Need advise on SSD upgrade...

TheMystic · Dec 6, 2021

Hello community!

I have a 2013 HP Envy dv7 laptop that has 2 SSD/ HDD slots. I have installed a Samsung 860 EVO in the primary caddy that hosts Windows, and a 1TB HDD (that came with the laptop) on the 2nd bay. Here are the specs:

I'm planning to buy additional storage (1TB or 2 TB), but unable to decide between an external SSD or an internal one.

I'm NOT sure if my Motherboard supports modern PCIe/ M.2 slot.

I want to keep using my laptop as long as it works well, and I hope it will last me atleast another couple of years or more. But if for any reason I end up upgrading it any sooner (and even otherwise), I would like to be able to use the new SSD that I am planning to buy on the new laptop.

Essentially, I am looking at a modern, future proof purchase, preferably an internal one if it can work with my current laptop too.

Need advise on what to buy. Let me know if you need additional info.

Thanks.

geneo · Dec 6, 2021

It is sata 2 so you will at most get about 300 MB/s. No nvme. So just get another SSD. Your system won't take full advantage of its speed, but it will be much better than a hard drive.

TheMystic · Dec 6, 2021

geneo said:
It is sata 2 so you will at most get about 300 MB/s. No nvme. So just get another SSD. Your system won't take full advantage of its speed, but it will be much better than a hard drive.

Do modern laptops come with the traditional SSD slots? These days OEMs are preferring miniaturization as well as non-repairability, aka non-upgradability. Asking because if I buy an internal SATA SSD, will I be able to use it on the newer laptop (whenever that will be purchased)? I'm pretty sure that my next laptop will have the latest m.2 NVME, so that will only be used to install the OS.

Would you recommend that I just buy an external SSD to future-proof it? And if so, which one?

brummyfan · Dec 6, 2021

You don't have any M.2 SSD slots in this model, if you want to increase the storage, you can either replace the 250GB SSD with a Samsung 870 Evo 2TB SSD or Crucial MX500 2TB SSD, there won't be any noticeable difference in performance.

UserBenchmark: Samsung 850 Evo vs 870 EVO

ssd.userbenchmark.com

UserBenchmark: Crucial MX500 vs Samsung 850 Evo

ssd.userbenchmark.com

HP - Compaq ENVY dv7-7203ea | Memory RAM & SSD Upgrades | Crucial UK

Crucial Memory and SSD upgrades - 100% Compatibility Guaranteed for HP - Compaq ENVY dv7-7203ea

uk.crucial.com

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-MZ-76E1T0B-EU-Solid-State/dp/B078WRSSVT/ref=sr_1_4?adgrpid=107100187631&gclid=Cj0KCQiA47GNBhDrARIsAKfZ2rDqcYdDnwxwetLd555l1AdnQ_VJ3xFCfBr9FxavPuDmAT3kWbuS5u4aAnYXEALw_wcB&hvadid=448276372716&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9045530&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=2127114892252906998&hvtargid=kwd-299523423546&hydadcr=26641_1931059&keywords=samsung%2B2.5%2Bssd&qid=1638776434&sr=8-4&th=1

TheMystic · Dec 6, 2021

brummyfan said:
You don't have any M.2 SSD slots in this model, if you want to increase the storage, you can either replace the 250GB SSD with a Samsung 870 Evo 2TB SSD or Crucial MX500 2TB SSD, there won't be any noticeable difference in performance.

