Help!! I need an M.2 SSD!

I need an M.2 SSD for my Acer Nitro V17; It apparently takes 22x80mm cards, but they're all priced at $1/gb.

Would a different size not work? Other sizes seem to be cheaper than the 2280 cards. You can see the slot here at 09:13.

I'm also looking at this Crucial M500 but I noticed there's also a M550, is there a large performance difference?

 

There's not much difference in performance between the M500 and the M550. The latter is a little newer but both are vulnerable to high idle power cosumption ( M500, M550) which can be challenging to tame.

You may therefore want to consider the Transcend M.2. The pricing is good and a few Samsung notebook owners have used it an a upgrade and reported that it has no high idle power problem. The write speed may not be as high as the Crucial but I doubt if you would notice the difference unless you regularly write very large files.

John

 

Thank you for the clarification! Unfortunately, the link you listed seems to be a 2260, which I don't think would fit in the 2280 slot? Or I might just not be able to screw it in.

 

Here's the 2280 version.

M.2 has a confusing variety of sizes and socket options.

John

 

240GB and lower M500 versions are notably slower than M550 counterparts. For 480GB and above they are not much different.

Idle power is a bit too high. You could get away with aggressive power down time or maybe DevSlp mode.

 

I've decided to do this as this seems cheapest:

I'm going to get the V791 and move the stock HDD to the Optical Bay, put in a Samsung evo 256gb ssd into the old HDD slot, and save up for a separate M.2 SSD later on.

Do I need any parts or brackets to install the SSD?

 

Doesn't that drive use a really uncommon controller? A Phison I think?

Maybe I've just been around for too long, but I'm always a bit wary of the long-term reliability of any SSD that deviates from the generic tried-and-true mainstream.

 

no, according to the review, which can be found here:
Transcend MTS800 M.2 2280 SATA SSD Review (128GB) | The SSD Review

they use a rebranded Silicon Motion SM2246EN controller. I am not that firm in the field of SSDs, but they stated, it was quite good and even widely uses lately.

anyway: John - thanks for pointig to the Transcend. I a too considering a VN7-791G and planned on buying the SSD by mnyself. I was resently set on the 240GB M500, but the price gap between the M500 and the MTS800 is rather small in Germany. so maybe I give the a try.!

 

Try this:

Amazon.com: MyDigitalSSD 256GB Super Boot Drive 80mm SATA III (6G) M.2 2280 NGFF SSD - MDM280-SB-256: Computers & Accessories

SATA M.2 NGFF SSD Solid State Drives | MyDigitalSSD | My Digital Discount

I currently use the 128 gig 22 x 40 mm version for my Lenovo Y510p. Works great as a boot drive. :thumbsup:

 

Guess I remembered wrong. Nonetheless, given how I was burned by following the advice of reviewers from sites as well-reputed as Anandtech and HardOCP, I would never touch a drive with a controller that's not SF-2xxx, Marvell, Samsung, or Intel - and even for the latter 3, only after the controller has been on the market for at least 3-6 months.

But that's just me.

 

Note, that if you have a drive bay designed to accept a 2280 M.2 SSD (80mm long), then it will also accept a 2260 or 2242 M.2 SSD as well, which are shorter at 60mm and 42mm respectively.

 

Ohhhh thank you! I've been wanting to get a 60mm M.2 as those seem to be cheaper!

 

How does one fix an SSD that is shorter than the length of the slot? the photos I've seen usually show one screw hole.

John

 

That's a very good point. Some systems have fastening screwholes positioned at 42mm, 60mm and 80mm, and sometimes even 110mm. If you physically examine the slot you'll be able to tell what is possible.