My first NVMe drive - advice please

Havana_UK · 30 Mar 2023 at 12:22

I've finally upgraded my ageing i7 4770K system to a 12600K and now I have the possibility to add an NVMe drive to the system.

I'm looking at two options (both 1TB):
- WD SN770 @ ~£70
- WD SN850X @ ~£85

I understand that the SN850X has DRAM which improves drive performance, but considering I'm coming from a SATA 6G SSD I've no doubt that the SN770 will still seem blisteringly quick by comparison.

Is there a compelling reason to spend the extra on the SN850X over the SN770? My primary use for the PC is gaming, but typically not the latest titles.

Finally, would I be able to clone my existing SSD (which is my Windows/boot drive) on to the new NVMe drive? If so, what's the best method to go about this please?

TIA!

Capitano · 30 Mar 2023 at 12:29

I assume its a pcie 4 motherboard you are using? in which case you are probably alright with a variety of options

for cloning use a software like Macrium (free to use), it creates an identical copy to the current drive and puts it onto the new one

Tetras · 31 Mar 2023 at 14:21

Havana_UK said:
I understand that the SN850X has DRAM which improves drive performance, but considering I'm coming from a SATA 6G SSD I've no doubt that the SN770 will still seem blisteringly quick by comparison.

Is there a compelling reason to spend the extra on the SN850X over the SN770? My primary use for the PC is gaming, but typically not the latest titles.

I would get the SN850X for a boot drive, but the SN770 for a game drive.

Havana_UK · 31 Mar 2023 at 15:42

Thanks both, I ended up ordering the SN770. I put the SN850X in my basket for £85, but by the time I pressed "checkout" it was back up to £110

Orcvader · 31 Mar 2023 at 15:49

Havana_UK said:
Finally, would I be able to clone my existing SSD (which is my Windows/boot drive) on to the new NVMe drive? If so, what's the best method to go about this please?

While you can I wouldn't recommend it. W10/11 does handle it better but sometimes you get driver conflicts and other issues when moving OSes between systems with major changes. Best to do a fresh install. Could always use your current SATA SSD as a storage drive anyway.

Havana_UK · 31 Mar 2023 at 16:52

Orcvader said:
While you can I wouldn't recommend it. W10/11 does handle it better but sometimes you get driver conflicts and other issues when moving OSes between systems with major changes. Best to do a fresh install. Could always use your current SATA SSD as a storage drive anyway.

Thanks for the advice! I did actually swap all my CPU/Mobo/RAM out of the system without a reinstall at all - Windows 10 seemed to handle it with no issues.

I don't have a physical Win10 disk, but I have a genuine licence (a free upgrade from a Win7 original copy). I've got it tied to my MS account. Do you know if I can I download a new copy of Win10 installer from MS and use my existing MS account to activate it without having to buy new?

Orcvader · 31 Mar 2023 at 17:06

Havana_UK said:
Thanks for the advice! I did actually swap all my CPU/Mobo/RAM out of the system without a reinstall at all - Windows 10 seemed to handle it with no issues.

I don't have a physical Win10 disk, but I have a genuine licence (a free upgrade from a Win7 original copy). I've got it tied to my MS account. Do you know if I can I download a new copy of Win10 installer from MS and use my existing MS account to activate it without having to buy new?

Yes. In fact, assuming your old install stayed activated just fine in the new build, as soon as the PC gets an internet connection Microsoft will recognise the PC and activate itself. You're also not limited to W10, W11 will also work, which I would be tempted to use instead to make most of your 12600K.

mrk · 3 Apr 2023 at 09:59

You won't notice any difference between the two drives in gaming/normal use from what it sounds like you use the PC for, but for the sake of £15 difference, go for the newer model as it has DRAM cache and newer gen specs.

Macrium Reflect for cloning, but be sure to check Windows Disk Management after booting up on the new drive as it doesn't always expand out the partition to fill the extra space on the new drive which you may need to do manually which just takes a couple of clicks.