HP Pavilion 8th Gen M.2 Slot and SSD type ?

[ahdcd]

Hi all,
I just purchased an HP Pavilion cx0140tx and since it's the base variant, it didn't came with an SSD. When I had inquired about installing an SSD, I was told by the HP retail staff that my variant does not have an M.2 Slot altogether, which got me worried. However, the HP Manual does mention that it supports an M.2 Slot. 

Here is the picture of my Board 

My queries are:
1) Does the laptop indeed support an M.2 Drive (is it the yellow marker in the image above) ?
2) HP manual mentions that it supports an M.2 'ATA-7' Interface, so will this drive 'Samsung 970 Evo MZ-V7E250BW' which is an NVME PCIe M.2 2280 based interface be compatible with my laptop ?
3) If the Samsung 970 Evo is not supported, what are other best options for my laptop?

[Huffer]

Yes that is quite the machine. First one I have seen. First HP laptop I know of to support Optane. However you do not want Optane. It also supports a PCIe/NVME M.2 disk. Yes, you have identified the M.2 slot.

M.2 circled in red

Your Service Manual

This is the 256 gig PCIe/NVME offered by HP:

256 GB, PCIe L21752-001

This is probably a Toshiba M.2 PCIe/NVME disk. 

I can advise you that a Samsung PM961 M.2 will work:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-MZVLW256HEHP-PM961-256GB-Internal/dp/B06VYJMLS8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qi...

You are not limited to a 256 gig disk you can use a 512 or even a 1 TB.

Post back with any more questions and please accept as solution if this is the info you needed. 

[ahdcd]

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@Huffer wrote:

This is the 256 gig PCIe/NVME offered by HP:

256 GB, PCIe L21752-001

This is probably a Toshiba M.2 PCIe/NVME disk. 

I can advise you that a Samsung PM961 M.2 will work:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-MZVLW256HEHP-PM961-256GB-Internal/dp/B06VYJMLS8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qi...

You are not limited to a 256 gig disk you can use a 512 or even a 1 TB.

Post back with any more questions and please accept as solution if this is the info you needed. 

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Hello Huffer. Thanks for being so helpful!
Btw, where I live, it might be difficult to source that Samsung OEM M.2 drive. So, can I use Samsung 970 Evo instead - https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-250GB-Solid-State-Drive/dp/B07CGGNX7S/ ? 

[Huffer]

Theoretically yes. Problems have been reported on earlier models with the 960 series. A lot of folks ask about the 970. It's pretty new so no reports of problems yet but no real confirmation that they work yet either. My best guess on your 8th gen model is it will work. 

[young_]

I have a core i5+ hp pavilion 8th Gen with 16gb optane memory, I want to know if it’s still has ssd slot.

[ahdcd]

There is only one M.2 Slot for SSD and the same is used for either a) Intel Optane Memory or b) M.2 SSD. If you want a proper SSD, your best bet is to remove that Intel Optane Memory and replace it with an M.2 SSD.