# Swapping DVD drive for an SSD on my lenovo



## sanoob.tv (Jun 3, 2014)

hey all
I'm going to upgrade my laptop a bit.
I was planning to change my DVD drive(Which i never use) and add an extra SSD.

My laptop config
Lenovo E540.-15 inch-Win 8.1
Processor - *i5 4rth gen 4200m*
Ram -*2*4gb*
GPU - *nvidia 745 m.*
*Full hd Display.*
*500 gb HDD.*

so the plan is 
1.put the 500 gb hdd in to the dvd drive slot.
2.put a new ssd to the HDD slot.

il be using the new ssd for OS,Games and MS office.
and im planning for a 120gb SSD within 6k.

so my question s how to do it?
Which SSD should i go for.?
What should i check before i proceed?
Has any body done it before?
is the performance change noticeable?
Will there be a change in battery performance?

il start the process after my exams.
any ideas or suggestions will be great

cheers


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## seamon (Jun 3, 2014)

You live in Australia right?
Take a good look at this:
Review Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E540 20C60041 Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews
and this:
*www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_Lenovo_ThinkPad_Edge_E540_20C60041_Innereien_1_von_1_8335a6ab3b.jpg

There seems to be a mSATA SSD slot on the right side of the wifi card. You can get a mSATA SSD such Samsung Evo mSATA or Plextor M5M. Intel 525 is good but it doesn't come with a screw of that will be a problem. My 128 GB mSATA cost me 8k.

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or is it M.2??
You have to open up and see.

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sanoob.tv said:


> hey all
> 
> 
> is the performance change noticeable?
> ...



After SSD upgrade, you laptop won't lag at all. It won't hang no matter what. Battery life will improve if you don't use your HDD much and keep it idle.


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## SunE (Jun 3, 2014)

Simply replace the ODD with an SSD or HDD using any converter caddy. Search on eBay for ssd caddy.


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## vito scalleta (Jun 5, 2014)

here is a tutorial
lifehacker.com/5837543/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid-state-drive-without-reinstalling-windows


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## sanoob.tv (Jun 5, 2014)

Spoiler






seamon said:


> You live in Australia right?
> Take a good look at this:
> Review Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E540 20C60041 Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews
> and this:
> ...






yep,Im nw in Melbourne .
Thanks for the links.Il look in to it n let you know.

i got exams till 18th. and will start the upgrade soon after that.

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SunE said:


> Simply replace the ODD with an SSD or HDD using any converter caddy. Search on eBay for ssd caddy.





haribalachander said:


> here is a tutorial
> lifehacker.com/5837543/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid-state-drive-without-reinstalling-windows



Im looking in to the caddy as well.but before that i just wanted to know user experience.
im considering msata SSD.

one more question will it void my warranty?i got one year warranty and almost 8 months left in it.


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## seamon (Jun 5, 2014)

As long as as you just open the back cover(and do it carefully), you will not void your warranty unless of course you get cheeky and confess opening the laptop. If you delve further(opening more screws) then you will void warranty as the screw required to open the motherboard has the warranty sticker on it. Don't worry, you don't need to go that far.

User Experience:-
For everyday computing, a SSD is above all other upgrades(RAM/CPU/GPU etc). This will make your device blazing fast. You would never want to go back to normal HDDs again.

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BTW For Msata SSD you don't need to remove disk drive or require the caddy. It's plug and play.


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## SunE (Jun 5, 2014)

mSata SSDs are much more expensive though. It's better to just go with the caddy solution.

BTW I got my Samsung 840 Evo delivered today. Boy is it fast!


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## seamon (Jun 5, 2014)

SunE said:


> mSata SSDs are much more expensive though. It's better to just go with the caddy solution.
> 
> BTW I got my Samsung 840 Evo delivered today. Boy is it fast!



It's better to pay 2k more than to remove the DVD drive.


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## powerhoney (Jun 5, 2014)

seamon said:


> It's better to pay 2k more than to remove the DVD drive.



Where did you buy your msata ssd from??? Link???


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## seamon (Jun 5, 2014)

powerhoney said:


> Where did you buy your msata ssd from??? Link???



