Replacing a hard drive

XiaoDeer · Oct 29, 2022

My system is currently configured with a 1TB NVMe SSD for the system drive with a 2TB HDD for data.

I plan on replacing the HDD with a 2TB SSD.

I have the option of using another NVMe drive (my motherboard has two M.2 slots) or a regular SATA drive bay. I'm not sure which way to go:

* NVMe is faster but don't need more speed.

* NVMe is likely cheaper, esp. with Black Friday deals.

* A 2.5 inch SATA drive will likely run cooler, and be more reliable?

* I have 6 SATA ports so maybe it's best to save the M.2 slot for something in the future.

Any thoughts?

Ken Seals · Oct 29, 2022

XiaoDeer said:
My system is currently configured with a 1TB NVMe SSD for the system drive with a 2TB HDD for data.

I plan on replacing the HDD with a 2TB SSD.

I have the option of using another NVMe drive (my motherboard has two M.2 slots) or a regular SATA drive bay. I'm not sure which way to go:

* NVMe is faster but don't need more speed.

* NVMe is likely cheaper, esp. with Black Friday deals.

* A 2.5 inch SATA drive will likely run cooler, and be more reliable?

* I have 6 SATA ports so maybe it's best to save the M.2 slot for something in the future.

Any thoughts?

When I was faced with that decision about a year ago, I just got a Samsung 2TB M2 NVME drive, put it in the second socket and used the Samsung cloning software on the 1TB original drive to clone it to the new 2TB . Quick and easy. I pulled out the 1TB drive long enough to get the system to boot from the 2TB drive and then re-installed the 1TB and designated it for my LrC catalog. I have multiple HDDs in this machine for photos, data and video files.

jfriend00 · Oct 29, 2022

XiaoDeer said:
My system is currently configured with a 1TB NVMe SSD for the system drive with a 2TB HDD for data.

I plan on replacing the HDD with a 2TB SSD.

I have the option of using another NVMe drive (my motherboard has two M.2 slots) or a regular SATA drive bay. I'm not sure which way to go:

This is the way to go. Just add another NVMe.

XiaoDeer said:
* NVMe is faster but don't need more speed.

Does a faster drive bother you?

XiaoDeer said:
* NVMe is likely cheaper, esp. with Black Friday deals.

OK, even better. Cheaper AND faster.

XiaoDeer said:
* A 2.5 inch SATA drive will likely run cooler, and be more reliable?

Why do you think it will be more reliable? I disagree. Should be no significant difference in temperatures or reliability. Same memory chips inside, just a different mount/interface.

XiaoDeer said:
* I have 6 SATA ports so maybe it's best to save the M.2 slot for something in the future.

Generally nothing else to save the M.2 for.

XiaoDeer said:
Any thoughts?

You seem to be trying to talk yourself out of the cheaper, faster and more compact NVMe solution. Can't figure out why.

Sean Nelson · Oct 29, 2022

XiaoDeer said:
Any thoughts?

Use the second NVMe slot, that's exactly what it's there for. There's no real reliability difference with different form factors, you can expect NVMe and SATA SSDs to be about the same. The extra speed won't hurt, and heat is probably a non-issue.

The drive won't get hot at all under normal use, it really only heats up while writing. You'll do a lot of writing when you initially copy data to the drive, but on my system I use a low-profile heatsink on my NVMe drives and even under prolonged heavy writing they don't get above the 40's C even though being tucked down underneath the PCIe cards they're not all that well ventilated

XiaoDeer · Oct 29, 2022

This is extraordinary. Everyone is in agreement

NVMe it is!

This will be the last of the hard drives in all of my systems to enter retirement, except for those in my NAS. I do have more bare drives used simply for backup.

Billiam29 · Oct 29, 2022

Apologies if obvious, but just be sure you’re comparing NAND types between the two form factors as well as bus speed. A 2.5” SATA drive might not feel like as much of a bargain to you over an NVMe drive if it’s using QLC or another NAND type with significantly less write endurance than comparably sized NVMe options.

Ho72 · Oct 29, 2022

Depending on your mobo, populating both M.2 slots may remove or restrict functionality elsewhere. You may want to check into this before you commit.

--
Sometimes I look at posts from people I've placed on my IGNORE list. When I do, I'm quickly reminded of why I chose to ignore them in the first place.

XiaoDeer · Oct 29, 2022

Billiam29 said:
Apologies if obvious, but just be sure you’re comparing NAND types between the two form factors as well as bus speed. A 2.5” SATA drive might not feel like as much of a bargain to you over an NVMe drive if it’s using QLC or another NAND type with significantly less write endurance than comparably sized NVMe options.

I do pay attention to such details and stick with trusted vendors for flash storage (disks and SD cards too). But thanks for making the point -- it's important.

XiaoDeer · Oct 29, 2022

Ho72 said:
Depending on your mobo, populating both M.2 slots may remove or restrict functionality elsewhere. You may want to check into this before you commit.

Yeah, I took a stroll through the mobo manual this morning and couldn't identify any gotchas.

