[SOLVED] Advice for installing SSD please

[MuddledMuppet]

Hi, I have a MS-7971 motherboard, currently with 120gig SSD and 2tb hard drive

I wish to install a bigger SSD and as it's been YEARS since I have done any fiddling around inside a PC I'd appreciate some help and advice

Am I better off replacing the existing SSD completely with a new SSD and putting windows etc on this or putting a new SSD in separately to co-exist, ie keeping the 120 SSD purely for windows, and installing all other software on SSD

I have seen some SSD's that look basically like a large memory stick, and some that are in a casing, will my MB support both, if so, are there clear advantages to one over the other?

If I need one in casing, I am assuming I need a fitting kit and it will go into one of the drive bays, is this correct?

Not sure what information will help someone give best advice, so the following may or may not be useful:

I will be storing games on new SSD, including occulus rift games, and also music DAW/s

PC has gtx 1080, 16gig DDR4 mem, i7-6700 CPU

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[vMax]

Yes your motherboard can support up to six Sata SSD's. Personally, I would install a fresh copy of Windows on the new SSD and utilise it for your main games/music and use the old SSD for all your other stuff like pictures, videos and games etc...

As to the SSD's that look like large memory sticks, they are M.2 SSD;s and your motherboard can support one of these and they are really good and much, much faster than standard SATA SSD's...If you can get one that would be best and make it your main Windows drive....

Something like this at 500GB:
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/xpYLrH/crucial-p1-500gb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-ct500p1ssd8

And this at 1TB:
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Bh...tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-wds100t2b0c

 

[vMax]

Just to confirm, if this is your motherboard it does support one M.2 SSD NVMe Gen 3 so no issues on both M.2 SSD's i suggested..
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z170A-PC-MATE/Specification

 

[MuddledMuppet]

Hi, first, thanks very much for speedy reply, very much appreciated!

I'm a bit confused tho, that motherboard you linked has different numbers, I got the numbers I showed from msinfo, to reiterate, manufacturer MSI, model MS-7971

The card I'm now looking at is https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sabrent-Ro...ds=ssd+nvme&qid=1596544477&s=computers&sr=1-5

This may be a dumb question, but do these also just slot in pretty much like a memory card? ie no connections/wiring needed, just pop it in and good to go?

Further, how do I actually go about installing windows 10 on it, (the PC has no optical drive) do i need to make a boot USB or something?

Once again, greatly appreciate the help!

 

[USAFRet]

For the Win 10 install on the new drive, this:

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

Read through that a couple of times to get familiar with the process.

 

[vMax]

Hi no problems at all. Yes the Sabrent PCIe NVme SSD is perfect and will do a great job.

As to the motherboard and installation. If your motherboard has an M.2 Slot like in the video below, installation is very easy as it just slots into the port and you use one small screw to hold it in place.

As to installing Windows, you can download Windows onto a USB stick and then install it that way... Again I have provided some links to how to do that.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y7st_BTyfI

 

[vMax]

Windows 10 install

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eDX7f6EcLA

 

[MuddledMuppet]

Thanks for the help all, greatly appreciated, a lot of info to get through so I won't be replying for a bit, cheers!

 

[vMax]

You are more than welcome...and just take your time...

Thanks for the help all, greatly appreciated, a lot of info to get through so I won't be replying for a bit, cheers!

 

[geofelt]

The m.2 pcie ssd goes into the m.2 slot on the motherboard.
No sata or power required.
For simplicity, I suggest you pay a bit more for a samsung 1tb 970 evo ssd:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-MZ...ung+970+1tb&qid=1596552146&s=computers&sr=1-3
They are among the best performing and most reliable ssd devices.
More importantly, your conversion becomes very simple.
Just install the ssd.
Also install the samsung pcie driver which you can download from here:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

Also download the ssd migration app and user manual.
You run the ssd migration app and it will move everything you need to the new ssd.
When done, change your bios boot order to the new ssd.

Later, you can do what you wish with the old ssd.
I might do nothing but keep it aside.

 

[MuddledMuppet]

Gah... another £30...

Currently spending a fortune on house improvements was hoping for less but... I bit the bullet and ordered this

cheers!