[SOLVED] Upgrading my thinkpad x1 extreme (Gen 1) Storage

[killermoe33]

My laptop has two m.2 nvme slots one of which has a Western Digital 512 GB nvme ssd in it right now. I purchased a 500 GB 970 EVO Plus nvme ssd as i'm almost out of space.

I believe my options are to either run both in a raid configuration or have them separate and store big files on one and other has OS. I don't have many large files like games and stuff so I think a raid config is better with the increased speed but according to the manual both drives have to be "identical (same capacity)". I'm guessing I can't do this since one is 512 GB and other is 500 GB. What would be my best configuration? I just want the extra storage space but I think my new samsung drive is faster according to these specs of my original drive here: https://novabench.com/parts/ssd/wdc-pc-sn720-sdaqntw-512g-1001

should I just install it and format it and that's it? or copy over everything to my 970 EVO since its faster and use my original for extra storage and try to move over as much as i can if I cant raid? Thank you.

 

[rgd1101]

so what kind of file do you have?
do you have place to backup to if you do raid? actually always do backup

 

[geofelt]

Raid-0 would not be any faster, and might be slower.
That is a bad option.

Since you already bought, your only real option is to manage the two drives.

If you can, you could return the 500gb drive and buy a 1tb 970 evo plus drive so you have one large address space to manage.
Keep the old 500gb as a backup or incorporate it as a second drive when you fill up 1tb.

 

[killermoe33]

Thank you both for the advice. I didn't want to get rid of my current drive as its still relatively new but I'll consider getting a 1 TB as my main and using it as a backup. If I decide to stick with both drives I have now, should I transfer over everything to the 970 evo or just plug it in and manage my files between both drives? Thank you.

 

[geofelt]

If you buy a samsung 970 evo 1tb, I would use the samsung ssd migration app to move your C drive to the 1tb drive.

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

I have done this many times with no issue.
You can then repurpose the 500gb drive as you wish. I might keep it as a backup starting point if you have many apps and data that would be hard to recreate.

I might have not expected a big difference in performance, but I compared the two drives on anandtech bench and the 970 evo looks impressive:
https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/2171?vs=2215