Other Advice on buying NVMe storage

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balanga

I'm thinking of upgrading the storage of my ThinkPad W520 using an NVMe disk.

Is there anything I need to be aware of before making a purchase especially since the computer is around 15 years old?

Any brands to avoid?
 
By all accounts, trying to use NVMe on such an old computer is going to cause problems, so I'll probably go for an SSD.
 
only mSATA it's doesn't have m2 slot.
Something like SSD KINGSTON KC600 mSATA

btw. you can buy a used laptop with better spec instead of buying new ssd.
 
Before you think of any brands, or brands to avoid,
with NVME always look very close to ensure you get one that is supported by your machine.
It not only needs to fit the connector exactly (there is not just "M.2", but B-key, A-E-key, etc., see: M.2)
size (length), but also the right bus. M.2 simply names a group of physical pcb's connector forms, and is used by several busses.

Especially like covacat said, when your machine is 15 years old, better check twice if it supports any M.2 at all.
 
balanga said:
I'm thinking of upgrading the storage of my ThinkPad W520 using an NVMe disk.
Click to expand...
I own ThinkPad W520 and it does not have NVMe slot.

It has one mSATA slot - 1TB mSATA SSD maximum size.

It has one internal 2.5 SATA slot in which you can install up to 8 TB Samsung QVO SSD.

It can have additional 2.5 SATA slot in UltraBay.

For mSATA - get something from Samsung like EVO for example.

Below are mine that worked well with ThinkPad W520.

20251204_151043.jpg.jpg.jpg


As for 2.5 SSDs ... all of them will work - just add vfs.zfs.vdev.trim_max_active=1 to /etc/sysctl.conf so 1 TRIM operation per second will be done - some cheaper SSD are slower on these.
 
I place the Samsung PRO or EVO in all my client machines.
The Samsung Magician software is a selling point here.
I've placed very many Samsung units, and only had a single brick (my own 840).

I'm prepping a build for a young man's gaming and 3D printer workstation.
Bought the Samsung 990 PRO for this.
The system board comes with an M2 heat sink, so I bought the Samsung without the onboard heatsink.
Otherwise, this is worth the few extra $$ if your board does not have an M2 cooler device.

I have favor smaller SSD for the sysvol, and other disks for data.
This lets me keep a system image of the sysvol for the (inevitable) need to restore the image.
 
Also (in case it's not obvious) mSata and SATA SSDs use the SATA interface, not NVME. Speeds will be well below what a modern NVME drive can do.
That said, any old machine upgraded from spinning rust to a SSD will be noticable faster, in my experience.
 
tingo said:
Also (in case it's not obvious) mSata and SATA SSDs use the SATA interface, not NVME. Speeds will be well below what a modern NVME drive can do.
That said, any old machine upgraded from spinning rust to a SSD will be noticable faster, in my experience.
Click to expand...
Can I use one of these enclosues?

1764904575889.png
 
balanga said:
Is there anything I need to be aware of before making a purchase especially since the computer is around 15 years old?
Click to expand...

Are you using Coreboot?

I'm not sure what this is about (x2apic Linux), but I'd disable CPU virtualization on FreeBSD (disables that, and potentially prevents remapping that might slow the NVMe down)
 
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