Buy mSATA SSD | mSATA SSD Price in India | Online mSATA Solid State Drive

Are you interested in one?


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## powerhoney (Jun 5, 2014)

seamon said:


> Buy mSATA SSD | mSATA SSD Price in India | Online mSATA Solid State Drive
> 
> Are you interested in one?



Yeah... Will have to check whether I need the msata or m2...


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## seamon (Jun 5, 2014)

Avoid ADATA and Kingston because they use a sub-par controller.

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powerhoney said:


> Yeah... Will have to check whether I need the msata or m2...



All Y500s have mSATA. Only cached Y510ps have M.2.


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## powerhoney (Jun 5, 2014)

Thanks a lot for the info...  
Which one do you suggest??? Budget is around 10k...


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## seamon (Jun 5, 2014)

powerhoney said:


> Thanks a lot for the info...
> Which one do you suggest??? Budget is around 10k...



Get Samsung Evo 1TB 

I and [MENTION=169037]ariftwister[/MENTION] got Plextor M5M 128 GB.
Performance is amazing. 550 read and 320 write.(Both sequential)


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## powerhoney (Jun 5, 2014)

seamon said:


> Get Samsung Evo 1TB
> 
> I and [MENTION=169037]ariftwister[/MENTION] got Plextor M5M 128 GB.
> Performance is amazing. 550 read and 320 write.(Both sequential)



Lol... 
I will almost get another kidney at that price!!!

Will go for the Plextor one then...
Gonna purchase in August!!!


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## sanoob.tv (Jun 6, 2014)

I'm gonna postpone buying the Audio Technica m50 and go for the SSD for sure.
im not sure about the price here.but an upgrade to ssd is definite.

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and one more thing Which one is better *mSATA ssd+hdd* or *HDD+caddy(instead of dvd drive) and 2.5" ssd in HDD* bay?

which combo performs better?


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## ariftwister (Jun 6, 2014)

sanoob.tv said:


> I'm gonna postpone buying the Audio Technica m50 and go for the SSD for sure.
> im not sure about the price here.but an upgrade to ssd is definite.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> ...



2.5" SSD >> mSATA SSD

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seamon said:


> Get Samsung Evo 1TB
> 
> I and [MENTION=169037]ariftwister[/MENTION] got Plextor M5M 128 GB.
> Performance is amazing. 550 read and 320 write.(Both sequential)



Sadly, till now i didnt get that mSATA SSD.


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## seamon (Jun 6, 2014)

ariftwister said:


> 2.5" SSD >> mSATA SSD



Wrong assumption. Just because it is small, it doesn't mean it will perform worse. Plextor mSATA SSDs performs better than most 2.5" SATA SSDs. You can check the reviews.
Only PCI-E is better than both SATA and mSATA. This is because of no 6 gbps bandwidth limitation.

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It performs much better than Samsung EVO recommended a while earlier.



sanoob.tv said:


> and one more thing Which one is better *mSATA ssd+hdd* or *HDD+caddy(instead of dvd drive) and 2.5" ssd in HDD* bay?
> 
> which combo performs better?



IMO mSATA SSD+HDD is better. DVD drive is not replaced. You get a faster SSD than most 2.5" SATA SSDs. I can't see an argument against this setup except a nominal increase in price.

PS: Guys post about mSATA SSDs only after you have even a slight knowledge of their performance,endurance and advantages.


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## ariftwister (Jun 7, 2014)

seamon said:


> Wrong assumption. Just because it is small, it doesn't mean it will perform worse. Plextor mSATA SSDs performs better than most 2.5" SATA SSDs. You can check the reviews.
> Only PCI-E is better than both SATA and mSATA. This is because of no 6 gbps bandwidth limitation.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> ...



Oops My Bad.  
I thought msata is limited to 3gbps. Anyway cost per GB is more in msata due to its form factor.


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## seamon (Jun 7, 2014)

ariftwister said:


> Oops My Bad.
> I thought msata is limited to 3gbps. Anyway cost per GB is more in msata due to its form factor.


In y500, the SATA is 3gbps.
Cost per gb is not greater by much.


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## ariftwister (Jun 7, 2014)

seamon said:


> In y500, the SATA is 3gbps.
> Cost per gb is not greater by much.



