ACER AN515-55-57C4 Laptop -;want to upgrade SSD and possibly DDR4 memory??

[zettler]

Ok, I was able to recently buy one of the ACER AN515-55-57C4 laptops on clearance at Walmart and would like to add or upgrade my storage, what with the prices of SSDs recently. Specs: 15.6" Full HD 144Hz IPS Display, 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Ti Laptop GPU, 16GB DDR4, 512GB NVMe SSD, WiFi 6, Killer Ethernet E2600, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 Home
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Til
However, I'm a noob with regards to laptops with NVMe PCIe Gen 4 SSDand want to make sure what I buy is compatible and works

I already have access to several in 1TB and up to 2TB ACER AN515-55-57C4), for instance:

TEAMGROUP T-Force CARDEA Zero Z440 1TB DRAM4 SLC Cache, 3D TLC NAND, NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 2280 Gaming SSD Read/Write 5,000/4,400 MB/s TM8FP7001T0C311 at Amazon for $56; or

Corsair MP600 PRO NH 2TB PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe M.2 SSD – High-Density TLC NAND – M.2 2280 – DirectStorage Compatible - Up to 7,000MB/sec - No Heatsink, at Amazon for $121; or

990 PRO PCIe®4.0 NVMe™ SSD 1TB with sequential read/write speeds up to 7,450/6,900 MB/s, for a ridiculous low price I paid after coupons, etc...; or

Intel 670p Series M.2 2280 2TB PCIe 3.0 x4, NVMe 3D4 QLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDPEKNU020TZX1 at Newegg for $80; and the

WD BLACK 1TB SN850 NVMe SSD with Heatsink - WDBAPZ0010BNC-WRSN at Walmart for $69.

And just saw a deal on a Kingston NV2 2TB M.2 2280 NVMe Internal SSD | PCIe 4.0 Gen 4x4 | Up to 3500 MB/s | SNV2S/2000G at Amazon for under $93.

And I still have a couple of portable SANDISK and PNY SSD's from last year (250, 500 & 1TB configurations), as well as the recent PNY 500TB portables from Walmart clearance at $15 each.

Having said all that, I would appreciate feedback and input on what works in this laptop and is a good option.

Thank you.

 

[Tech Junky]

Hwinfo will give you the hw specs.

If it's a gen4 slot then any gen4 drive will work. It will still work in a gen3 slot but a bit slower.

The sn850 and sn770 are what I use.

Anything with a heat sink likely won't fit in a laptop though. You might be able to pry off the heat sink though and use it if there's a big price difference for the one without.

 

[zettler]

That's what I feared about the heatsink. It's been awhile since I truly worked on a PC but as always, Anandtech community is there to assist!!

Thank you.

By the way, that WD seems to be quite the deal at Walmart BUT the Samsung 990 in 1TB was an even better one as I was able to use a coupon AND a GC Samsung sent me for $25 bringing the price down below the WD. S

 

[Tech Junky]

Samsung 990

Yeah, but, SS has some firmware issues lately. Not sure if it affects the 990 or not off the top of my head but, there's a thread on here regarding the firmware.a good source for pricing is PCPartPicker.com and you can sort/filter by gen size price.

 

[zettler]

That's very nice of you (again) and I'll look there.

It's just I already have the ones listed..LOL

And I just wanted to upgrade not only this laptop but a new ASUS Gaming Tower I also got for cheap BUT was informed it's a GEN 3, while these SSDs are all GEN 4._.

I Am hoping my kids can use the others BUT for whatever reason they get upset when I buy things for them without asking first....

 

[Tech Junky]

they get upset when I buy things for them without asking first.

If they're techies then I can see why....

Like I said the drives will work in Gen3 slots but slightly slower than Gen4 speeds.

If you already have the HW on hand then just use it. It won't hurt anything to use them they just won't be as fast if they were put into a matching sped slot. My laptop has a gen 3 + 4 slots but, I still put 2 gen 4 drives inside knowing I'll use the speed on my next system which will likely have 2 gen 4 slots unless someone puts a gen 5 slot into laptops in the next year or so. I'm not convinced Intel will push for that with Arrow Lake though. It's not like I or the average person really need anything more than Gen3 speeds from a drive. The only time the drive speed affects things is at boot and when loading large data like a game. Otherwise it's mostly idle. Even spinning drives are pushing sata SSD speeds with Mach.2 from Seagate and WD HS760 combining dual actuators in a single HDD to output ~580MB/s.

Even pairing dual NVME drives inside my laptop they tend to max throughput at 1.5GB/s yet using an SN770 in a TB4 enclosure I can get it up to 3.1GB/s. So, there's more to play than just the single host drive to get them to actually hit those speeds.

 

[zettler]

Is the TB4 enclosure a USB type?

Hell, I might already one, new in the box...maybe even two!

LOL

 

[Tech Junky]

Is the TB4 enclosure a USB type?

Hell, I might already one, new in the box...maybe even two!

LOL

No, it's Thunderbolt 4 but uses a USB-C connector.

