Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 SSD Upgrade - (Update: SATA or NVMe)

Handl

Handl

Handl

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Hi!

I recently won a Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 through a promotion at work, however, it has a smaller SSD than I would like, I think 500GB. Therefore, I would like to install a larger SSD, at least 2TB, possibly 3TB. I don't know if there are restrictions on what a laptop can support.

With Black Friday/Cyber Monday upon us, it seems like a great time to purchase the components. Would you good people be able to recommend which drive would be best/cheapest, and any other items I would be advised to upgrade? I have a friend who solders and welds for a living, so that should not be a problem to install.

The only caveat I would make is that I don't know PC components very well, so while I know there is a difference between SATA and NVme for example, I don't know which system takes which part, so please put full names of components or link directly, as I may not grasp fully obvious terminology. My max budget is probably £500, but if it is a crucial fix, I could go over it!

Also, as I would be replacing the SSD without having ever turned on the laptop, what would I need to load on the new SSD to make the new laptop work, and how would I do that, please? (as I said before, very new to this, please don't be afraid to overexplain/condescend, I'd rather understand).

The identifiers of my model are:

PLATINUM_GREY
IdeaPad Flex 5 15ALC05
Model name: 82HV
NB IP flex 5 15ALC05 R7 16G 512G 11h

Thank you in advance!
 
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mickyflinn said:
The Crucial P3 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 NVMe is excellent value to performance with the fastest read write speeds .
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for the recommendation! Looking at the site, I see both the 2TB and the 4TB models are available.

uk.crucial.com

Crucial P3 4TB PCIe M.2 2280 SSD | CT4000P3SSD8 | Crucial UK

Buy Crucial P3 4TB PCIe M.2 2280 SSD CT4000P3SSD8.
uk.crucial.com uk.crucial.com

uk.crucial.com

Crucial P3 2TB PCIe M.2 2280 SSD | CT2000P3SSD8 | Crucial UK

Buy Crucial P3 2TB PCIe M.2 2280 SSD CT2000P3SSD8.
uk.crucial.com uk.crucial.com

Are both equally compatible with my laptop, or would I need to increase the amount of power? (I've heard desktops need better PSUs as you upgrade, very new to this so not sure if this would hold for laptops as well).
 
Sparx said:
No either one will work fine.
Click to expand...
Thank you! Is it worth asking about what would I need to load on the new SSD to make the new laptop work? Or would that be a different part of the forum?

For context, it is a brand-new laptop that has never been unpacked, let alone turned on. So although I've never done anything like it, I'm guessing it would need windows 10 or 11, something to make all hardware on the computer work etc. I have no idea how to do that!
 
You will need to buy a usb m2 enclosure so you can clone everything onto the new drive.

There are guides online and free programmes like Macrium reflect free edorion which clone drives..


www.macrium.com

Macrium Reflect | Free 30-Day Trial

Macrium Reflect - Incredibly powerful software that allows you to create and schedule effective backups
www.macrium.com www.macrium.com
 
Update

After using the crucial compatibility checker, I have narrowed down my SSD options: https://uk.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/lenovo/flex-5-(15-inch)#ssd?density-ssd(-)4TB

The list shows both SATA and NVMe, could someone with more technical knowledge confirm this?

Also, is there a huge gap in performance between the 2 NVMe which justifies the price point difference, which SSD would you recommend?

As a reminder,
The identifiers of my model are:

PLATINUM_GREY
IdeaPad Flex 5 15ALC05
Model name: 82HV
NB IP flex 5 15ALC05 R7 16G 512G 11h
 
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