I want to know if there is a way to add a nvme or PCIe SSD to my laptop

[GreennLight509]

HI! I'm looking to upgrade my  HP Beats Special Edition Notebook - 15-p390nr from an HDD to an SSD. I already know I can use the 2.5 SATA form factor SSD. Now I would like to know, since my CPU-Z app says that I also have a PCI-Express 3.0 (8GT/ s), if there is a way that I can plug in an nvme SSD  (or preferably a PCIe SSD) into it and use it as the boot drive, cuz it's way faster then the 2.5 form factor. And if it's possible, what compromise would I be making? Cuz it seems that's it's already in use. I don't know what device is using it.

Thanks for your support!

[pbroussard]

The m.2 slot on your motherboard only supports SATA 3. All computers have a PCIe bus, It is the common motherboard interface for personal computers' graphics cards, hard disk drive host adapters, SSDs, Wi-Fi and Ethernet hardware connections. According to your Service Manual - http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04511833.pdf  it shows the following-

Support M.2 SATA-3 (NGFF)
M.2 SATA configurations(TLC)
256 GB M2 SATA 

Later chipsets used the m.2 interface to use the PCIe bus for faster transfers. Yes, a PCIe ssd is faster than a SATA 3 version, about the same speed increase as SATA 3 ssd over a mechanical hard drive.

[GreennLight509]

Ok. I've looked at the service manual you sent which is very informative. My PC is a Notebook Pavilion 15. It's motherboard doesn't have M.2 slots according to the manual (I'm using AMD, not the Intel model).  But since I don't use ethernet at all on my laptop, can I remove the ethernet hardware and replace it with a PCIe SSD? 

NB: This is my specific model HP Beats Special Edition Notebook - 15-P390nr

[GreennLight509]

I would like to take a minute again to thank you for your great support.  I did some more research in the service manual and elsewhere, and it seems you are absolutely correct. But I somehow don't get the impression that my question was properly answered. 

• I wanted to know if there's something I could remove, like the ethernet card or something in order to free a pcie and use it to plug a pcie ssd.

[Huffer]

No that is not how laptops work. The motherboard is a single unit. There are no removeable devices that you could pull off and plug in something different. 

[GreennLight509]

Thank you very much! But what about those people saying that they did it with the Wi-Fi card, freeing the Mini pcie x1 slot and swapping in a pcie nvme ssd

[Huffer]

Not possible sorry. The slot will not take a PCIe/NVME M.2 SSD. Who said they did that?

[GreennLight509]

I remember seeing it somewhere on the web. I'll post the link if I come across it again later. The person had to use an adapter to convert the mpcie slot. I did a lot of researches on that, and I still can't make my mind on a proper solution. 

Here's what I found:

https://linustechtips.com/topic/772848-replace-wifi-card-with-ssd/

https://linustechtips.com/topic/772848-replace-wifi-card-with-ssd/?do=findComment&comment=12862253

[PeteC22 · Accepted solution]

I don't know if you can use a M.2 drive through the wi-fi card's port, however, unless you use a NVMe drive, which I do not think you can do that way (they are keyed differently), you will see little to no performance bump over a 2.5" SATA SSD.  Non-NVMe M.2 drives are SATA drives, just smaller in form factor and interface through the PCIE.  I would simply opt for a larger capacity 2.5" SATA SSD.

[NomadMK15c]

Do you have $500 plus tax ?

Buy a new laptop

On sale at Walmart