Acasis 40Gbps M.2 NVMe USB 4 Thunderbolt 3/4 SSD Enclosure

Lightning-Speed Data Transfer ACASIS 40Gbps Nvme Enclosure, with blazing speed up to 40Gbps has you covered, offering the ultimate combination of speed, performance, and versatility. Transfer speed up to 40Gbps (varies by host device and SSD), transferring 2.5G large file in 1 second, even...

www.acasis.com

If you don't have a 12th gen CPU you likely don't have a TB4 port unless you added a card to the PC to get TB4 functionality. Laptop came with the port but, the server I added a card with 2 ports for $60. Then I tested several enclosures / drives / cables to make sure I had the best possible speeds when moving data.

 

[zettler]

LOL.

Just checked my Amazon account and discovered I already have two enclosures.

One is a SATA (

 

[zettler]

Thanks Tech Junky for all your assistance!

 

[Tech Junky]

Not a problem.

 

[zettler]

Sorry, another question.

I am also thinking about upgrading the RAM from 16 to at least 32GB, if not 64GB, as those prices have dropped as well.

This laptop MEMORY just popped up at Newegg for under $100 for two-32GB sticks (total 64GB) and wonder if they will work in this ACER???

Kingston FURY Impact 64GB (2 x 32GB) 260-Pin DDR4 SO-DIMM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Memory (Notebook Memory) RFIB4-32C20K2/64 - Newegg.com

Once again, thank you in advance.

 

[zettler]

Once more into the breach...


In looking at my Newegg recent orders, I'm embarrassed to report it appears I bought two Gen 3 SSDs from them last month.

One was a 1TB and the other a 2TB - both INTEL.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this SSD looks like it's a 3rd.Gen?

(Intel 670p Series M.2 2280 2TB PCIe 3.0 x4, NVMe 3D4 QLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDPEKNU020TZX1)

https://www.newegg.com/intel-2tb-670p-series/p/N82E16820167473?item=N82E16820167473

Do you think that these will fit AND work in this laptop?

Thank you again.

 

[Tech Junky]

Ram might work / fit if the laptop isn't soldered. Only way to check is to open it up and look. Sometimes they'll also lock things in the bios to only accept certain sizes or speeds.

That drive is a gen 3.

 

[zettler]

It's embarrassing that I didn't remember I had bought that 1TB SSD. But, hey, it was hunting season and my mind was elsewhere....

 

[Tech Junky]

https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/acer/nitro-an515-55 -- looks like you could do up to 64GB / 2x32gb

Nitro 5 AN515-55-57C4 Memory Upgrade - Acer 5 AN515-55-57C4 Nitro Laptop Memory

Memory Upgrade for Acer Nitro 5 AN515-55-57C4 Laptop, Upgrade Nitro 5 AN515-55-57C4 Memory with 100% compatible 5 AN515-55-57C4 Acer Laptop Memory RAM modules from memorystock.com.

www.memorystock.com

Inside Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-55) - disassembly and upgrade options | LaptopMedia.com

This is another year where we see the Nitro 5 struggle to cool down its components adequately enough. However, it has a decent upgradability package, and Acer p...

laptopmedia.com

Good news it looks like it's actually upgradeable for RAM / drives. Shocked to see an Acer that's not fubar for upgrades. Not to mention the 2 M2 slots and a SATA 2.5" drive. Not bad for an Acer.

 

[zettler]

That's great news indeed. Thank you very much for your research, review and counsel.

I joined the ACER forum and they either are reviewing all my posts before they go public or it's sincerely slow....

One of my first towers was an ACER and probably still have parts from it somewhere. Owned a couple, along with MacIntoshes before I either starting building them, or, lately been picking up clearance laptops and towers primarily from Walmart.

No, not the best ones in the world but most every time cheaper than even I could buy the parts on sale and build one.

This ACER originally was over a $1000 less than year ago but a month or so ago, I got it for under $300 delivered, so that's another reason I'm not sweating puting some additional dollars in it.

Thanks again.

 

[Tech Junky]

If you want higher end laptops without the huge markup you should check out

Clevo Barebone Laptop Series - R&J Technology, Clevo Barebone Notebook kits, Laptop and desktop system builder

your Memory hard drives build your laptop based this Clevo Barebone Series select from options provided build

rjtech.com

Clevo is the mother brand that gets resold under maybe 10 different names. I take them and upgrade them considerably for a whole lot less than a comparable unit under another brand. I picked up a 12700h/3060 for $1300 shipped and added dual drives like yours, ax411 WiFi for 1.5gbps and swapped the panel to 4k120 all in for about $1900. To buy it preconfigured with all of that would've cost at least double.

You're not doing too bad though getting a 10th gen for $300 though. From a tech perspective though the 10/11th gen platforms are placeholders. They didn't offer much of a boost until 12yh gen when you start getting gen4 drives and hybrid CPU options along with TB4 port speed.

Building though can be advantageous if you want specific things but, taking a pre built and amping it up sometimes is easier and cheaper. Sometimes tasking a pre built and swapping the guts into a better case is ideal.

 

[zettler]

Yes, I see where others suggested swapping cases at a minimum but will wait and see as none of my kids want a new or semi-new PS or Laptop....and some where at home still I have the stuff to build a new Tower with a fairly decent INTEL CPU. And I still have a ton of SSD's and the like just sitting around...

But in will say I like the ACER as it's fast by what I have owned in the past.

I don't game but shoot a lot of videos. And, I like having things that have utility and quality. So these pre built ones that are at times. 60-70% off are fantastic!!

Right now I am looking at RAM upgrades for the ACER and then the ASUS Tower. And want the best bang for my buck that includes shall we say great products but at an affordable price.