M.2 Thermal Pad Questions

[davemon50]

Hi guys, I'm seeking good advice on an upgrade to two laptops.


Preface

I am performing a drive upgrade for both a G752VT and a G752VY laptop. The upgrade is the same for each. Both laptops currently have the main/W10 drive as a 512GB Samsung 950 Pro M.2 nvme. They both also have a 1 TB HDD data drive. The VY has a second 256GB 950 Pro data drive as well, and in the VT the second M.2 drive slot is empty.

The upgrade is to replace the 256GB drive in the VY with a 1 TB 970 Pro, and to populate the empty slot in the VT with a 1 TB 970 Pro as well.


Questions

1. For the drive models listed above, would it be beneficial to clone the Windows drives to the new drives first, and then use the existing 950's as the new data drives? I.e. is it worth the trouble? And if I do, do I need to swap the physical drive positions after the cloning is complete? (Per my note 4 below, I will be running games off the larger newer drives.)

2. Can I even clone the Windows (950) drive while Windows is running on it?

3. The laptops have a green thermal pad/stick (silicon I think) over the existing M.2 drives, and then a screwed on (aluminum?) cover plate over top of that. So does the metal plate serve only to protect the drive bay, or does it also serve as a heat spreader?

4. Should I add a thermal pad to the new drives also? Does it matter? I will use the second drive as a data drive but will migrate most games to those drives once installed, so maybe they will run hotter? I put one of these drives in my desktop and no pad, and it does just fine, but I realize a laptop may be different with regard to this.

5. What's the green thermal pad Asus used, and will any pad do the trick if I add it?


Any other advice you may have before I launch the project would be helpful, other than maybe you're stupid don't do it. 🙂 Thanks!

[rjbarker]

davemon50 wrote:
Hi guys, I'm seeking good advice on an upgrade to two laptops.


Preface

I am performing a drive upgrade for both a G752VT and a G752VY laptop. The upgrade is the same for each. Both laptops currently have the main/W10 drive as a 512GB Samsung 950 Pro M.2 nvme. They both also have a 1 TB HDD data drive. The VY has a second 256GB 950 Pro data drive as well, and in the VT the second M.2 drive slot is empty.

The upgrade is to replace the 256GB drive in the VY with a 1 TB 970 Pro, and to populate the empty slot in the VT with a 1 TB 970 Pro as well.


Questions

1. For the drive models listed above, would it be beneficial to clone the Windows drives to the new drives first, and then use the existing 950's as the new data drives? I.e. is it worth the trouble? And if I do, do I need to swap the physical drive positions after the cloning is complete? (Per my note 4 below, I will be running games off the larger newer drives.)

2. Can I even clone the Windows (950) drive while Windows is running on it?

3. The laptops have a green thermal pad/stick (silicon I think) over the existing M.2 drives, and then a screwed on (aluminum?) cover plate over top of that. So does the metal plate serve only to protect the drive bay, or does it also serve as a heat spreader?

4. Should I add a thermal pad to the new drives also? Does it matter? I will use the second drive as a data drive but will migrate most games to those drives once installed, so maybe they will run hotter? I put one of these drives in my desktop and no pad, and it does just fine, but I realize a laptop may be different with regard to this.

5. What's the green thermal pad Asus used, and will any pad do the trick if I add it?


Any other advice you may have before I launch the project would be helpful, other than maybe you're stupid don't do it. 🙂 Thanks!

Ive changed out SSD's (in ROG Notebooks) in the past.
I have never been a fan of "cloning" the OS but prefer a "Clean Install" ( my OCD gets the better of me knowing Im cloning all the files I dont want). I you create a bootable (W10) install disc (go to MS Site and follow instructions ..Im sure you know anyhow)...it shouldn't require you to purchase a Key or even phone MS....as the OS should recognize the Hardware / Notebook.....my experience anyhow.....

As for Thermal Pad...cant hurt to install them...I always have lots kicking around from my EK Water Blocks....try a thin one ( I believe 0.5mm)...provided it doesnt put excess pressure on your M.2 stick in the "seat" why not ...did the original M.2 have a pad?

[davemon50]

Yeah per note 3 above they did have a pad installed on the existing drives. I can see the thickness and would match it. Still, I'm only guessing that the cover plate was also a heat spreader but if it is then I wasn't sure.

[rjbarker]

davemon50 wrote:
Yeah per note 3 above they did have a pad installed on the existing drives. I can see the thickness and would match it. Still, I'm only guessing that the cover plate was also a heat spreader but if it is then I wasn't sure.

If you can do the pad between the M.2 and Heat spreader would be best....the MXI-E has the same thing with the M.2's under the PCH....just have to remember to take the adhesive backing tape off . 😉 ...they look like .5mm as well...

[davemon50]

I took the plate off and measured the pad. It was 1mm so I ordered a few from Amazon.....along with some mounting screws since I just realized they probably won't ship with the screws (I don't have the drives yet). That seems really stupid for them to chince out on the screws but I've read others had the same experience.

[davemon50]

Any other thoughts on the other questions above?

[xeromist]

controllers run faster when cooled, the memory cells run worse when cooled. So ideally use the pad on the controller portion I suppose.

[davemon50]

This upgrade went well. I did not use any cloning for this, and reinstalled all programs on the new drives. Both were data drivers not Windows, so I didn't need to deal with Windows installs.

I replaced the existing cooling pads on the two existing drives and did wind up putting pads on the new ones. Everything seems to be working well so far although I have not bothered to benchmark yet.