i want to add m.2 ssd to my laptop?

[Arslan3]

i have this laptop from one week and i have read its manual there is option for m.2 ssd and i wanna add that ssd . Which one can i get can i add samsung 960 evo or similar to them? I have seen m.2 ssd port on my laptop there are 4 pins on one side and i saw samsung 960 evo pics and it has 5 pins on one side. Please explain me this.I need a M type or M+B type ssd.

[Huffer]

It's a piece of cake on your laptop. Here is the Service manual:

Manual

Inside the Service Door M.2 in red circle

Your laptop actually has service doors on the bottom that allow easy access to the memory and hard drives. There is a two-chambered M.2 slot that can accept either "M" (NVME/PCIe) or "B + M" (SATA) type M.2 disks. 

Don't get bogged down in trying to count pins. There is some bad information floating around on this site linking to some Youtube videos where the "genius" seems not to understand that the slot is an M.2 slot which can hold either a PCIe/NVME M.2 or a SATA M.2 gumstick disk. 

On HPs there have been very few issues with SATA M.2 disks. Samsung Evo 850, WD Blue, Adata, all seem to work fine. 

NVME/PCIe disks not so much. There have been lots of users having problems specifically with the Samsung 960 series. 

I have installed M.2 PCIe/NVME disks now in 4 different HP laptops and in each case I used a Samsung PM961 or PM951 disk and if you order the specified HP part that is what they will send you. They are a little harder to find and maybe a few dollars more than the 960 series but I think worth it for the compatibility assurances. 

Given that you have a choice between SATA and NVME there really is no choice: NVME is 4 or 5 times faster. SATA is very fast and NVME is sick fast. 

Post back with any more questions and please accept as solution if this is the answer you needed. 

[Arslan3]

Thanks for your reply it helped me a lot. As you suggested samsung models.These models are good but there read and write are not as fast as samsung 960 evo .So should i get them or evo.In my city (local market).

i have crucial sata m.2 ssd what you suggest about them?

[Arslan3]

These are the options for my laptop

Primary M.2 Storage
128 GB M.2 SATA TLC SSD 
256 GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Value SSD 
512 GB M.2 PCIe NVMe TLC SSD 

If I add a nvme sdd of 250 gb it will work becuase in manual its 256 gb or 128 or 512 gb .can i add any storage level or just these?Help me out?

[Huffer]

You are not limited to the sizes stated in the manual, They just describe the modules offered by HP as options from the factory. You could install a 1 TB if you wished or a 128 gig or 120 gig NVME even though not listed in the Manual. The problem is the controller chipset. As I said the 960 series has caused problems in some HP laptops. Same with some other brands of PCIe/NVME modules. But every PM961 I have tried in HP laptops has worked (so far).   SATA modules have not presented problems. 

Please accept as solution if this is the answer you needed. 

[Arslan3]

can you tell me which PCie version i have and whats its specifacation.

is it PCIe Gen 3.0 x4?

[Arslan3]

thats the result for my mother board

is it PCIe Gen 3.0 x4?

[Huffer]

Looks like it is x2, which may explain some of the compatibility issues with newer disks with the latest controller chips. 

All I can say is on the laptop I am using to type this, with a PM951, not even a PM961, I get this kind of read/write speed.

PM951 on Zbook 15 G3

I use Sysoft Sandra on my Zbook 15 G3 to determine the hardware and see this:

Look like PCIe 3rd gen 4x

[Arslan3]

Thanks for all of your help.I ran that test and found the following result please guide me that its pcie 3x4 or not?

[Huffer]

Looks like it is x2