mygendou date=1522410420 said:
Hello,
I have this notebook:
https://www.msi.com/Laptop/ge72-2qf-apache-pro.html
currently it has a 1TB 7200rpm drive and Optical drive that came with it.
I'd like to install a SSD drive to go along the 1TB drive that i already have.
I don't care about the optical drive so if that needs to be removed thats fine.
My question is what type of SSD do I need exactly? m.2? SATA? i got very confused looking for this information.
From the specs page linked above it says i can put in Up to 768GB Super RAID 2
Can you point me in the right direction please?
I'd like at least 500GB of SSD drive, with the optimal connection speed/ease of installation, also do I need to buy an extra cable separately? (i never opened this notebook before).
edit:
from a look at the pdf of the laptop i found that it uses M.2 2.5" SSD...
Thank you very much.
Hi mygendou,
You're getting some things mixed up. You're mixing size/format and communication interfaces incorrectly.
Communication Interface
Let's deal with the comm interface first. Because your
GE72 2QF is as old as it is, it only supports a SATA interface for all of the places where you can connect a storage device. According to MSI's storage device document, your
GE72 2QF has one 2.5-inch drive bay (where the HD is installed now), one optical drive bay (where the DVD drive is installed now), and three M.2 SSD slots (where nothing is installed now). All of them have SATA communication interfaces. The M.2 SSD slots and the 2.5-inch drive bay have a SATA-3 interface and the optical drive bay has a SATA-2 interface.
Next, lets deal with the different places where an SSD can be installed.
Possible SSD Locations
M.2 SSD slots - This is the intended location for SSDs in your notebook. According to MSI, the
GE72 2QF can have up to three. Two must have a B key (or B+M keys). And one must have an M key (or B+M keys). All three must be 2280 in size (which means 22 x 80 mm). And any storage capacity is allowable. You could install three 2 TB M.2 SATA SSDs for a total of 6 TB of storage capacity. However, you may not have the connectors for all three M.2 SATA SSDs. In fact, you may not even have one. You'll need to open your notebook and inspect it to see how many M.2 SSD slots were provided from the factory. MSI has been known to sometimes omit the connectors if the notebook was not shipped from the factory with an M.2 SSD. If your notebook does not have any, you'll have to contact MSI Service or your local MSI dealer to buy an appropriate adapter.
Important: Because of the age of your notebook, it does
not support the PCIe interface at any of its storage locations. This means that you cannot use an M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD in your notebook. You can only use an M.2 SSD that has a SATA interface. So avoid all M.2 SSDs that have PCIe (or NVMe).
2.5-inch drive bay - This is where your HD is installed now. Just for your information, you can remove the HD and replace it with a 2.5-inch SSD. These SSDs are designed to be HD replacements and they are available with the largest storage capacities. For example, the Samsung 2.5-inch 850 and 860 EVO models are available with capacities up to 4 TB.
Optical drive bay - If desired, you can remove your DVD drive and replace it with a HD caddy that will allow you to connect any 2.5-inch storage device to it as long as it has a SATA interface. For example, you could connect a 2.5-inch HD here or a 2.5-inch SSD. The only limitation is that the optical drive bay only has a SATA-2 interface with is slower than the SATA-3 interface in the 2.5-inch drive bay and all of the M.2 SSD slots. However, an 2.5-inch SSD on a SATA-2 interface is still faster than a HD on a SATA-2 interface.
Recommendation
Open your notebook and see if it has an appropriate M.2 SSD connector for at least one M.2 SATA SSD. If it does, then this is your best place to add an SSD. This has the added benefit that you can keep your HD in the 2.5-inch drive bay. You'll need to determine which key it requires (B or M), then get an M.2 SATA SSD with a 2280 size that has the needed key.
Note: M.2 SATA SSDs with a B+M key have both and will work with either key.
On the other hand, if your notebook does not have the required M.2 SSD connector and you are unable to obtain one, you could buy a HD caddy for your optical drive bay, remove your DVD drive and move your HD to it via the caddy. This will free up your 2.5-inch drive bay where you can install a 2.5-inch SATA SSD. That way the SSD will have the faster SATA-3 interface and the HD will have the slower---but still adequate---SATA-2 interface.
Disregard any storage capacities that you see listed in MSI marketing materials or webpages---these are just the capacities that they provide from the factory. You can use any storage capacity you want. The biggest capacity for an M.2 SATA SSD on the market as I write is 2 TB. The biggest capacity for a 2.5-inch SATA SSD is 4 TB.
Lastly, you may see mention of creating a striped RAID-0 array with two or three M.2 SATA SSDs. My advice is to ignore it. A striped RAID-0 array increases the risk of catastrophic data loss for all drives in the array. If you ever choose to install more than one M.2 SATA SSDs, then use each one as a separate stand-alone drive. They will still be fast, and your risk of data loss will not be elevated.
Kind regards, David
