[SOLVED] ADATA m.2 SSD installation: Why are there two things?

[mujmuj]

I received ADATA m2. SSD. But there are two components like this. I know what the right one is. Isn't this the only thing I need? What is the left one? I googled and watched how to install this on youtube, but they seem to show only the thing on the right-side.

 

[lvt]

It's the heat-sink.

There is a pre applied adhesive thermal pad, just stick it to the SSD chips.

 

[lvt]

You can watch this YT to see how to install the heat sink.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8CAdYX-yt8

 

[mujmuj]

You can watch this YT to see how to install the heat sink.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8CAdYX-yt8

Thanks! Now I merged the two. But now I am confused how to put this SSD onto the motherboard.

Initially, the motherboard looks like this.

Once I remove this, it looks like this, I put my SSD into one of the M.2 slots, but I have two questions.

1. I cannot find the thing to fix this SSD onto the motherboard firmly, although SSD is suppressed down once I put the black cover back again. Is this normal?
2. There are at least two spots to install SSDs. On which one should I install my SSD first?

 

[mujmuj]

And the thing that covers above has two areas with some adhesives on it. If I peel off the blue take, then it's adhesive. Should I peel it off? And put this onto the SSD ?

 

[mujmuj]

Ah I found this youtube video where it shows how to install stuffs on the ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore. Installing SSD starts from 3:35. There is a special montage tool to put two sticks of SSD!

 

[lvt]

Ah I found this youtube video where it shows how to install stuffs on the ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore. Installing SSD starts from 3:35. There is a special montage tool to put two sticks of SSD!

You can ignore that video because in the video they install two SSD on the DIMM.2 slot with an adapter to use the SSD as RAID.

You just install your SSD on the motherboard using one of two M.2 slots that you took the pictures above.

 

[lvt]

And the thing that covers above has two areas with some adhesives on it. If I peel off the blue take, then it's adhesive. Should I peel it off? And put this onto the SSD ?

Those sticks are thermal pads too, you don't need the heat-sink that we talked above, you should use the motherboard's heat-sink for better performance.

Only remove the protection film on the place that you want to install your SSD.

 

[lvt]

Thanks! Now I merged the two. But now I am confused how to put this SSD onto the motherboard.

Initially, the motherboard looks like this.

Once I remove this, it looks like this, I put my SSD into one of the M.2 slots, but I have two questions.

1. I cannot find the thing to fix this SSD onto the motherboard firmly, although SSD is suppressed down once I put the black cover back again. Is this normal?
2. There are at least two spots to install SSDs. On which one should I install my SSD first?

There should be some screws to use with the SSD, it might comes with your motherboard or the SSD package?

You can try to install the SSD on the first M.2 slot then run a test to see if the SSD runs at full speed.

 

[Lafong]

The screws to tie down the end of the SSD to the motherboard typically are supplied with the motherboard. Not with the SSD.

They are tiny. Easy to overlook.

If you cannot find them, you may be in trouble because I don't think they are standardized by the industry. The screws that fit one motherboard brand may not be suitable for another brand.

You can buy the screws by the package from some place like Amazon, but you may have to take a chance that they are suitable for your motherboard brand. The review comments on the screws show a lot of disappointment.

If necessary, you could buy a separate adapter that fits into a slot on the board. The M.2 SSD would then attach to the adapter with a screw supplied with the adapter. I had to do that myself as I could not locate the screw to affix the SSD directly to the motherboard.

I had zero luck finding the proper screws at any local hardware store.

 

[mujmuj]

Those sticks are thermal pads too, you don't need the heat-sink that we talked above, you should use the motherboard's heat-sink for better performance.

Only remove the protection film on the place that you want to install your SSD.

What if I use both the heat sink that came with SSD, and also thermal pads above SSD that came with the motherboard? Is that even better or is it not recommended?

 

[lvt]

What if I use both the heat sink that came with SSD, and also thermal pads above SSD that came with the motherboard? Is that even better or is it not recommended?

Don't do that.

You may damage your SSD by applying too much pressure on it.