TomV1 · Oct 29, 2022

XiaoDeer said:
Ho72 said:

Depending on your mobo, populating both M.2 slots may remove or restrict functionality elsewhere. You may want to check into this before you commit.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I took a stroll through the mobo manual this morning and couldn't identify any gotchas.

My Asus uses SATA slots 5-6 for one of the NVME modules. Still leaves 1-4.

Robert Zanatta · Oct 29, 2022

What's the name and model of your motherboard?

LynniePad · Oct 30, 2022

XiaoDeer said:
My system is currently configured with a 1TB NVMe SSD for the system drive with a 2TB HDD for data.

I plan on replacing the HDD with a 2TB SSD.

I have the option of using another NVMe drive (my motherboard has two M.2 slots) or a regular SATA drive bay. I'm not sure which way to go:

* NVMe is faster but don't need more speed.

* NVMe is likely cheaper, esp. with Black Friday deals.

* A 2.5 inch SATA drive will likely run cooler, and be more reliable?

* I have 6 SATA ports so maybe it's best to save the M.2 slot for something in the future.

No spare NVMe slot, so I used a SATA connection for my Samsung SSD data drive, bearing in mind the easy transfer of the drive to a spare computer in the event of failure.

Using Samsung’s “Magician” utility, I wound up all the parameters to achieve maximum performance, and it works beautifully for the mainly MS-Office applications that is the bread and butter role of that computer.

Re your last point, there are some WiFi/Bluetooth NVMe devices. Often used by OEMs such as Dell.

XiaoDeer · Oct 30, 2022

Robert Zanatta said:
What's the name and model of your motherboard?

MSI mpg-z390-gaming-pro-carbon-ac

BobKnDP · Oct 30, 2022

XiaoDeer said:
Robert Zanatta said:

What's the name and model of your motherboard?

Click to expand...

MSI mpg-z390-gaming-pro-carbon-ac

From the downloadable manual for the MB:

6ed61cab4b8b4156981b14c80b8f3cc2.jpg.png

If you use two NVME M.2 drives, SATA5 and 6 are unavailable.

4 SATA ports would be plenty for me, but maybe not for everyone.

XiaoDeer · Oct 30, 2022

BobKnDP said:
From the downloadable manual for the MB:

If you use two NVME M.2 drives, SATA5 and 6 are unavailable.

4 SATA ports would be plenty for me, but maybe not for everyone.

Thanks for that. I plan on using zero SATA ports so 4 spares will probably suffice

BobKnDP said:
I prefer to use a large SATA HDD as a data drive, until the prices of SSDs become more competitive in the 8TB+ realm. (BHPhotovideo has an 18TB NAS spinner on sale for $300 at the moment.)

I keep a small data drive on my desktop so none of my data goes on the system drive.

The bulky data and media go on my NAS. I also have an extra point-to-point 10G Ethernet connection between my desktop and the NAS.

BobKnDP · Oct 30, 2022

XiaoDeer said:
BobKnDP said:

From the downloadable manual for the MB:

If you use two NVME M.2 drives, SATA5 and 6 are unavailable.

4 SATA ports would be plenty for me, but maybe not for everyone.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I plan on using zero SATA ports so 4 spares will probably suffice

XiaoDeer said:

I prefer to use a large SATA HDD as a data drive, until the prices of SSDs become more competitive in the 8TB+ realm. (BHPhotovideo has an 18TB NAS spinner on sale for $300 at the moment.)

Click to expand...

I keep a small data drive on my desktop so none of my data goes on the system drive.

The bulky data and media go on my NAS. I also have an extra point-to-point 10G Ethernet connection between my desktop and the NAS.

Interesting. It appears that you are more sophisticated than some of the people who tried to answer your post. (Me, at least.)

number_5 · Oct 30, 2022

XiaoDeer said:
This is extraordinary. Everyone is in agreement

NVMe it is!

This will be the last of the hard drives in all of my systems to enter retirement, except for those in my NAS. I do have more bare drives used simply for backup.

FYI, the current 2.5 inch SATA SSD drive max out at 8TB.

Ken Seals · Oct 31, 2022

Ho72 said:
Depending on your mobo, populating both M.2 slots may remove or restrict functionality elsewhere. You may want to check into this before you commit.

I did check the manual for my ASRock Z97 Extreme6 before installing the second M2 NVMe SSD drive which installs in a slot called M.2_3. Using that slot preempts the use of the SATA Express connection which I would never have any use for. All ten of the SATA connectors are unaffected.

This is something I will definitely check as I look for new motherboards for my next build.

Search

Replacing a hard drive

XiaoDeer

Leading Member

jfriend00

Ken Seals

Senior Member

jfriend00

Forum Pro

Sean Nelson

Forum Pro

XiaoDeer

Leading Member

Billiam29

Senior Member

Ho72

Senior Member

XiaoDeer

Leading Member

XiaoDeer

Leading Member

TomV1

Senior Member

Robert Zanatta

Senior Member

LynniePad

Senior Member

XiaoDeer

Leading Member

BobKnDP

Veteran Member

XiaoDeer

Leading Member

BobKnDP

Veteran Member

number_5

Senior Member

Ken Seals

Senior Member

Keyboard shortcuts