Looking for a motherboard manual for L20712-601 in an HP ENVY 17m-bw0013dx.

[Thomas315]

Crucial website indicates a compatible NVME drive for my laptop and I would like to upgrade from the existing SATA HDD. I'd like to confirm where/how to install as I do not see an available M2 slot.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Below is the link to the parts list for your notebook:

HP PartSurfer

The motherboard part number and description is:

L20712-601

MOTHERBOARD DSC MX150 2GB i7-8550U WIN

What I like to do when I am not sure where M.2 slots are on a system board is to go in eBay, do a search by the HP motherboard part number and find a listing of the motherboard.

Here is such a listing:

For HP ENVY 17-BW Laptop Motherboard I7-8550U CPU MX150 2G 17888-1 17889-1 | eBay

If you look at the bottom right hand corner of the picture, you will see the M.2 slot to the left of that connector with the white border.

The SSD hold down screw must be off the motherboard.

Below is the link to the service manual:

HP ENVY 17 Laptop PC Maintenance and Service GuideIMPORTANT! This document is intended for HP author...

If you look at chapter 5, page 26 you will see an illustration of the installed SSD to the right of the battery.

[Thomas315]

I saw that M2 slot but it is already occupied with a 16GB Intel Optane memory chip that appears to be used to boost processing of data. If I remove that I would think that would negatively impact the speed of the laptop. Is that incorrect?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Well, yes and no.

If it was my notebook, I would save my personal files to a portable hard drive, then use the Intel RST software to disable the Intel Optane memory, either format the 2.5" drive and use it for storage only, remove the Intel Optane memory and install a M.2 NVMe SSD.

You could also retain the Intel Optane memory and replace the 2.5" mechanical hard drive with a better performing 2.5" SATA SSD such as a Western Digital Blue SA510.

That would still be an improvement over your current setup.

I believe that the Intel Optane memory will still accelerate a SATA SSD.