ASUS Vivobook 15 M513UA SSD upgrade

spapakons · Jul 18, 2025

If unsure it is best to ask a professional to order the cable for you, don't just buy any cable.

hdmi · Jul 18, 2025

JAK said:
I was hoping the motherboard sata connection would be standard, seen a lot of these cables online but not sure how compatible they would be.

The AliExpress link sums up all the various models that this cable is compatible with. Oftentimes you'll find that a "professional" easily charges you like $70 for installing the cable and SSD, has to order the same exact cable from the same exact page on AliExpress, and then takes an additional week or two to let it sit on a shelf.

It isn't THAT much harder than plugging in a USB-C cable. Just don't brute-force anything, touch the sink to avoid an electrostatic discharge, and don't lose any screws (I don't have a magnetic screwdriver, but I cling a small, yet fairly powerful neodymium magnet to the shank next to the handle of a normal scredriver so the magnetic force from the magnet carries over through the shank onto the bit).

spapakons · Jul 18, 2025

These flex cables are either just squeeze between the motherboard and the plastic, or you lift a little plastic cover, put the cable in place and then close the cover. It is easy, but you have to make sure you align the cable carefully. Needless to say you must disconnect the battery so there is no accidental discharge that can fry the motherboard! After you make sure the cable is secure in place, connect the battery again. The flex cable has exposed several small wires in one side. This side goes down, with direct contact of the tiny connectors on the motherboard. The other side usually has a small square plastic sheet so you can use it to carefully align the cable. The square plastic sheet always goes up. If you put it backwards, it won't make contact and you will have to open the laptop again to fix it.

PS: If the SATA disk has Windows installed, don't boot yet! Press F2 to go into BIOS and make sure the M.2 has higher boot priority than the SATA disk. This will make sure you load the correct Windows version and you won't mix the drive letters making the M.2 unable to load Windows! It wouldn't harm if you loaded Disk Manager and set the SATA disk to inactive (unbootable), just in case. That is if you want to keep Windows. Otherwise just delete all the partitions and create a single NTFS partition to use it to store data.

BamaInArk · Jul 18, 2025

According to the Asus system specs for that laptop it also includes an Expansion Slot for a 2.5 inch SATA drive. Don't see it in the Pic provided. Checking further for it's location.

Check this online document out. Shows how to install the 2.5 inch drive:

Vivobook 15 M513 (AMD Ryzen 5000 Series)｜Laptops For Home｜ASUS USA

The colorful VivoBook 15 powered by AMD Ryzen™ 5000 series processor features the unique metal lid chassis, color-blocked Enter key, dual storage, and WiFi 6.

www.asus.com

bobkn · Jul 18, 2025

BamaInArk said:
According to the Asus system specs for that laptop it also includes an Expansion Slot for a 2.5 inch SATA drive. Don't see it in the Pic provided. Checking further for it's location.

Check this online document out. Shows how to install the 2.5 inch drive:

Vivobook 15 M513 (AMD Ryzen 5000 Series)｜Laptops For Home｜ASUS USA

The colorful VivoBook 15 powered by AMD Ryzen™ 5000 series processor features the unique metal lid chassis, color-blocked Enter key, dual storage, and WiFi 6.

www.asus.com

The level of detail in that is much better than in post 18. In the YouTube video, the drive was just dropped into the laptop. No screws or heat sinking. Might work OK, but not much like a factory installation.

hdmi · Jul 18, 2025

bobkn said:
The level of detail in that is much better than in post 18.

#16.

bobkn · Jul 18, 2025

hdmi said:
#16.

Post 18 referred to post 16. 18 I found easier to read.

hdmi · Jul 18, 2025

bobkn said:
Post 18 referred to post 16. 18 I found easier to read.

Wrong again.

Post 18 refers to the AliExpress link that I gave in post 7. lol

bobkn · Jul 18, 2025

hdmi said:
Wrong again. Post 18 refers to the AliExpress link that I gave in post 7. lol

Sorry. You're correct.

I tend to lose track of any thread with more than a dozen posts or so.

BamaInArk · Jul 18, 2025

I will say however that I have an older Asus laptop. Too early for M2 drives but it has 2 slots for 2.5 inch SATA drives. Each slot has a built in socket to accept the drive connectors. All you have to do is slide the drive in place and then secure with screws.

spapakons · Jul 18, 2025

BamaInArk said:
I will say however that I have an older Asus laptop. Too early for M2 drives but it has 2 slots for 2.5 inch SATA drives. Each slot has a built in socket to accept the drive connectors. All you have to do is slide the drive in place and then secure with screws.

Older laptops were like that. The SATA connector is stuck on the motherboard and all you need is to slide the disk into place. Newer models added a flex cable which is easy to damage or lose (if you remove it) in an attempt to get more money from paid repairs or at least from replacing the flex cable.

JAK · Jul 20, 2025

Very good advice thank you

The laptop 2.5" bay has a foam pad, assume that's enough support, can't see any sign of screw holes, plus the SSD doesn't have any holes going straight through, may use a little double sided tape just to stop it moving around.

Some leads come with plastic caddies, can't see these are needed, any thoughts on using double sided tape

spapakons · Jul 20, 2025

Old models had a tin foil caddy where you secured the disk with screws. This caddy then was slid into place. It is not absolutely necessary, you just align the disk properly and connect it in the SATA connector. So if you have lost the caddy, don't worry. That's what I do. The old SSD with Windows 10 in the caddy and the new SSD with Windows 11 just slid into place. Not going to screw/unscrew every time I want to swap.

Scannerman · Jul 20, 2025

JAK said:
Some sell the lead with a plastic / rubber case / shroud is this essential
Thanks

Perhaps not essential to functionality but preferred. You don't really want your SSD jiggling about in the bottom of your laptop.

spapakons · Jul 21, 2025

Scannerman said:
Perhaps not essential to functionality but preferred. You don't really want your SSD jiggling about in the bottom of your laptop.

There is a workaround to that. You can wrap a sheet of paper many times to make it thick enough to hold the SSD into place and put it either between the SSD and the motherboard or between the SSD and the disk cover, whichever appropriate. I have done it many times. Just make sure the area of the paper in contact with the disk is small so as not to prevent heat dissipation (don't cover the whole disk).

Scannerman · Jul 21, 2025

spapakons said:
There is a workaround to that. You can wrap a sheet of paper many times to make it thick enough to hold the SSD into place and put it either between the SSD and the motherboard or between the SSD and the disk cover, whichever appropriate. I have done it many times. Just make sure the area of the paper in contact with the disk is small so as not to prevent heat dissipation (don't cover the whole disk).

Another handy approach is if you have the left overs of the rubberized noise dampeners that frequently come with fans. It's still self-adhesive and can be trimmed to fit the contours of the SSD and offer some shock absorbancy.

spapakons · Jul 21, 2025

Scannerman said:
Another handy approach is if you have the left overs of the rubberized noise dampeners that frequently come with fans. It's still self-adhesive and can be trimmed to fit the contours of the SSD and offer some shock absorbancy.

Or put a chewing gum at the gap... Just kidding

Scannerman · Jul 21, 2025

nah, that's waterproofing.

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