Upgrading drive in ThinkPad T510 to SSD

[ThinkPad560X]

I got my ThinkPad T510 out and still running Windows 7 Pro with the original 250GB WD Black HDD. Was going to replace the drive and wondering if should replace it with a normal SATA SSD or a M.2 SATA Adapter and can get a Nvme. It looks like at the store a 1TB Nvme is cheaper than a 1TB SATA SSD. Both are WD Blue.

[MisterB]

Both will work. I've been running a W500 for years on a 512gb nvme drive in an SATA adapter. The speed is limited by the SATA interface so both options will give you the same speed. Nvme in native mode is much faster. In any case, any SSD will be much faster and quieter than the original Lenovo drive.

[axur-delmeria]

Both will work. I've been running a W500 for years on a 512gb nvme drive in an SATA adapter.

I've yet to see an NVMe to SATA adapter--do you have a link to that adapter, as well as the SSD you're using?

[ZaZ]

I doubt there's much of practical difference between SATA and NVMe. How about the Western Digital Black²? Plus, it's era appropriate.

[ThinkPad560X]

Both will work. I've been running a W500 for years on a 512gb nvme drive in an SATA adapter.

I've yet to see an NVMe to SATA adapter--do you have a link to that adapter, as well as the SSD you're using?

Lenovo does make them for the ThinkPads L460,L470 & the 5xx and the T460,T470,T480. The T models has a special cable that connects to the board to the Nvme adapter but for the L models it is a standard SATA to Nvme adapter.
There is then 3rd party SATA to Nvme adapters.

ThinkPads T470,T480 adapter: https://www.ebay.com/itm/116102820058?e ... R7ri79fSYw

ThinkPad L460, L470 SATA Adapter: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/10050048 ... pt=glo2usa (Note this adapter may not fit as there is a plastic stopper between power and data connections to plug into normal SATA plugs and I was going to cut it out on one of mine until I saw there is pins on the plastic blocker like a bridge. So these will only fit probably T,L,X,E,P 450/550 models up." Was wondering why it wasn't fitting in my T510.

Thirdparty adapters it probably best bet for older ThinkPads or any normal SATA. https://www.ebay.com/itm/295206377397?i ... R66prNjSYw Just found one on ebay real quick but can search for better location and price.

[ThinkPad560X]

I am thinking the Nvme would be the better route as these are going to probably replace 2.5 SATA drives in time for much smaller drives, but also don't forget, if buying the Nvmes you will need a thermal pad as they do get hot especially if running games or rendering software. "Thermal pads sold separately"

[TPFanatic]

A legit SATA to PCIE would be cool since cheap NVME drives are more populous and modern than mSATA. But the ebay image looks like it’s showing a B-key slot which is SATA, not PCIE. The aliexpress one appears to correctly be m-key for pcie.

[MisterB]

I bought the adapter for my W500 years ago. It's a b+m key adapter. It looks like it's the same as this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/386897126783

The drive is a Lenovo b+m drive. It was a screaming bargain when I bought it and a lot less than a regular Sata SSD even with the price of the adapter.

There are newer adapters with dual slots for Pcie and Sata nvme drives. I haven't tried one but they look interesting and are dirt cheap. There are both 2.5" drive versions and card versions.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/176309929257

https://ebay.com/itm/404838337410

What doesn't seem to exist is an Nvme to IDE adapter in any form factor. I have a couple of 16gb Nvme b+m drives that I'd like to do something with but the only computers I have that could use such small drives are too old for Sata. I use two compact flash cards in a dual adapter in my 700X and I wish there was and adapter like that for Nvme.

[ThinkPad560X]

Here is an IDE to M.2 https://www.amazon.com/44pin-Converter- ... B06XC36V63

[axur-delmeria]

Save for the L470/T470p one, none of those "NVMe" to SATA adapters actually work on NVMe SSDs; the L470/T470p one only works because the connector on the system board contains both PCIe and SATA signals.

M.2 is the physical form factor of the SSD, but M.2 SSDs can be SATA or NVMe. Actually there's a third type, AHCI/PCIe -- these are SSDs that use direct PCIe connections (like NVMe SSDs), but "talk" AHCI just like SATA HDDs and HDDs. Because of the AHCI interface, they can be used as boot devices on older PCs without NVMe BIOS/UEFI support.

AFAIK they were quite rare, and were phased out once NVMe boot support became commonplace.

[dr_st]

Actually there's a third type, AHCI/PCIe -- these are SSDs that use direct PCIe connections (like NVMe SSDs), but "talk" AHCI just like SATA HDDs and HDDs. Because of the AHCI interface, they can be used as boot devices on older PCs without NVMe BIOS/UEFI support.

I wonder how they achieved that. An integrated AHCI controller on the SSD board itself, I presume?

[axur-delmeria]

I wonder how they achieved that. An integrated AHCI controller on the SSD board itself, I presume?

Basically, the flash controller chip on the SSD also acts as the AHCI controller. The Sandisk A110 is an early M.2 PCIe SSD that interfaces via AHCI rather than NVMe. Same with the Plextor M6e.

According to Wikipedia, AHCI is separate from the SATA standard. I guess this is what allowed them to create SSDs like this.

That said, this was but a stopgap measure as the NVMe spec probably wasn't ready yet.

[MisterB]

Here is an IDE to M.2 https://www.amazon.com/44pin-Converter- ... B06XC36V63

Thanks. I never look on amazon and I didn't see them on eBay. It turns out the key word was NGFF. I tried "Nvme to IDE" and drew a blank but "NGFF to IDE" finds the ones on eBay.