UserBenchmark: Samsung 850 Evo vs 870 EVO

ssd.userbenchmark.com

UserBenchmark: Crucial MX500 vs Samsung 850 Evo

ssd.userbenchmark.com

HP - Compaq ENVY dv7-7203ea | Memory RAM & SSD Upgrades | Crucial UK

Crucial Memory and SSD upgrades - 100% Compatibility Guaranteed for HP - Compaq ENVY dv7-7203ea

uk.crucial.com

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-MZ-76E1T0B-EU-Solid-State/dp/B078WRSSVT/ref=sr_1_4?adgrpid=107100187631&gclid=Cj0KCQiA47GNBhDrARIsAKfZ2rDqcYdDnwxwetLd555l1AdnQ_VJ3xFCfBr9FxavPuDmAT3kWbuS5u4aAnYXEALw_wcB&hvadid=448276372716&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9045530&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=2127114892252906998&hvtargid=kwd-299523423546&hydadcr=26641_1931059&keywords=samsung%2B2.5%2Bssd&qid=1638776434&sr=8-4&th=1

I'm confused between getting an internal or external SSD.

The external one will have the additional benefit of portability as well as using with my other laptop (which is currently my primary laptop). Given that this laptop is now over 8 years old, I am wondering if I should upgrade its internals (at the moment it is performing great).

If I get an internal SSD, then I might have to buy a case later if I can't install it on the new laptop, and this SATA SSD won't be as fast as NVME.

barman58 · Dec 6, 2021

You are limited by your hardware, what I would suggest if you are looking to upgrade the current system in a year or two that you do only minimal changes to this system.

My reason for this is that you will not get any benefit from a new SATA SSD in a new laptop in the future, Current laptops on sale which would be NVME and not compatible with your current SSD..

If you are desperate for space you could replace your current SSD with a larger one, what I would do is spend the money on an external backup storage Conventional spinner drive

When you upgrade in the future this drive can still retain it's purpose, and you could also retain the current SATA SSD in a case to provide portable spare fast storage

glasskuter · Dec 6, 2021

TheMystic said:
I'm pretty sure that my next laptop will have the latest m.2 NVME

You are right. Any laptop your buy will use likely use M.2 as system drive and any additional storage slot will also be the same. So it really doesn't matter whether at this time you buy another SSD or HDD, you won't be able to use it internally in a new laptop. If you think m.2 will still be the standard when you buy, you could leave your setup as is and buy an m.2 and put it in an enclosure and use it for storage now. Sure, you will be sacrificing the speed but as it will be used for files you access only occasionally you probably won't notice it.
Then at such time you buy a new laptop, if that laptop uses m.2 you can use it internally and get all its advantages. If at that time, you still need more storage, you'll have the 2 drives you now have that can be used as external drives. By then usb 4 will be standard. Who knows, there may even be a usb 5. But consider this. By the time you buy, there could be an entirely different interface than m.2. It will all depend on how far into the future you buy a new laptop.

With technology advancing at such a fast pace, we can only guess at what laptops will be 2-3 years from now. If you don't want to take a chance that it might still be m.2, from an economic standpoint, you could just change out that 1 tb drive to a 2 or 4 tb sata to tide you over with storage until you get a new laptop. Compare the numbers in dollars and cents. Also think about how prices of m.2 drives will have decreased by then.

CountMike · Dec 6, 2021

TheMystic said:
I'm confused between getting an internal or external SSD.

The external one will have the additional benefit of portability as well as using with my other laptop (which is currently my primary laptop). Given that this laptop is now over 8 years old, I am wondering if I should upgrade its internals (at the moment it is performing great).

If I get an internal SSD, then I might have to buy a case later if I can't install it on the new laptop, and this SATA SSD won't be as fast as NVME.

2.5" HDD and SSD have same dimensions and connectors. are completely interchangeable. Where there's a place and connector for SATA HDD you can connect an SSD, They work same way.
SATA SSD may not be as fast as HVME but are helluva faster than any HDD. If you are replacing HDD with SSD, there's no reason it wouldn't work.
I would replace HDD with SSD and use USB adapter on HDD so you can use it as external. Unless your laptop has latest and fastest USB 3.1 all speed advantage of SSD connected as external will be lost.

TheMystic · Dec 6, 2021

barman58 said:
You are limited by your hardware, what I would suggest if you are looking to upgrade the current system in a year or two that you do only minimal changes to this system.