Personally I feel the cost is little bit high but I have no other choice, because I need ODD.


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## sanoob.tv (Jun 15, 2014)

seamon said:


> You live in Australia right?
> Take a good look at this:
> Review Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E540 20C60041 Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews
> and this:
> ...




hey,
How do i know the form factor of my msata,Its exactly as in the picture above.


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## seamon (Jun 15, 2014)

sanoob.tv said:


> hey,
> How do i know the form factor of my msata,Its exactly as in the picture above.



If the drive looks something like this, it's mSATA
*i58.tinypic.com/2ykxksn.jpg

Alternatively, you can remove your wifi card and try to put into that slot, if it fits then it's mSATA.


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## sanoob.tv (Jun 15, 2014)

seamon said:


> If the drive looks something like this, it's mSATA
> *i58.tinypic.com/2ykxksn.jpg
> 
> Alternatively, you can remove your wifi card and try to put into that slot, if it fits then it's mSATA.



I think my msata slot is much smaller,Whats the dimension for ur msata ssd?

Its mentioned in Lenovos maintenance PDF that the msata is m.2,is that the same as yours?


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## seamon (Jun 15, 2014)

sanoob.tv said:


> I think my msata slot is much smaller,Whats the dimension for ur msata ssd?



It should be nearly double of that wifi card. If the wifi card fits then you are good to go.

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msata cards are really really small.


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## sanoob.tv (Jun 23, 2014)

seamon said:


> It should be nearly double of that wifi card. If the wifi card fits then you are good to go.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> 
> msata cards are really really small.



I got a reply from lenovo that its M.2 ssd.
_Nope, mSATA doesn't fit! The E531 and E540 has only a slot for the new small SSDs, called NNGF ssd respectively M.2 ssd! Moreover it mustn't be longer than 42 mm._ Examples:
128GB MyDigitalSSD SC2 Super Cache 2 42mm SATA III 6G: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubehör

one question will the performance vary?


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## seamon (Jun 23, 2014)

sanoob.tv said:


> I got a reply from lenovo that its M.2 ssd.
> _Nope, mSATA doesn't fit! The E531 and E540 has only a slot for the new small SSDs, called NNGF ssd respectively M.2 ssd! Moreover it mustn't be longer than 42 mm._ Examples:
> 128GB MyDigitalSSD SC2 Super Cache 2 42mm SATA III 6G: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubehör
> 
> one question will the performance vary?



Go for it, performance may vary in benchmarks but you won't notice it. All modern ssds are fast.


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## sanoob.tv (Jun 27, 2014)

seamon said:


> Go for it, performance may vary in benchmarks but you won't notice it. All modern ssds are fast.



Im still confused about the form factor.
when i checked the product in amazon i found some examples.

this is how my slot looks like



thnx


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## seamon (Jun 27, 2014)

sanoob.tv said:


> Im still confused about the form factor.
> when i checked the product in amazon i found some examples.
> 
> this is how my slot looks like
> ...



Upload pic in some other site. TDF attachment mechanism is broken.


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## sanoob.tv (Jun 27, 2014)

*lh4.googleusercontent.com/-62q_GNP...AAAHDo/jzRv4mtpIZ8/w1334-h889-no/IMG_8784.JPG


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## seamon (Jun 27, 2014)

sanoob.tv said:


> *lh4.googleusercontent.com/-62q_GNP...AAAHDo/jzRv4mtpIZ8/w1334-h889-no/IMG_8784.JPG



It is M.2
Read this article for full info:
Understanding M.2 NGFF SSD Standardization (Or The Lack Of) | The SSD Review

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This review shows how the SSD fits in:
MyDigitalSSD Super Cache 2 M.2 SSD Review - Exploring M.2 With and Without FNet HybriDisk Caching | The SSD Review

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I think you should go for it
Amazon.com: MyDigitalSSD SC2 Super Cache 2 42mm SATA III 6G M.2 NGFF M2 SSD Solid State Drive (128GB): Electronics


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## sanoob.tv (Jul 2, 2014)

yes,im going with Mydigitalssd 128 gig .
Trying to find a local store. dont wanna buy from ebay china .


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