Replace Optane Board with SSD?

[SteveD3]

I know I can replace my SATA HDD with a SATA SSD. I have also heard some have removed the Optane board and replaced it with a PCIe NVMe SSD drive that will work even better. I have Optane on my Pavilion 15cs-0064st. Can I replace it with a PCEi M.2 drive? Has anyone done this and can give some advice?

Also, if I put a SATA SSD in, would I keep Optane or is it not going to make a difference?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

IMHO, a NVMe SSD would work better than your current setup.

You would need disable the Intel Optane memory in the BIOS (if applicable), and in the Intel RST software before swapping out the Optane memory for a NVMe SSD.

See the last two sections at the link below.

HP PCs - Installing and Using Intel Optane | HP® Customer Support

There are mixed opinions regarding what is better...an NVMe SSD, or accelerating a 2.5" SATA SSD with Optane.

You can google it.

Solved: what happend if use intel optane memory+ssd - Intel Community

If it were me, I would completely remove the hard drive and just use a NVMe SSD of a storage capacity that suits my needs.

Personally I think the Samsung 980 PCIe 3.0 x 4 is the best one out there for the money right now.

Amazon.com: Samsung Electronics (MZ-V8V500B/AM) 980 SSD 500GB - M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid St...