Does the Clevo P775DM1-G support a M.2 PCIe SSD? (Samsung SM951)

Hello everyone! I've been browsing these forums for a few days now since I'm on the hunt for finding a new laptop. Since I've decided that Clevo is the way to go, I just need to configure it now. Since there are a lot of re-sellers here, and just a nice community in general, I'd thought I'd ask a few questions regarding the rather large purchase I'm going to make.

I'm most likely going to go for the P775DM1-G from CyberPowerPC, with a 6700k, GTX 980 (180w?), 16GB RAM, 1TB HDD (7200RPM) and an SSD. Link to the specs page.

Spoiler

ADAPTER: Full Range AC adapter, AC in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, DC output 19.5V, 11.8A, 330W
BAGS: NONE
BATTERY: Removable 8 cells Smart Lithium-lon battery pack, 82WH
BLUETOOTH: Built-in Bluetooth
CPU: INTEL® Core™ i7-6700K Quad Core 4.00 GHz 8MB Cache LGA1151 + HD Graphics *** Pro OC *** [+151]
EXCD: None
FLASHMEDIA: Built-In 6 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC)
FREEBIE_CU1: FREE Intel Enthusiast Bundle - Tom Clancey's Rainbow Six, Warface, World of Tanks [+0]
HDD: 1 TB 7200RPM SATA300 Hard Drive [+4]
HDD2: NONE
INSURANCE: NONE
KEYBOARD: Built-in Programmable Full Color Backlit Keyboard
M2SSD: None
MEMORY: 16GB (8GBx2) DDR4/2133Mhz SODIMM Memory (Samsung or HyperX)
MONITOR: NONE
MOTHERBOARD: Mobile Intel Z170 Express Chipset Mainboard
MOUSE: Build-in Multitouch Touchpad
NETWORK: Built-in Qualcomm Killer Gigabit LAN
NOTEBOOK: Clevo P775DM1-G Gaming Laptop 17.3" 1920x1080 FHD Matte IPS, w/Programmable Full Color Keyboard, HDMI 1.4, USB Type-C
NOTEBOOK_COVER: Xtreme X7 Gaming Laptop Cover - Original Color
OS: NONE - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY(NO OVERCLOCKING AVAILABLE) [-60]
PRO_WIRING1: Arctic Silver 5 - Thermal Compound Optimized for Thermal Dissipation [+9]
RUSH: NONE
SOUND: Sound Blaster X-Fi MB5
SPEAKERS: Onkyo Speaker System
UPS: None
USB: Built-in 4x USB 3.0 + 1x USB 3.1 Type-C
VIDEO: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980 8GB (DESKTOP)
WAP: NONE
WARRANTY: LAPTOP STANDARD WARRANTY: 1 Year Labour, 1 Year Parts, 1 Month Collect and Return plus Life-Time Technical Support
WEBCAM1: Built-in 2.0 Mega Pixel Webcam [+0]
WNC: INTEL® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 802.11AC, 433Mbps Wi-Fi + BT 4.0, M.2 combo

I contacted them and asked why they didn't have options for M.2 PCIe SSD's, and they said that they were experiencing problems with them, so they took them off the options. Does anyone know if the P775DM1-G can support the Samsung SM951 as it's boot drive? Will it give me the max speeds of the drive? Should I just ask them to put one in anyway?

One last question, do you think this build is good? Is there anything else better for the money? I really don't want to spend much more than £1800.

Thanks for reading!

 

Yeah, the overall system is pretty good. Some people don't care for the keyboard maybe, but that's always a personal preference that is hard to tell. But it's solid built, good upgrade options, cooling is able to handle the processor just fine.

I'm not sure about the SM951 / P775 combo if there are issues though. We only have the P770/P750 through Sager and use the 950 Pros. Could they possibly have meant they are having troubles with inventory on the SM951 drives, or did they say it was performance related issues? Sometimes, parts can be backordered and that could be a problem of a different type.

 

@Stedos - we haven't experienced any problems at all with the SM951 or 950 Pro in our XMG U716 or other models, however I know that some of these drives with an older firmware version may have caused some issues so perhaps that is what they are refering to. With the latest firmware there are no issues though, max speed, preformance and reliability

I can also confirm that the 980 GTX is the 180W version in this chassis.

 

Did they/can they elaborate on what kind of problems? The system does support the SM951 drive as a boot drive to its potential.

The only drive we had hit or miss experiences with were m.2 PCIe Toshiba drives (I forget the exact model/series), but then that also could be a simple matter of firmware. Most of these drives are fairly reliable.

 

I am sure your will be better off buying one separately and putting it in yourself.

 

It can be less of a hassle if you want the OS on it.