Upgrade to NVMe ssd for my 14 ba114dx

[kattappa]

I know the ssd present in the laptop is 128 gb TLC, I want to upgrade it to samsung evo960 nvme for better speed, I know in the hardware manual in page 49 it mentions only TLC M.2 ssds as compatible, but I have an 8th gen CPU and I suspect the hardware manual is not updated from models with 7th gen cpu, so I believe my system is compatible with nvme ssds, I want to upgrade to faster ssd and want to know if o can boot windows from it

[banhien]

@kattappa

I don't know where do you get the manual but it clearly says options for pre-installed machines:

For use on all computer models:
● 512-GB, M.2 SATA solid-state drive with TLC
● 256-GB, M.2 SATA solid-state drive
● 128-GB, M.2 SATA solid-state drive

Even NVMe look-and-feel the same but won't work.

Regards.

[Official-Heat · Accepted solution]

The specs for a 14-ba114dx specify that it has an Intel Core i5-8250U processor (8th Gen) . The service manual for your laptop covers systems with both 7th and 8th Gen processors.

In this manual,  8250U processor system boards (such as yours) are listed as only being compatible with laptops with a model number of 14-cc0xx but as far as I can tell, these models do not exist, so it is my guess that HP were originally going to change the Pavilion 14 x360 laptop model numbers from 14-baxxx to 14-cc0xx to differentiate between the 7th and 8th Gen processors, but then abandoned that idea after the manual was written.

So, it would seem that the system boards listed in the manual as "For use only on computer models with model number 14-cc0xx:" are the 8th Gen system boards such as yours (and mine) and the system boards listed as "For use on all computer models:" are the earlier 7th Gen laptops.

The point to my waffle is that the manual also states that the 14-cc0xx models are compatible with PCIe NVMe SSD drives, or at the very least the HP model they list in the manual (see SSD parts listing), so I think that there's quite a reasonable chance that a Samsung NVMe drive will work.

(note that m.2 slots incompatible with NVMe have an additional key marked 'B' to prevent an incompatible device such as an NVMe drive from being inserted). i.e. a m.2 SSD drive has two cutouts on its connector (keys 'M' & 'B') and an m.2 PCIe NVMe drive has only one (key 'M').

That said, I do not work for HP and I haven't tried it with mine as you have to completely remove the system board to get to the m.2 socket on the bottom and I am happy with speed of the Sandisk m.2 SATA SSD installed, so I took the easier option of adding a second SSD in the hard disk bay to give me additional storage (after ordering the specific SATA cable). 

It would however be interesting to hear if anyone else has had any success.

[Rooveg]

@banhien

my model is 14-ba136tx which is I believe the same model as 14-ba114dx released in Indonesia, i can confirm NVMe SSD is supported, currently I'm using Samsung PM 981 512GB NVMe SSD

[Mike412]

Hello, I have the same laptop as yours but with silver color (Pavilion X360 14-ba135tx). I'm also planning to upgrade my SATA SSD to NVMe SSD. So, may I reconfirm if NVMe drive does work on your notebook? and have you done any benchmarks that can indicate that you are indeed getting NVMe speed from your Samsung P981?