There are many different types of SSDs, from those that go into M.2 ports, to external drives, to those that plug into SATA ports. Unfortunately its storage capacity is limited and surely more use will wonder How many SSDs can I install in my computer?. Well, it depends and we are going to describe the factors below so that you know how much you can expand this storage on your computers.
Having more storage on a computer never hurts if we have the necessary space, bays and connectors. The limiting factor is still there. Obviously in a laptop we can install fewer units than in a desktop tower. However, we must bear in mind that there are a number of limiting factors. Especially the number of interfaces that the motherboard of our computer supports, as well as the bays that our tower has in case we want to install a SATA SSD. However, there are things that aren’t usually considered that are important when making this decision.
How many SATA hard drives and SSDs can I install?
Well it depends on the type of computer you are using, if it is a laptop then most likely you will not have a single bay free and therefore you will need to replace your drive drive or your DVD drive with a SATA SSD in it. Although some models use M.2 modules with a SATA interface, they are increasingly becoming obsolete in favor of the NVMe type which uses the PCI Express interface.
- Look at the number of 2.5 inch bays supported by your motherboard, this is where you should install the SATA SSDs if they are of this type.
- Hard drives typically use 3.5 inch bays, although there are exceptions.
- Keep in mind that each new drive will consume both a SATA data connector and a power connector on the motherboard.
Remember that SATA drives are much slower and less efficient than NVMe drives under PCI Express. We therefore recommend that you bet on them if your computer is very old and does not have M.2 type connectors. Especially if your hard disk is hundreds of GB, you see that it will die and you don’t need very high storage capacity.
What about M.2 SSDs?
The answer here is simpler as it depends on the number of M.2 slots on the motherboard, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
- Not all M.2 slots use PCI Express at the same speed. One way to find out which is faster is to trace the connections all over the PCB on the board and see where they terminate. If they do it in the CPU socket they are faster, if they do it in the chipset socket they are slower.
- Keep in mind the previous point to know which unit to buy in terms of speed. It’s a waste to pay more for more speed and not be able to take advantage of it.
- Not all M.2 ports on a card are for installing an SSD. Keep this in mind, as it may involve placing an extension such as an additional WiFi card.
Finally, remember that there are expansion cards that allow us to use conventional PCI Express ports. If you need an extra drive and your card doesn’t have extra M.2 NVMe slots or just doesn’t. Which is ideal for computers with some experience.
