[SOLVED] How far can I upgrade my Lenovo IdeaPad 330s-15IKB by using SSDs?

[ivankarrillo]

Hey, everyone, I currently have an IdeaPad 330s-15IKB with 8GB Ram, 16GB Optane, Intel Core i7 (8550U), CPU 1.80 GHz ~ 2.00 GHz and 1(quite slow)TB HDD. Win 10 (if that means anything).

First, I am okay with the 8GB Ram, no big deal here, no need to upgrade it, so I am researching a lot about ssd's lately as I really need to upgrade this machine. I found some good SSD candidates, but I am a little confused now.
Lenovo site says the SSD port goes up to 128GB (PCIe). I does NOT come with the SSD of course*

I found this one: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-970-EVO-Plus-MZ-V7S250B/dp/B07MFZXR1B/
I really really need it to be 2TB.
On the other hand, the alternative is a SSD Sata 3 drive which is this one https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-512GB-V-NAND-Solid-MZ-76P512BW/dp/B07879KC15
Last one is more expensive but it's the alternative to the NVME. I plan to clone my entire HDD to any of those above.

(You can skip this text in italics)
Ok, so, why do I need so much space? I am a musician and a designer and many of the things I use need to load stuff on the run such as sample libraries that the drive is reading in real time or temporary files, so with the HDD such files sometimes lag or stop making sound because they are somewhat large and/or the drive can't keep up. Design softwares also freeze sometimes if the temp file keeps growing and growing, and occasionally the disk is at 100% usage freezing the whole computer until it finishes doing it's thing, so the SSD upgrade is a MUST.


So I am a bit confused because Crucial site says that yeah I can upgrade the SSD NVME to 2TB and also the SSD Sata to 2TB too, but Lenovo site says otherwise.

Can this laptop run such power? Thanks a lot in advance!

Edit: Option 3: 1TB SSD Sata 3 + 1TB SSD NVME. Will it work? If so, Samsung will do the job, or too much power?

 

[USAFRet]

Lenovo lists what they sell it with. 128GB.
The socket will almost certainly take much more. If you need a 1 or 2TB, I can't imagine it would not work.

 

[geofelt]

What drives are currently installed.
It looks like there can be a pcie m.2 ssd as well as a conventional sata hdd.

Which drive do you boot from?
If you boot from the HDD. install a 1or 2tb samsung m.2 ssd in the pcie slot.
Run the samsung ssd migration app to copy your C drive from the HDD to the m.2 drive and change the boot order to go to the m.2 ssd.

If you boot from the m.2 drive, there are a couple of options.
I would install the samsung 860 2.5" ssd of the capacity you need.
The pro version is not worth the price premium.
Run the migration app to copy to the 2.5" ssd and change the boot order.

Upgrading the m.2 is a bit of a problem because you would need an external m.2 usb adapter and I do not think that would be recognized by the app.

Your last option would work.
step 1 would be to clone to the 2.5" ssd.
step 2 would be to clone the 2.5" ssd back to a larger m.2 ssd.

The process is lengthy. It may take an hour or more.
I have used this app many times with good success.
Download and read the app and instructions 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

Power is no issue at all. Any ssd takes minimal power.

 

[ivankarrillo]

What drives are currently installed.
It looks like there can be a pcie m.2 ssd as well as a conventional sata hdd.

Which drive do you boot from?
If you boot from the HDD. install a 1or 2tb samsung m.2 ssd in the pcie slot.
Run the samsung ssd migration app to copy your C drive from the HDD to the m.2 drive and change the boot order to go to the m.2 ssd.

If you boot from the m.2 drive, there are a couple of options.
I would install the samsung 860 2.5" ssd of the capacity you need.
The pro version is not worth the price premium.
Run the migration app to copy to the 2.5" ssd and change the boot order.

Upgrading the m.2 is a bit of a problem because you would need an external m.2 usb adapter and I do not think that would be recognized by the app.

Your last option would work.
step 1 would be to clone to the 2.5" ssd.
step 2 would be to clone the 2.5" ssd back to a larger m.2 ssd.

The process is lengthy. It may take an hour or more.
I have used this app many times with good success.
Download and read the app and instructions 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

Power is no issue at all. Any ssd takes minimal power.

Thanks a lot for the answer! I have been booting this laptop in the usual way: from the 1TB HDD.
I've seen that people hooking the M.2 NVMe PCIe to similar equipments (THOUGH not as big as the one i want of 2TB), the computer instantly recognizes them without cables or adapters. As soon as they finish cloning the stuff they just launch the bios to start booting from the M.2. That's what I am planning to do Will it work that way?
By the way, it seems like the Optane is using the slot, so it would be safe just to deactivate it and then unplug it, right?

 

[geofelt]

Yes, the optame is being used as a cache for the hdd.
You may have to first deactivate that function so you can remove the device.
Samsung had their own nvme ssd driver which you should install prior.
I looked at a video on how to replace drives:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqZFfh2O9Ww

The m.2 slot is a bit more difficult to find than the 2.5" sata.

Thinking about it, consider simply replacing the 1tb hdd.
A 2.5" sata ssd replacement will be cheaper; a 2tb 860 evo would perform about the same as a 970 evo in random I/O. That is some 40x faster than a hdd.
Random is what windows does most.
In sequential performance a sata ssd is about 4x faster.
A m.2 pcie device is even faster in sequential performance, but you probably would not notice.

To copy the hdd to a 2.5" ssd, buy a usb to sata adapter cable to do the job.
I know that works.