d/9F6Tg65) is my cheapest decent solution for my current max speed without any benefit of getting better speed later on if used in a PCIe Gen 4 computer?

Is there any clear reason to spend more for a Samsung or WD drive?

[banhien]

@Der664t4 

It won't run at that speed therefore you have to live with it is you wish.

Regards

[Der664t4]

Here’s a good article that explains PCIe 3x4 https://www.kingston.com/en/blog/pc-performance/pcie-gen-4-explained

Basically it’s Gen 3 using only 4 out of a possible 16 lanes. 

So this would be my cheapest top speed

TEAMGROUP MP33 2TB SLC Cache 3D NAND TLC NVMe 1.3 PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Internal Solid State Drive SSD (Read/Write Speed up to 1,800/1,500 MB/s) Compatible with Laptop & PC Desktop TM8FP6002T0C101 https://a.co/d/5v9xwwu