Recommend PCIe M2 SSD for Dell Laptop

itsme1 said:

Do as I said in another thread to find out if you had an m.2 pci express port and which version.
Download hwinfo portable version:
HWiNFO download latest portable version
Free Download HWiNFO Sofware | Installer & Portable for Windows, DOS


run exe 64 if windows 64 or exe 32bits if windows 32 on acer computer.


Close all the small windows except the biggest, it's the main one.



In the tree on the left expand "BUS" then expand "PCI bus", then under "pci bus" click on each information ending "PCI Express Root Port #", when you are going to click on each pci express root port, in the part right of the window the information will be displayed. Capture the information for each pci express port and post the captures in this thread

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Yes a swap should suffice. If the m.2 ssd is not detected then maybe in the bios the sata mode is on raid and you will have to try the ahci mode. If with ahci mode the ssd is still not detected then this ssd is not compatible with the laptop, it happens. In this case I would take the m.2 ssd from the link of siw2 samsung 960 evo but it is old, perhaps no longer for sale or too expensive because old.

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Pci express 2.0 x4 2.000 GB/s better than sata 3.

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PCI express 3.0 x2 1.969 GB/s. It is the same as pci express 2.0 x4.

pci express 2.0 x2 1,000 GB/s, almost double sata 3.

Note I am swapping out a LITEON CV8-8E128-11 SATA 128GB in the M2 slot for the Crucial P5 Plus 500GB PCIe M.2 2280SS mentioned above. Those ports are all PCie 3.0. However I'm now concerned they all have something connected so how will new Crucial drive interface?

itsme1 said:

Ok. I still need the pictures of the other pci express root ports, the one you gave is not for the m.2 port. Normally still 2 pics for pci express root #5 and #6.

It should be ok, I too have several pci express root and for the m.2 port I have what is indicated in hwinfo. (for me 3.0 x4)

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To confirm that you have an m.2 nvme, and the number of lanes.

Here are the screens for the three root ports shown.

itsme1 said:

I don't see any m.2 nvme ports . Either I didn't fully understand how m.2 nvme ports detection works with hwinfo (it's simple...), or it's because you have a ssd m.2 sata and then for now it is not detectable as m.2 nvme port, either you don't have m.2 nvme port but according to manual m.2 port support nvme ssd .



You have to wait for your nvme ssd you will see.



We see under the developed pci express root ports what they correspond to, take a good look, it's wifi atheros, radeon and realtek.

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In the right window to recognize the m.2 ssd port you should have

current link width: not negociated

hot-plug: green

hot-plug surprise: green

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Keep us informed.

At least the BIOS shows there is an unoccupied M2 PCIe SSD slot so I am hopeful all will be OK. I suspect we are making a simple problem complicated.

itsme1 said:

Yes maybe, it's new for me the detection of m.2 nvme ports with Hwinfo. I had tested on my laptop I have my m.2 nvme port detected with Hwinfo in all pci express root ports detected.

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Do you have an m.2 sata ssd installed?

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If you have a m.2 sata ssd on the m.2 port that might be why the nvme m.2 port is not detected with hwinfo.

When you go to put the nvme ssd you will know how to use hwinfo to check the pci version 2.0-3.0 and the number of lanes, x1-x2-x4.

Thanks. This is a friend's laptop so relatively unfamiliar to me. I've had the back off and there is just one M2 slot occupied by the Liteon M2 SATA SSD to be replaced with the Crucial M2 nvme SSD.

You've already pulled the trigger and the NVMe is on it's way, correct?
So now it is just a matter of plugging it in and seeing if it works.
From what you've shown us here, it should. Not much more you can do now.