Explain Intel Optane please

bobkn · Feb 2, 2022

Hazel123 said:
So does it look like I have a spare NVME slot from that photo please? If so I could just add another 500gb ssd instead of replacing the current one with a 1tb

Please supply the exact model of the laptop. That may make it easier for us to determine exactly which M.2 slots exist in it.

Winuser · Feb 2, 2022

Hazel123 said:
So does it look like I have a spare NVME slot from that photo please? If so I could just add another 500gb ssd instead of replacing the current one with a 1tb

Post the exact model you have and I'll see what info I can find.

Wynona · Feb 2, 2022

CornishRattler said:
The link only explains what Optane is supposed to do, it's really not needed for what @Hazel123 is thinking of doing, but it was asked so I obliged.

That's good to know.

Wynona · Feb 2, 2022

After reading about Optane, it looks pretty good to me.

Is your "new" laptop an HP?

Here is some more information about how to install, etc.

HP PCs - Installing and Using Intel Optane | HP® Customer Support

Learn how to install the Intel Optane memory module and load the drivers to speed up your computer.

support.hp.com

Winuser · Feb 2, 2022

Wynona said:
After reading about Optane, it looks pretty good to me.

Is your "new" laptop an HP?

Here is some more information about how to install, etc.

HP PCs - Installing and Using Intel Optane | HP® Customer Support

Learn how to install the Intel Optane memory module and load the drivers to speed up your computer.

support.hp.com

This is on a laptop. From what I found the Optane memory and the NVMe SSD are on the same card. If she replaces the drive with a larger capacity drive she won't have the Optane memory to worry about.

Wynona · Feb 2, 2022

Winuser said:
This is on a laptop. From what I found the Optane memory and the NVMe SSD are on the same card. If she replaces the drive with a larger capacity drive she won't have the Optane memory to worry about.

True, but she'd also miss out on the added speed. Wouldn't there be a larger SSD/Optane?

Hazel123 · Feb 2, 2022

Wynona said:
After reading about Optane, it looks pretty good to me.

Is your "new" laptop an HP?

Here is some more information about how to install, etc.

HP PCs - Installing and Using Intel Optane | HP® Customer Support

Learn how to install the Intel Optane memory module and load the drivers to speed up your computer.

support.hp.com

That's really useful - thanks. The model is HP Pavilion 14-ce3514sa

When I looked it up it didn't mention having optane - but sometimes they had various different versions - this one was actually a business model apparently. Or it could be the previous owner installed it but I think that's unlikely. I know some identical asus models have optane and some don't.

Hazel123 · Feb 2, 2022

Wynona said:
True, but she'd also miss out on the added speed. Wouldn't there be a larger SSD/Optane?

From what I've read, the speed of the samsung ssd means you don't lose the speed overall - although it just acts slightly differently depending on what you're doing. What I'm interested in now though, is whether I have another slot (see photo above) - as then I could leave the SSd with the optane attached in, and add another ssd.

Wynona · Feb 2, 2022

Hazel123 said:
From what I've read, the speed of the samsung ssd means you don't lose the speed overall - although it just acts slightly differently depending on what you're doing. What I'm interested in now though, is whether I have another slot (see photo above) - as then I could leave the SSd with the optane attached in, and add another ssd.

Someone asked earlier which system you bought. If we know which one it is, we can go to the specs and find out what's available tech wise.

Hazel123 · Feb 2, 2022

HP Pavilion 14-ce3514sa

And below is the Optane program info about drive slots

Winuser · Feb 2, 2022

Wynona said:
True, but she'd also miss out on the added speed. Wouldn't there be a larger SSD/Optane?

Unless she plays intensive games, she doesn't need any speed gain by using the Optane memory.

Hazel123 · Feb 2, 2022

She doesn't lol

bobkn · Feb 2, 2022

Hazel123 said:
HP Pavilion 14-ce3514sa

(snip)

Thanks.

I think that this is a picture (from eBay) of the motherboard in that laptop:

It has two M.2 slots. I presume the one on the right is for the Optane card. It's probably for a 2230 M.2 card. You may be able to find a regular NVME M.2 SSD in that format, but the 2280 format (left slot) is the common one.

Not good news.

Winuser · Feb 2, 2022

Hazel123 said:
That's really useful - thanks. The model is HP Pavilion 14-ce3514sa

When I looked it up it didn't mention having optane - but sometimes they had various different versions - this one was actually a business model apparently. Or it could be the previous owner installed it but I think that's unlikely. I know some identical asus models have optane and some don't.