My reason for this is that you will not get any benefit from a new SATA SSD in a new laptop in the future, Current laptops on sale which would be NVME and not compatible with your current SSD..

If you are desperate for space you could replace your current SSD with a larger one, what I would do is spend the money on an external backup storage Conventional spinner drive

When you upgrade in the future this drive can still retain it's purpose, and you could also retain the current SATA SSD in a case to provide portable spare fast storage

Although more storage is welcome, I am not really running short on storage. If I organize my files well, I will be able to see much more free space that what I currently have, because there are a lot of duplicates that can be gotten rid of.

I won't be buying an HDD again. Already have a few and given the performance differentials, I will stick to SSDs or anything newer.

barman58 · Dec 6, 2021

One other thing with regards to the current status of NVME drives, they are still fairly new and are in a constant state of improvement, ( this has always been the way with Computer hardware, at the start of availability the improvement curve is extremely steep and eventually will level out).

If you purchase a NVMe Drive now and put it into an external case until you update to a new laptop that can take advantage of it fully, by this time the devices will have improved massively and for the same price you pay now you will get a much faster drive, this is especially true if you buy the drive installed in a new laptop

TheMystic · Dec 6, 2021

glasskuter said:
You are right. Any laptop your buy will use likely use M.2 as system drive and any additional storage slot will also be the same. So it really doesn't matter whether at this time you buy another SSD or HDD, you won't be able to use it internally in a new laptop. If you think m.2 will still be the standard when you buy, you could leave your setup as is and buy an m.2 and put it in an enclosure and use it for storage now. Sure, you will be sacrificing the speed but as it will be used for files you access only occasionally you probably won't notice it.
Then at such time you buy a new laptop, if that laptop uses m.2 you can use it internally and get all its advantages. If at that time, you still need more storage, you'll have the 2 drives you now have that can be used as external drives. By then usb 4 will be standard. Who knows, there may even be a usb 5. But consider this. By the time you buy, there could be an entirely different interface than m.2. It will all depend on how far into the future you buy a new laptop.

With technology advancing at such a fast pace, we can only guess at what laptops will be 2-3 years from now. If you don't want to take a chance that it might still be m.2, from an economic standpoint, you could just change out that 1 tb drive to a 2 or 4 tb sata to tide you over with storage until you get a new laptop. Compare the numbers in dollars and cents. Also think about how prices of m.2 drives will have decreased by then.

Which m.2 (and case) would you recommend?

I already have a Samsung T5 (1TB) and T7T (500 GB), so not too keen to invest in a similar product.

I would rather buy an m.2 and use it with a case for now because I can potentially install it in a future laptop, whenever that happens. As you said, there is not much benefit to buying a SATA SSD now, especially since my hardware is quite old now, even though it is currently performing really well.

barman58 · Dec 6, 2021

@glasskuter

The replacement for the USB3 is already here, but it is not using the same connection The thunderbolt system is replacing the USB form factor on new Higher end devices with the connection using USB-C connectors I have a few NVMe drives in cases that I use with my Laptop Desktop , and even my Phone these are rated at 10+ Mb/s and are already out of date, with the 40Mb/s USB4 imminent ( the USB4 is a working title, I'm sure they'll think of some "Sexy" name for it, especially if Apple are involved, as they will need something they can trademark / Patent to screw money out of users

cereberus · Dec 6, 2021

Rrplace internal hdd with ssd for best performance. Put hdd in a usb3 caddy fir use as backup drive where performance is not really important.

The-Hive · Dec 6, 2021

I Think you have had good advice on what to do and what to get. My choice would be to get internal at least then you can take it out and use in different machine in needed and I hate cable and things attached to my laptop

hdmi · Dec 6, 2021

brummyfan said:
You don't have any M.2 SSD slots in this model, if you want to increase the storage, you can either replace the 250GB SSD with a Samsung 870 Evo 2TB SSD or Crucial MX500 2TB SSD, there won't be any noticeable difference in performance.

