Question regarding compatibility of hp probook 640 G2 with M.2 NVME type of ssd drive.

[tk3000]

I have a somewhat old laptop, the hp Probook 640 g2 (with i3). It came with a mechanical (spin) hard driver installed, and I would like to install a M.2 Nvme SSD drive. The page with the specs seems to be ambiguous: in the part related to hard drives, it says "M.2 (NGFF) solid state drive" in a column and in the other column it shows "256 GB PCIe-3x4 DS NVMe". My understanding is that NGFF and NVME are not compatible with each other. Please, could someone clarify this quandary.

[tk_srq · Accepted solution]

@Tk3000,

When what we now call M.2 came on the market, it was called NGFF (Next Generation Form Factor), and it was later officially renamed M.2. Therefore, M.2 = NGFF. The link below tells more about NGFF. 

M.2 Interface, Key and Socket explained (atpinc.com)

HP user manual shows 640 G2's come with Intel 6th gen core (either i3, i5 or i7), which support M.2 NVME SSD and pages 2-3 of the manual, shown below, clearly mention 512GB 2280 M2 PCIe gen 3 NVMe SSD is supported.

I used to own a probook 640 G1 and its manual also mentions NGFF and it confused me in the beginning. My 640 G1 had a 4th gen i5 and didn't support M.2 nvme. But yours is compatible with it.

Take care.

[tk3000]

@Tk_srq,

Thanks for your input and great insights.

I did suspect that very likely it would be NVME, but the specs sheet got me somehow confused.

[TzortzisG]

Hi Tk3000. 

Sorry to intervene on Tk_srq 's excellent solution. Just wanted to say I own 640 G3 and 650 G3 laptops which are just Kabylake refreshes of your G2, and they can run either SATA or NVME m.2 disks. You can also use dual storage if you get a sata to m.2 converter and pile one m.2 on the other. A bit cramped, but it gets the job done. Other users have installed a 2.5" SATA ssd together with a pcie nvme disk, by installing the SATA drives without their covers.

My Probook 650 G1 runs well with a Transcend MTS430S 512GB  -as Tk_srq (also) correctly pointed out- the previous generation only had support for the small 2242 m.2 SATA- drives.

[tk3000]

Hello TzortzisG,

In the past (about 10 years ago) I had a toshiba laptop that had two separate 2.5" sata hard drive compartments. It is good to know that two SSDs are doable with the hp probook g2. Thanks!