From what I have found so far you may be right about the previous owner installing the Optane memory SSD. If the laptop only has one SSD slot and you prefer to have a larger drive you should be able to just replace the drive.

Hazel123 · Feb 2, 2022

Thanks both. So according to that motherboard, only the two slots - one regular size, one useless size (as hard to get hold of ssd's for that size). What do you make of the picture above where it mentions "internal empty port"?

Assuming it's just a case of swapping out the ssd then, that brings me back to the initial query - of whether that will just work. Google tells me you just need to "turn off" optane in the program on the computer and then swap the drive. But elsewhere it says - computer may not boot and bios may only work with the optane.

I'd be interested to see if there were much speed differences actually as it's really nippy as it is. But I do need the extra storage.

Hazel123 · Feb 2, 2022

Wynona said:
True, but she'd also miss out on the added speed. Wouldn't there be a larger SSD/Optane?

That is a point. According to this you would lose speed in some areas - pros and cons. It compares the 30gb optane on 500gb ssd with a samsung evo 970

"If you replace the existing drive with a Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB, you can expect the following:

Performance in day-to-day usage, including bootup and application launches, will typically be slightly lower because 3D XPoint memory is faster than any NAND-based SSD in random I/O. The system may feel slightly less responsive on the Samsung SSD, but the difference won't be vast.
Sustained performance and large file transfers will be substantially faster on the Samsung SSD because it isn't constrained by a split design that gives the Optane and NAND separate halves of the PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, nor is it limited by the poor performance of the QLC NAND.
Because the Optane drive relies on a small cache to provide increased responsiveness, it may be noticeably slower to access data you haven't recently used. While the Samsung SSD has lower peak performance, it will perform consistently no matter when you last used a particular file or app."

Intel 32 GB Optane + 512 GB NVMe vs Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2 TB

[Intel Optane / NCMe stick (1) I'm hoping that I am posting this question in the correct section of the site. If not, please advise me where I should place it. I very recently purchased a new lapt...

superuser.com

Winuser · Feb 2, 2022

I can't find your exact model so I don't know if these videos will help or not. Both laptops only have one SSD. the small card is the WiFi card.

Hazel123 · Feb 2, 2022

Wynona said:
True, but she'd also miss out on the added speed. Wouldn't there be a larger SSD/Optane?

It seems you can buy a 1tb octane drive. About £150. The Samsung Evo 970 plus is about £97

https://www.cclonline.com/product/310245/HBRPEKNX0203A01/Solid-State-Drives-SSDs-/Intel-Optane-Memory-H10-1TB-M-2-2280-PCIe-Gen3-x4-NVMe-Internal-Solid-State-Drive-with-32GB-Optane-Buffer/SSD1153/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy6advujh9QIVwoFQBh0vaAxsEAQYASABEgKFEfD_BwE

Winuser · Feb 2, 2022

Hazel123 said:
Thanks both. So according to that motherboard, only the two slots - one regular size, one useless size (as hard to get hold of ssd's for that size). What do you make of the picture above where it mentions "internal empty port"?

Assuming it's just a case of swapping out the ssd then, that brings me back to the initial query - of whether that will just work. Google tells me you just need to "turn off" optane in the program on the computer and then swap the drive. But elsewhere it says - computer may not boot and bios may only work with the optane.

I'd be interested to see if there were much speed differences actually as it's really nippy as it is. But I do need the extra storage.

I have only done something like that on a desktop computer. I bought a new desktop that came with an HDD and Optane memory. I swapped the HDD with the SSD from my old desktop that had Windows already 10 installed, and everything worked including activation. I never started the computer until after the drive swap, so I never got to use the Optane memory. I later replaced the Optane memory with a 500GB NVMe drive.

Winuser · Feb 2, 2022

Hazel123 said:
It seems you can buy a 1tb octane drive. About £150. The Samsung Evo 970 plus is about £97

https://www.cclonline.com/product/310245/HBRPEKNX0203A01/Solid-State-Drives-SSDs-/Intel-Optane-Memory-H10-1TB-M-2-2280-PCIe-Gen3-x4-NVMe-Internal-Solid-State-Drive-with-32GB-Optane-Buffer/SSD1153/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy6advujh9QIVwoFQBh0vaAxsEAQYASABEgKFEfD_BwE

Do you need the Optane memory? If you just need a larger drive, I don't see why you couldn't just get a 1TB NVMe drive.