Update 7: NVMe SSD Upgrade for Windows
Background
I’ve been planning to upgrade both of my Samsung EVO 860 SATA SSDs to NVMe SSDs since my original build. Since the only one M.2 slot (M.2_1) on my motherboard has a heatsink, I planned to get a WD_BLACK SN750 2TB NVMe SSD without a heatsink (
Amazon |
Newegg) to use for macOS in the M.2_1 slot and a WD_BLACK SN750 1TB NVMe with Heatsink (
Amazon |
Newegg) for Windows in the M.2_2 slot.
If the SN750 is sold out, you can get the SN770 (
Amazon |
Newegg), which is the newer PCIe 4.0 version of the SN750 (see
this post for more info). Note that the SN770 does not come with a heatsink, so you'd have to buy one separately if you want one.
Recently, I managed to get the SN750 1TB with Heatsink model on sale to upgrade my Windows drive. These are the steps I followed to get everything set up on the new drive:
Installation & Cloning
Installation
- Shut down and unplug the computer.
- Follow the motherboard manual’s instructions to install the SN750 into the M.2_2 slot with the M.2 standoff and screw included with the motherboard (see section 2.1.4 M.2 Installation in the manual).
Configure BIOS M.2 settings
- Plug in and turn on the computer again.
- Press
Delete
or F2
to enter BIOS.
- Go to the Advanced\Onboard Devices Configuration menu.
- Set M.2_2 Configuration to
M.2_2 X4
. (Note that this will enable the fastest speed for the M.2_2 slot, but it will also disable SATA ports 5 and 6.)
- Go to the Exit menu.
- Select Save Changes & Reset and press
Enter
.
Clone Windows drive
- Download Acronis True Image for Western Digital from the Western Digital website and install it.
- Open Acronis True Image for Western Digital.
- Follow the instructions in chapter 7 Disk cloning and migration of the user manual to clone the old Windows SSD to the SN750.
Disconnect the old SSD
- Shut down and unplug the computer.
- Disconnect the SATA and power cables from the old Windows SSD. I left the SSD mounted in the case to potentially use for additional storage in the future. You can rem
- Plug in and turn on the computer again.
Fixing Boot Order, OpenCore GUI, and Startup Disk
Fix boot order in BIOS
After turning on my computer, it was defaulting to booting from my new Windows drive instead of my macOS drive, so I changed it to my macOS drive.
- Turn on the computer and press
Delete
or F2
to enter BIOS.
- Press
F7
or click Advanced in the bottom right corner to enter Advanced Mode.
- Go to the Boot menu.
- Set Boot Option #1 to the macOS drive.
- Go to the Exit menu.
- Select Save Changes & Reset and press
Enter
.
Reset NVRAM to fix OpenCore GUI issue
After restarting, when I got to the OpenCore Picker, the GUI did not load, and the resolution was so low that the list of drives barely fit on the screen. I’m not sure what happened, but remembering that an NVRAM reset is required to apply changes to the OC UI Scale, I thought (correctly) that an NVRAM reset might fix the issue.
- At the OC Picker, press Space and then select Reset NVRAM. The computer will reboot.
Fix boot order (again)
After resetting NVRAM, my computer defaulted to booting from my Windows drive again, so I had to change it to my macOS drive again.
- Go to the BIOS and set Boot Option #1 to the macOS drive again (see Fix boot order in BIOS above for detailed steps).
Set startup disk in macOS
At this point, the OC Picker was also defaulting to my Windows drive.
- If this happens to you, select your macOS drive and log in.
- Open System Preferences and select Startup Disk.
- Select your macOS disk and click Restart.
- The OC Picker should now default to your macOS drive.
Optimization and Benchmarking
Turn on the gaming mode (optional)
Since I use Windows almost entirely for gaming, I turned on the Gaming Mode setting in Western Digital Dashboard. Gaming Mode is supposed to slightly improve latency and speeds by disabling power-saving features in firmware. This can increase the temperature of the SSD, but I found that the included heatsink keeps the drive cool. The temperature of my SSD never went over 50°C while gaming or 54°C while benchmarking, and it typically idles around 42°C.
- Boot into Windows.
- Download Western Digital Dashboard from the Western Digital website and install it.
- Open Western Digital Dashboard.
- Set Gaming Mode to ON in the top-right corner of the window.
- Restart and boot into Windows again.
- Gaming mode should be turned on in the WD app.
CrystalDiskMark Benchmarks
WD_BLACK SN750
OLD Samsung 860 EVO