Question Best approach for this laptop SSD expansion

Oct 19, 2022
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I have a new laptop (Acer AN515-58) with an empty 2.5 bay and m.2 slot. I'm wary of doing any expansion due to warranty voiding. The two options I'm considering are (with not losing speed being the other concern):

1. I have a 2tb Crucial MX500 that I could put in the 2.5 slot. The laptop is PCIe Gen 4. I don't know what that means for the 2.5 bay

2. Other option is to get an external like this , which is a faster drive, but I don't understand whether it being external means I lose performance compared to it being internal, and even worse whether that would make it slower than the Crucial drive, where it installed internally. The Acer laptop has these ports available - USB 3.2 Gen 2, Thunderbolt 4 Type-C

Many thanks for your help
 

Cj-tech

Admirable
Jan 27, 2021
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I have a new laptop (Acer AN515-58) with an empty 2.5 bay and m.2 slot. I'm wary of doing any expansion due to warranty voiding. The two options I'm considering are (with not losing speed being the other concern):

1. I have a 2tb Crucial MX500 that I could put in the 2.5 slot. The laptop is PCIe Gen 4. I don't know what that means for the 2.5 bay

2. Other option is to get an external like this , which is a faster drive, but I don't understand whether it being external means I lose performance compared to it being internal, and even worse whether that would make it slower than the Crucial drive, where it installed internally. The Acer laptop has these ports available - USB 3.2 Gen 2, Thunderbolt 4 Type-C

Many thanks for your help
If the Crucial MX500 is a SATA drive, it has nothing to do with PCIe slots. It should work fine if you install it in the spare 2.5” SATA slot. I don’t see how this would slow down any speeds… adding another drive should not impact the performance of the other one. If anything, the 2TB SSD might be a little slower on its own in comparison to the current drive (assuming the current drive is a NVME drive). NVME is faster than a SATA SSD, but any difference will be impossible to notice since they are both fast.

I think the external would be slower than the internal drives, plus you already have the 2TB drive. I’d check your warranty policy, but most companies will allow you to add RAM or storage without a problem.
 

pmjm

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Feb 14, 2010
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Install the Crucial MX500. SATA speeds are unaffected by PCIe generations. The external is probably running a comparable SATA drive inside anyway, plus you'll have the added overhead of a USB controller and the potential bottleneck of your USB bandwidth. Furthermore, an external is more likely to suffer data loss due to accidental disconnection before the write cache is flushed, etc.

You probably won't void your warranty just by opening up the laptop to put a drive in, and it won't slow anything else down unless you RAID the two drives, which would be inadvisable for a number of reasons.
 
I have a new laptop (Acer AN515-58) with an empty 2.5 bay and m.2 slot. I'm wary of doing any expansion due to warranty voiding. The two options I'm considering are (with not losing speed being the other concern):

1. I have a 2tb Crucial MX500 that I could put in the 2.5 slot. The laptop is PCIe Gen 4. I don't know what that means for the 2.5 bay

2. Other option is to get an external like this , which is a faster drive, but I don't understand whether it being external means I lose performance compared to it being internal, and even worse whether that would make it slower than the Crucial drive, where it installed internally. The Acer laptop has these ports available - USB 3.2 Gen 2, Thunderbolt 4 Type-C

Many thanks for your help
Contact the merchant and ask if adding a disk will void the warranty.
 
Oct 19, 2022
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Acer has a sticker on the bottom over the screws that says warranty void if broken. The fine print says if you use an Acer approved component, and it is installed by an Acer company service center, then you're ok. I live in India though and that's not easy to do, and warranty service here is already very shady.
 
Acer has a sticker on the bottom over the screws that says warranty void if broken. The fine print says if you use an Acer approved component, and it is installed by an Acer company service center, then you're ok. I live in India though and that's not easy to do, and warranty service here is already very shady.
Your call.

It looks like if you open the laptop you void the warranty.
 
Oct 19, 2022
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Lots of reviewers on Amazon saying they get 1gb/s when this external is connected to a Thunderbolt 4-Type C or USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, both of which this laptop has. If true this is double the speed of the Crucial internal performance, and I don't have to open the laptop or take any chances with the warranty.
 
Lots of reviewers on Amazon saying they get 1gb/s when this external is connected to a Thunderbolt 4-Type C or USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, both of which this laptop has. If true this is double the speed of the Crucial internal performance, and I don't have to open the laptop or take any chances with the warranty.
Try it.

Get an enclosure that supports TB or usb gen2 and test.
 

Cj-tech

Admirable
Jan 27, 2021
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Lots of reviewers on Amazon saying they get 1gb/s when this external is connected to a Thunderbolt 4-Type C or USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, both of which this laptop has. If true this is double the speed of the Crucial internal performance, and I don't have to open the laptop or take any chances with the warranty.
There is also the long term convenience aspect. Do you want to unplug the external hard drive whenever you pack up your laptop? As well, you have to make sure it is not being used before you do so or you risk losing data. If it’s speeds you are worried about, get a M.2 NVME or SSD drive instead of an external drive.

Make sure to check your laptop hardware guide first to make sure it supports NVME drives and to check the drive dimensions that will fit in the laptop.
 
Lots of reviewers on Amazon saying they get 1gb/s when this external is connected to a Thunderbolt 4-Type C or USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, both of which this laptop has. If true this is double the speed of the Crucial internal performance, and I don't have to open the laptop or take any chances with the warranty.
If you think you will get 1000MB/s from a mx500 I think your in for a surprise.