Question which drive should I consider for windows boot drive Micron 3400 or wd Sn 850x

[blurrryface]

So my laptop came with Micron 3400 1tb ssd and I have recently purchased a WD sn850x. Which one should I make my boot drive. I know that wd performs better but it lacks AES 256 bit hardware encoding.

 

[USAFRet]

So my laptop came with Micron 3400 1tb ssd and I have recently purchased a WD sn850x. Which one should I make my boot drive. I know that wd performs better but it lacks AES 256 bit hardware encoding.

In a blind test, I defy anyone to tell the difference outside of artificial benchmarks.

Leave the OS on what it came with, add the other drive if possible.

 

[blurrryface]

In a blind test, I defy anyone to tell the difference outside of artificial benchmarks.

Leave the OS on what it came with, add the other drive if possible.

That's what I thought but it's not confirmed whether micron 3400 has dram or not and from what I have heard it's better to install windows on a drive with dram.

 

[kanewolf]

That's what I thought but it's not confirmed whether micron 3400 has dram or not and from what I have heard it's better to install windows on a drive with dram.

You have to ask if the benefit is worth the risk? I don't know how easy to disassemble your laptop is. Is there a risk to accessing the disk to swap?
You will probably not be able to perceive any performance improvement.

 

[blurrryface]

You have to ask if the benefit is worth the risk? I don't know how easy to disassemble your laptop is. Is there a risk to accessing the disk to swap?
You will probably not be able to perceive any performance improvement.

Opening and replacing the drives it not that big of a headache, I am used to it. Cloning the drive is a another story. I have never done it myself

 

[USAFRet]

Opening and replacing the drives it not that big of a headache, I am used to it. Cloning the drive is a another story. I have never done it myself

Does this laptop have 2x M.2 ports?
The clone operation is probably the easiest part of the whole changeover.

 

[blurrryface]

Does this laptop have 2x M.2 ports?
The clone operation is probably the easiest part of the whole changeover.

Yes it does

 

[blurrryface]

Does this laptop have 2x M.2 ports?
The clone operation is probably the easiest part of the whole changeover.

and both the ports support the same standard, so even if I change the boot drive, I will have to just change the boot order.

 

[USAFRet]

and both the ports support the same standard, so even if I change the boot drive, I will have to just change the boot order.

Well, its a little more involved than jsut changing the boot order.

The part about disconnecting the original drive is NOT OPTIONAL.

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Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
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Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Magician (which includes Data Migration), if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
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