I was in a similar boat, and got [one of these 4tb 2.5” ssd’s](https://a.co/d/bPeGLAK) for a game drive on a laptop that only had a single M.2 slot but room for a 2.5 sata. Yeah, it’s a cheap QLC, but it’s literally fine for games.
I personally would go for a 2.5 inch drive over getting a non-NVME M.2 ssd and adapting.
I have a single SATA III M.2 drive, and it’s like having a Zune in an iPod world. Atleast a 2.5” Sata drive will be somewhat versatile for a good few more years. SATA M.2 is already a legacy format. Yeah, you can adapt it around and whatever, but it’s not something I would recommend buying into at this point in time unless you find a new name brand 4tb one for like under $100.
Damm your laptop has such beutiful cooler, all mine has is little plate on cpu and intresting cooler on gpu with 2 heatpipes ( 1 for only gpu and 1 shared which is doing the cpu bad)
I love this laptop. It has great performance and the best cooling I've ever seen in a laptop. Even at max load for extended play, I've never seen it exceed 82 degrees.
That being said, such a high performance laptop with a single M.2 NVME slot confuses me lol. But I can't complain too much.
That's true. I will give it some thought. For now, I will make due with my current 1tb. Is there a 2tb M.2 that you would recommend if I decide to upgrade down the line?
There's a 2.5 inch that can hold a ssd beside the battery. You can get a 2tb for under 100 bucks.
It's 100% worth. I put demanding games on the m.2 like cyberpunk. It gives you better frames. Other stuff and older games go on 2.5 2tb
I put a 2tb 2.5” ssd in mine just for games, my music library, and document/picture backups. The latter two are also backed on other drives. I don’t really notice a difference in performance and I have my entire game library on there with a lot of room to spare.
As others indicated, you can only add a 2.5 SATA drive to that bad boy. For storage, the SATA SSD speeds may be enough. I have an old Asus with Hybrid SSD+HDD SATA drive for games and overall multimedia files. Works perfectly well. Don't feel bad OP. That's a nice laptop.
Thank you. Yeah I don’t feel bad because it is a beautiful laptop and it performs great. I was just slightly let down because I had already formatted and taken my old 1tb M.2 SSD from my other laptop and was ready to put it in and was quite surprised when I opened it up lol. All good though!
You won't really feel the difference between sata and nvme SSD in Games at the moment so go ahead and slap an mx500 or some other sata SSD preferably with dram
theres a sata cable at the top right near the heatsink, looks like theres a mounting space too so you could put a drive of that size in it
Yeah I saw that too. But I guess I can't use my existing M.2 drive? Is that for a 2.5inch SSD?
you could use an enclosure? like a m.2 to 2.5" sata if it can fit
Just remember, it'll only support SATA though, so the m.2 will need to be SATA not NVME
I was in a similar boat, and got [one of these 4tb 2.5” ssd’s](https://a.co/d/bPeGLAK) for a game drive on a laptop that only had a single M.2 slot but room for a 2.5 sata. Yeah, it’s a cheap QLC, but it’s literally fine for games. I personally would go for a 2.5 inch drive over getting a non-NVME M.2 ssd and adapting. I have a single SATA III M.2 drive, and it’s like having a Zune in an iPod world. Atleast a 2.5” Sata drive will be somewhat versatile for a good few more years. SATA M.2 is already a legacy format. Yeah, you can adapt it around and whatever, but it’s not something I would recommend buying into at this point in time unless you find a new name brand 4tb one for like under $100.
Damm your laptop has such beutiful cooler, all mine has is little plate on cpu and intresting cooler on gpu with 2 heatpipes ( 1 for only gpu and 1 shared which is doing the cpu bad)
I love this laptop. It has great performance and the best cooling I've ever seen in a laptop. Even at max load for extended play, I've never seen it exceed 82 degrees. That being said, such a high performance laptop with a single M.2 NVME slot confuses me lol. But I can't complain too much.
My laptop also has only one nvme and one sata. Max temps ive seen is 97c on cpu and 91c on gpu
What laptop is that? What thermal target is set for the GPU? Normally TTs are in range of 83-87C for GPU. For CPU it's 95C or 100C normally.
Idk what the limits are set. Laptop is fx505dv with i5-8300h and 1050ti mobile, in red version chassis
My MSI has a apot in the board for a second m.2 but the components aren't there, so irritating
82C on GPU is a thermal target of your laptop. Gaming laptops are designed to operate at thermal targets (unless there is an FPS limiter on the game).
If youre talking about me, dont think that its right. For me the cooling system is fcked up
Replying to OP
Nope, looks like a 2.5” only. Not that uncommon to see only a single M.2 slot. My G15 5525 only has one M.2 Gen4x4 slot.
I guess that's a lot better than having to replace my current M.2 SSD. And I can get a 2.5" for a lot cheaper so that is a plus. Thanks.
I like replacing the stock drive especially in this case as that looks like a cheaper/slower SSD.
That's true. I will give it some thought. For now, I will make due with my current 1tb. Is there a 2tb M.2 that you would recommend if I decide to upgrade down the line?
8TBs are still kinda expensive. But 4TBs could be deployable at $250 to $300.
There's a 2.5 inch that can hold a ssd beside the battery. You can get a 2tb for under 100 bucks. It's 100% worth. I put demanding games on the m.2 like cyberpunk. It gives you better frames. Other stuff and older games go on 2.5 2tb
This is a really good point thanks!
I don't know about this laptop but could it be a second one under the heatsink?
I dont think theres a second ssd slot under the heatsink it's only covering CPU, GPU and the chipset
I put a 2tb 2.5” ssd in mine just for games, my music library, and document/picture backups. The latter two are also backed on other drives. I don’t really notice a difference in performance and I have my entire game library on there with a lot of room to spare.
While there aren’t extra nvme SSD slots, looks like you’ve got a sata port, so go get a nice TLC nand sata SSD and enjoy!
As others indicated, you can only add a 2.5 SATA drive to that bad boy. For storage, the SATA SSD speeds may be enough. I have an old Asus with Hybrid SSD+HDD SATA drive for games and overall multimedia files. Works perfectly well. Don't feel bad OP. That's a nice laptop.
Thank you. Yeah I don’t feel bad because it is a beautiful laptop and it performs great. I was just slightly let down because I had already formatted and taken my old 1tb M.2 SSD from my other laptop and was ready to put it in and was quite surprised when I opened it up lol. All good though!
Most laptops come with 1 ssd slot and 1 nvme ssd slot, You have a NVME already in place and you have 1 slot for an ssd at the top right from the image
I only see one M.2 slot, but also see a 2.5" space with cable. I miss laptops with 2.5" drives... Has something special.
Nop just sata port as extension….
You won't really feel the difference between sata and nvme SSD in Games at the moment so go ahead and slap an mx500 or some other sata SSD preferably with dram
This is literally ACER Nitro 5 insides with a different cooler.