How to use two SSD drives in a new laptop

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TiaMaria

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#317578 27-Oct-2024 14:18

I am looking for a new laptop probably a Probook. I like the idea of having a separate drive for Win 11 Pro for easy reinstalling in the future if necessary. Most Probooks appear to have two SSD slots but with a limit of 256 GB for the second slot.

Is it possible or are there downsides for moving the SSD with the OS installed to the second slot and install a 512 GB in the first slot?

Gordy7

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#3302071 27-Oct-2024 15:01

With a 500GB SSD you can shrink the Win 11 Pro partition to say 125GB and create what is left for data, etc.

Gordy

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KiwiSurfer

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#3302087 27-Oct-2024 16:04

I have Lenovo which has a second SSD slot with no restrictions on storage size. Are you sure the Probook has a 256GB storage limit - that seems strange. I would assume the limitation if any would be the actual physical size of the SSD. The Lenovo I have has a small size for the SSD that came with the laptop, whereas the second SSD slot (unused) is suitable for the typical sizes you can buy in stores etc. I ended up keeping the factory 512GB SSD in place and using that for the OS and installing my own 2TB SSD for games and other data.

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3302100 27-Oct-2024 16:29

Typically you can install any size SSD that's physically compatible, but perhaps HP only sells them with a 256GB in the second slot?

TiaMaria

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#3302719 29-Oct-2024 13:37

I think you are correct.

https://support.hp.com/au-en/document/ish_7795886-7795930-16

Looking at the specifications again, they are giving what maybe installed not the limit.

Thank you very much. Now I will make progress in choosing one of PBTech's many options.

timmmay

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#3302910 29-Oct-2024 20:52

Samsung SSDs are quite reliable, but also slightly higher priced than some others. Most these days are fine. Cooling is an issue for m.2 drives.

Jase2985

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#3302912 29-Oct-2024 21:03

timmmay:

Most these days are fine. Cooling is an issue for m.2 drives.

only really on issue if you are doing sustained transfers to/from the drive. in a laptop there will usually be a steady stream of air over them.

timmmay

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#3302915 29-Oct-2024 21:09

Temperature is worth monitoring. I had one m.2 SSD in a small Raspberry Pi enclosure fail due to temperature. A laptop is probably going to be better. I wouldn't run one without a heatsink, not sure if that is possible in a laptop

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TiaMaria

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Wannabe Geek

#3302922 29-Oct-2024 21:52

For a Probook 450 G10 the secondary SSD is a M.2 2230 and the Parts and Service manual only gives Parts for 128 and 256 GB. Could heat production be the reason for limiting the size?

timmmay

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#3302924 29-Oct-2024 21:56

My guess is no. Flash chips are only part of the source of heat, the controller also emits heat.

Is there space for even a basic heatsink in the laptop? One of my heatsinks just has basic fins, it helps if there's airflow. My main SSD has a 4cm tall 6cm wide heatsink with a fan, the heatsink is useful the tiny fan is pointless.

I'm not sure how important heat really is, in a laptop. There should be some airflow, and the drives are made to tolerate high temperatures, but high temperatures reduce disk lifespan. So long as you have good backups your data should survive. Online backup tools like Backblaze are simplest.

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3302925 29-Oct-2024 21:58

My guess is that when parts were being chosen or specified, only drives up to 256GB were cheaply available in the physically smaller form factor.

Usually heat is a factor of the drive's performance, not capacity. Any 2230 drive probably won't be a blazing-fast high-performance drive with matching high thermals.

Laptops often come with a bit of copper foil that helps conduct heat a bit further away from the drive, but any drive that consumes enough power to get properly hot is also going to be tanking your battery life.