Need help to add M.2 SSD to my Acer Nitro 5
- 3322
- 24
-
- Last Comment
Hello Guys,
I need suggestions to add M.2 SSD to my laptop.
It’s Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-31) [Intel i7 8th Gen/ 8GB/ 2GB Nvidia MX150 / 1TB 5400 RPM]
I want to add SSD to it, but NVMe PCIe SSDs like Samsung 970 EVO are way too expensive and Samsung 860 EVO is SATA 3 SSD in M.2 format.
Any better options for PCIe NVMe SSDs in M.2 format ???
Thanks
- Sort By
AN515-31 is limited to 2 lanes of PCI-E 3.0. So theoretically it won’t go beyond 2GBps. The top end NVMe drives like Samsung 970 Evo etc can touch 3.5 GBps with 4 lanes. Still Adata XPG SX8200 PRO is the cheapest at Rs 5150 for the 256GB model. Otherwise go for the WD SN500 the NVMe successor to the Blue lineup. DRAMless and x2 yet destroys SATA drives. Will eventually replace its predecessor at similar price points.Yet to arrive in India though.
Another alternative is Intel 660p 512GB at Rs 7.8k. Its x4 but being QLC it doesn’t matter a lot. Then again the Adata XPG SX8200 non-Pro 512GB at Rs 8k is the better option purely because its TLC and can sustain much higher perf. once the pseudoSLC cache is exhausted.
Edit: You need to be aware of BIOS incompatibility issues with certain NVMe drives. Plus SATA SSDs are significantly more power efficient than even the best NVMe ones.
Thanks for the info.
So, the performance of NVMe SSD on 2 lanes would be somewhat equal to SATA SSD (M.2)?
also how to get specifications (like no. of lanes and version) of the PCIe slot present on my machine?
Shall I order Samsung 860 EVO? Is it best among SATA SSDs?
The biggest advantage of NVMe drives over SATA is the massively increased Random I/O perf.
Okay, I’m planning to invest around 5K and ~250 GB is sufficient.
So, one last thing, XPG SX8200 PRO or Samsung 860 EVO?
(assumed both are compatible with my laptop)
Considering everything from Brand Value and after-sales services to long term device performance.
Is it fine to order from onlyssd or primeabgb ?? Are any additional discounts available?
I forgot to mention XPG SX8200 Pro as well as non-Pro are double-sided whereas Acer recommends single-sided ones. I think it should not matter for one as thick as Nitro 5 but at least it didn’t fit the svelte Dell XPS 13. Between the XPG SX8200 PRO and 860 Evo there’s no competition really when it comes to raw perf. The former is the winner hands down. When it comes to ASS, Samsung has the edge presumably. I think WD still offers door-to-door RMA service which should make them the standout in this regard.
Personally I feel the NVMe WD SN500, once it reaches these shores would be the best of the bunch. Should not be too long now.
Primeabgb/OnlySSD are reliable but I would imagine when it comes to returns they might not be as convenient/lenient as Amazon.
Edit: The 250GB versions, be they NVMe/SATA, are noticeably slower than their 500GB/1TB counterparts as dictated by NAND parallelism.
Edit2: The mobo reportedly lacks the M.2 screw and standoff. AFAIK no SSD includes them.
Edit3: Amongst NVMe SSDs, Intel 600p, Samsung 960,Adata SX6000 and a generic Hynix are confirmed to be working. A year back there were reports of some WD drives being problematic. You might need to switch from “AHCI” to “RST+Optane” in the BIOS settings.
Where do they get the screw from?
Should I wait for the WD SN500? How long could it take?
I’m thinking of ordering from onlyssd because they are offering SX8200 for 5150 and amazon for 6300.
If there is any compatibility issue then they would not return the drive, is this you mean to say.
Do I have to change BIOS mode in case of WD Drives or just any drive?
The screw is included along with the mobo. Acer cheaped out by not including a 5 cent part. You can however repurpose the screws used to hold the HDD bracket. Many people use without a standoff but its necessary to prevent potential bending of the SSD and coming in contact with the mobo. Probably could use a thermocole cutout. I saw it in a YouTube video.
SX8200 PRO usually retails around 5999. Couple that with 10% cashback/discount offers and you get very close to OnlySSD price. Introductory price on OnlySSD was 4940. IIRC on Amazon lowest ever was 5499.
Regarding OnlySSD RMA: There was a bloke who had to send his mobo along with the SSD so that they could confirm that it was indeed not working in it. Otherwise they could deduct 10-15% from the refunded amount if it works when they test it on their own.
AHCI mode works well for SATA. For NVMe drives in general and not just WD ones you might need to switch modes.
I don’t know when SN500 will be available but considering its been available stateside for a month or so I would say a few weeks perhaps. And because the SN500 is DRAMless ( to keep costs down ) while it is way faster than any SATA SSD in every benchmark its actually slower in random reads( 8k vs 11k IOPS ).
Why do u need ssd is windows 10 slowing down your laptop?
Yea, it takes a lifetime to boot. Applications and Windows programs do not run flawlessly.
I’m into software development, so many dev tools lag on this machine.
Hola amigos una consulta quiero instalar una Samsung 970 EVO PLUS M.2 SSD 250 GB a mi laptop Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-51) [Intel i5 / 12GB / Nvidia GeForce GTX-1050 / 1TB ] , pero no se si es compatible …..alguien podria ayudarme
Most likely yes. But cross-check in Acer forums for instance https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/563302...
@LIMBO Did you get it shipped to India or someone brought it for you?
No I got it from Primeabgb. They were on sale. While I debated whether I really needed the 1TB one its price shot up from a shocking low (by Indian standards that is) Rs 9k to 12k.Still the 256/512GB for 3749/6349 are pretty great.
Btw , how’s the Corsair 510 ? Worth importing the 500gb? Is it qlc
Corsair MP510 is pretty much identical to the Silicon Power P34A80 right down to the controller Phison E12 and NAND, Toshiba 64-layer 3D TLC. Corsair is much more geneous with the rated endurance though. Doesn’t make sense financially to import stuff nowadays.
Buy trangender or <p style=colour:yellow > sandas ssd
cheap. But i think u can run sata m2 in nvme. And diff. Of .2 seconds is not worthy enough to spend that much. Watch on utube for comparison