[Guide][New VoodooI2C] Asus Vivobook S15 X510UAR 10.13+

[a29psx]

Anybody here ever replaced their M.2 SSD with an upgrade? If so, which one? My current one is the TOSHIBA THNSNK256GVN8, form factor 2280-S2 (single-sided) 80.0 x 22.0 x 2.23 mm. I wonder how much space/ leeway there is for an upgrade height wise.

as long as it is M2 SATA, 2280 size and below, it will fit
for shorter one (2260, 2242, 2230) you need an adapter or you can just tape it down

single and double side is all ok

 

[bugsb]

cool, thanks for all the info, @a29psx ! I'm eyeing with either the Kingston KC2500 500GB (SKC2500M8) M.2 (double-sided 3.5 mm height), or the Samsung MZ-V7S500BW SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB M.2 (single-sided 2.38 mm height). Accdg. to newegg, there are 2280 modules with even more than 10 mm thickness (wow). I'm sure that beyond some point, a module will not fit anymore and hit either the mainboard or the shell case/ chassis. Would be beneficial to know where that limit is.

Which M.2 SSD do you have in your VivoBook?

 

[a29psx]

I still have the original 256gb one from Micron (Crucial) which host both W10 and BigSur

all SSD have the same PCB thickness, the NAND chip and controller have the same (most of) thickness
so the difference is in the included heatsink. Some have paper sticker, some have metalic sticker, some even have copper heatsink

our SSD is only sata capable, so they mostly dont required heatsink (NVME one will need those)
so you can be at ease and choosing whatever fits your price range

 

[bugsb]

Awesome. You obviously are well-versed in these topics. Looking at Power Consumption:

• my current Toshiba M.2 SSD's is rated at average 65 mW idle/ 4.0 W active
• Samsung MZ-V7S500BW SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB M.2 3.0 x4 NVMe 1.3 V-NAND 3-bit MLC: max. 30 mW idle/ 5.8 W active/ 9 W burst mode
• Kingston KC2500 NVMe M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 3D-NAND TLC (SKC2500M8/500G): 3 mW idle (? really ?)/ 0.2 W avg. / read 2.1W max / write 7W max

Since battery life isn't great with our VivoBooks to begin with, I tend to lean towards the Kingston. Or (just in case you currently happen to be up-to-date with 500GB M.2 SSDs): would you have a different one in mind ?

 

[bugsb]

..oh, and most important: the Kaby Lake R chipset's PCIe bus should allow NVMe, accdg. to specs. But is it certain that Asus has that implemented in our VivoBooks?

 

[a29psx]

I think you dig a little too hard on those "specs announce by the manufacturer"
actually "manufacturing" an ssd is quite easy comparing to hdd: they just choose the controller, design the PCB for that controller base on reference design (or use ref board from the controller maker), slap the NAND on, done
It so easy that anyone with decent soldering / reworking skill can make their own ssd. Thats why there are so many ssd brand compare to hdd manufacturers (only WD, Seagate and Toshiba at this time). The difference will come with the combination of controller and NAND (same combination will squeeze out same performance, same power consumption)

Moreover we are forced to use M2 SATA here, which is quite slow (~ 550 MB/s) comparing to the SSD standards nowadays (chinese brand DRAMless NVME can easily reach 1500 MB/s).
So Im quite sure that you will get the same speed on any currently selling M2 SATA

 

[a29psx]

about your concern why this specific platform does not support NVME (I myself did try to put an NVME in and fail): I think ASUS purposely doing that to set the speed limit versus higher tier (zenbook). It can also because at that time the M2 SATA reached it end and manufacturers offer really low price for those??? We can just guess

I have different approach for this storage problem: I only need more space for data, the OSs was installed on the included 256gb ssd, so adding an hdd is enough. I bought an almost new 1tb HDD (people buy new laptop and swap out for SSD immediately) for less than $20

Why dont I buy bigger ssd?
1. going 512gb from 256gb is not so much for me
2. what will I do with this old 256gb? selling it wont be easy
3. when this laptop is down (it surely will), I would have to think up what to do with the "new" ssd. Its easier to reselling an used hdd or using it for NAS, server
4. remember this is M2 SATA, which will be phased out soon (like the mSATA one). I wont invest higher money in obsolete tech unless it is inevitable (M2 SATA price is higher than NVME here in VN)
5. this platform have spare room for an hdd, and I accept the increase weight

 

[bugsb]

thanks for your thoughts and opening your VivoBook and actually trying, a29psx!

My VivoBook came with a 1TB HDD. I have it unmounted at all times to save power, which has my battery time last significantly longer.

The TOSHIBA THNSNK256GVN8 is SATA rev. 3.2 with B and M keys. Current PCIe NVMe M.2 SSDs only have the M key spared/ notched out:

Can you please share which brand and model NVMe M.2 SSD you tried?

 

[a29psx]

I tried an DRAMless Orico NVME 512gb

M.2 NVMe SSD 2280

M.2 NVMe SSD 2280

www.orico.cc

It use the ref board of SM2263XT controller and NAND from toshiba (if my memory serves me well)
almost all chinese brand NVME use this board / controller

 

[a29psx]

and for the B & M key thing
I did meet NVME that have both B & M key (chinese brand)

So it is best to google the controller to determine it is really SATA or PCIE (NVME)