Question Internal vs Laptop SSD

[Caveman]

Per subject line... Is there a difference? Is there a such thing as a "Laptop" drive only vs an internal drive or are they one in the same. Looking for best bang for the buck SSD to put in an existing desktop... Thinking MX500 or EVO 860 or 870...

 

[UsandThem]

Some laptops have a smaller space for the SSD (or HDD), and I believe it is 7mm. I've seen some drives advertised as "laptop SSD" in this size, and most come with a spacer to get them to 9mm if needed. Most SSDs are 9mms in thickness. You'll just have to look at the detailed specs of your laptop, or see what's currently installed.

Also, there is no Samsung 870. Maybe you meant the 970 EVO? If so, that's a NVMe drive which is installed in a M.2 slot, and is different (and much faster) than a SATA SSD. However, they run hotter and use more energy, so they're not the best choice for most people with laptops (unless you need that speed for things like video editing or professional work).

 

[Caveman]

Thanks for the reply. So, it sounds like if an SSD is marketed as a "laptop SSD", then expect it to be 7mm and useable in both a laptop and a desktop (assuming you have a 2mm shim). If marked as a "internal SSD", assume it is 9mm and will only fit in a desktop cage.

Yes, I meant the 970 evo. My MoBo is ~3 years old (ASUS Z87-Pro) and I tried searching for "m.2" and "NVMe" search strings in the manual and came up null so I don't think I have the interface for it, though I thought the NVMe interface was simply PCIe???

Anyway, I didn't know they got hot and consumed more power - I thought the exact opposite. At any rate, the EVO 860 1 TB should be more than adequate for the desktop I want to put it in to replace an MX200 500GB that I'm pulling out of the desktop (and was hoping to install in a laptop) Since it's most likely 9mm thick, then probably no-go.

 

[Billy Tallis]

The only 2.5" SATA SSDs that are more than 7mm thick are either ones with RGB LEDs built in, or really ancient designs that have been out of production for many years—long before your MX200 was introduced. Both of those categories are easily avoided. In general, there's no distinction between laptop and desktop SATA SSDs. Spacers to make 7mm SSDs 9.5mm thick are only needed for some laptop designs, and are pointless for desktop use.

Your Z87 motherboard is a bit too old to have a NVMe driver built-in to its UEFI firmware. It's sometimes possible to hack together a new firmware image that adds the necessary UEFI module, but that's not for beginners or the faint of heart. Your motherboard can work with a NVMe drive in one of its PCIe slots, but it won't be able to load an operating system off it, so you still need to have a SATA drive for the OS (or at least the bootloader).