Question Best approach to replace a M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 3 x4 (without NAND)

[Manuel Jordan]

Hello friends

I have an "ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501VW-DS71T" laptop

According with the official features for the SSD is as follows:

the ultra-fast up to 512GB PCIe® x4 SSD storage with its transfer speeds of 1400MB/s ensures maximum responsiveness

Through Amazon for the same laptop is indicated:

Amazing 512 GB NVMe Solid State Drive (PCIeGen3 x4), the absolute latest in SSD performance & technology.

Even more, some months ago I opened the laptop and the SSD is practically this Samsung at Amazon
It because the P/N is the same as "MZVPV512HDGL-00000". Therefore about its specs is indicated as follows:

• M.2 Interface: PCIe 3.0 x4 lanes, up to 32Gb/s
• 256MB LPDDR2 DRAM Buffer Memory
• 3 Year Warranty, Supports Standard NVMe driver, APM and L1.2 Power Saving Mode, End-to-End Data Protection, Support TRIM Command, RoHS Compliant, Halogen-Free Compliance
• Sequential Read: 2150MB/s, Sequential Write: 1500 MB/s, Random Read (QD=4): 300K IOPS, Random Write (QD=4): 100K IOPS
• Works with most motherboards and notebooks with a compatible M.2 PCIe interface slot. Includes Z97/X99/Z120 motherboards. Not compatible with the MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or Mac Pro (see description for details)

Sadly Amazon does not sell anymore that item. So I must buy from other manufacturer

FYI it is the original SSD, so never was changed and so far it works fine. There is the intention to buy a new SSD to install Linux and keep the former as backup.

Therefore if I am not wrong the SSD is a: M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 3 x4 and according with my understanding it is nothing related with "NAND"

As an Observation: I had communication with ASUS through email and was indicated to use only 512GB. So the attempt to install 1TB would "burn" the chipset

After to did do a research I found these options:

• Patriot P300 M.2 PCIe Gen 3 x4 512GB Low-Power Consumption SSD
• Patriot P320 512GB Internal SSD - NVMe PCIe Gen 3x4 - M.2 2280 - Solid State Drive - P320P480GM28
• PNY M280CS1030-500-RB M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

My main concern is that the manufacturers are not very known

Now I found this one as Gen4 x4

• Western Digital 500GB WD Blue SN580 NVMe Internal Solid State Drive SSD - Gen4 x4 PCIe 16Gb/s, M.2 2280, Up to 4,000 MB/s - WDS500G3B0E

Questions

1. What is the best approach to replace a M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 3 x4 (without NAND)?
2. Is mandatory use Gen3 x4?
3. Is possible/viable use Gen4 x4 and expect in peace a downgrade?

It about Gen4 vs Gen3 (both have the same x4 lanes). My concern is: I want have zero risk to harm the mainboard

Pls, I need your guidance.

Thanks in advance

 

[SkyNetRising]

What is the best approach to replace a M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 3 x4 (without NAND)?

Open up your laptop,
remove old M.2 SSD,
install new M.2 SSD,
install OS of your choice (linux as you indicated above).

Is mandatory use Gen3 x4?
Is possible/viable use Gen4 x4 and expect in peace a downgrade?
It about Gen4 vs Gen3 (both have the same x4 lanes). My concern is: I want have zero risk to harm the mainboard

It's not mandatory, but it is recommended to use Gen3 drive.
Your laptop supports PCIE Gen3.
Gen4 and Gen5 drives would still work (in Gen3 mode), but they run hotter than Gen3 drives.
Your laptop may not be able to provide proper cooling for those.

Get Samsung 970 evo. A very good Gen3 M.2 drive.

I had communication with ASUS through email and was indicated to use only 512GB. So the attempt to install 1TB would "burn" the chipset

That's nonsense. There is no such capacity limit.

 

[Misgar]

I upgraded my first M.2 laptop from 256GB to 2TB and my newer laptop from 512GB to 4TB. Just cloned from small to big, swap drive, no problems.

I'd expect a Gen.4 drive running at (slower) Gen.3 speeds to use slightly less power, than it would running at Gen.4 speeds. This difference might only be a few tenths of a Watt.

I had communication with ASUS through email and was indicated to use only 512GB. So the attempt to install 1TB would "burn" the chipset

My guess is they're playing safe and trying to avoid a potential RMA, if you fit some mad power hungry beast of an M.2 drive which tries to pull double the design power from the laptop chipset, e.g. 10W instead of 5W. Even then, I'd expect the laptop chipset to incorporate current limiting.

I doubt very much you spoke to a proper design engineer, but instead to someone reading from script. It's important to keep engineers away from the customer, because they tell the truth.

Gen.5 drives tend to run hotter than Gen.4 due to increased speed. There may not be much difference between older Gen.3 and newer Gen.4, despite the speed difference. Over the years, manufacturers make improvements that might reduce M.2 power consumption in newer designs.

You can check specific M.2 drive power consumption in some reviews. You might even find your existing and proposed new drive amongst those tested and compare power ratings, if you're paranoid.

according with my understanding it is nothing related with "NAND"

Correct. NAND is simply a type of flash memory. Whether or not an M.2 drive includes NAND is up to the manufacturer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAND_gate

 

[USAFRet]

As an Observation: I had communication with ASUS through email and was indicated to use only 512GB. So the attempt to install 1TB would "burn" the chipset

False.