UserBenchmark: Samsung 850 Evo vs 870 EVO

ssd.userbenchmark.com

UserBenchmark: Crucial MX500 vs Samsung 850 Evo

ssd.userbenchmark.com

HP - Compaq ENVY dv7-7203ea | Memory RAM & SSD Upgrades | Crucial UK

Crucial Memory and SSD upgrades - 100% Compatibility Guaranteed for HP - Compaq ENVY dv7-7203ea

uk.crucial.com

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-MZ-76E1T0B-EU-Solid-State/dp/B078WRSSVT/ref=sr_1_4?adgrpid=107100187631&gclid=Cj0KCQiA47GNBhDrARIsAKfZ2rDqcYdDnwxwetLd555l1AdnQ_VJ3xFCfBr9FxavPuDmAT3kWbuS5u4aAnYXEALw_wcB&hvadid=448276372716&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9045530&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=2127114892252906998&hvtargid=kwd-299523423546&hydadcr=26641_1931059&keywords=samsung%2B2.5%2Bssd&qid=1638776434&sr=8-4&th=1

£234.99 for a 2TB Samsung 860 Evo 2.5 inch SATA SSD!? That's called legal theft TBH. One week ago on Cyber Monday I paid only 229 Euros for my new 2TB Samsung 980 Pro M.2 NVMe SSD that can do like more than a whole dozen times faster read speed in comparison... my laptop's M.2 socket is actually holding back the read speed of this SSD, as this SSD can do 7,000MB/s theroretical read speed via PCIe 4.0 (PCIe Gen4 ×4) whereas my laptop is limited to PCIe 3.0 (PCIe Gen1 ×4) so I am getting only 3,500MB/s out of this thing. The SSD that was inside my laptop when I bought it is a 512 GB M.2 (2280) SATA, Phison PS3111-S11 B27 that is capable of 500MB/s read and 500MB/s write.

geneo · Dec 6, 2021

^ Yet that is the normal price for a 2TB 870 Evo. In the US it is $226 on sale. If you don't have an m.2 slot, then that is what you are looking at for a TLC SSD. I imagine the SATA SSD costs the same or more to manufacturer as an m.2 nvme SSD.

glasskuter · Dec 6, 2021

@barman58 Yep, that's what I meant about "who knows" what it will be 2-3 yrs. from now, so buying a larger drive one can use internally in the future is a gamble. The gamble and the prices being what they are right now, it just makes sense to me to take the most cost efficient route to meet my immediate needs and let the future take care of itself.

pparks1 · Dec 6, 2021

This is the 10Gbps external NVMe enclosure that I am using and it works great for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Enclosure-Adapter-Tool-Free-Thunderbolt-External/dp/B08C2THR25

I put in a 1TB Crucial NVMe and with this enclosure using my USB C 10Gbps port, I test right around 1020MB/sec and I get the same from my standard 10Gbps USB 3.2 gen 2 ports on the back of my PC.

geneo · Dec 6, 2021

pparks1 said:
This is the 10Gbps external NVMe enclosure that I am using and it works great for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Enclosure-Adapter-Tool-Free-Thunderbolt-External/dp/B08C2THR25

I put in a 1TB Crucial NVMe and with this enclosure using my USB C 10Gbps port, I test right around 1020MB/sec and I get the same from my standard 10Gbps USB 3.2 gen 2 ports on the back of my PC.

That's good if you have USB-C :wink:

hdmi · Dec 6, 2021

geneo said:
^ Yet that is the normal price for a 2TB 870 Evo. In the US it is $226 on sale. If you don't have an m.2 slot, then that is what you are looking at for a TLC SSD. I imagine the SATA SSD costs the same or more to manufacturer as an m.2 nvme SSD.

That's a lot of money to be spending on a slow SSD even if it's still a tad faster than that 512GB Phison that I threw out of my laptop four days ago. Especially in light of the fact that it can't turn a HP laptop from 2013 into a new one.

Need advise on SSD upgrade...

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