cl-Albert wrote:
Welcome to the forums!
You may want to check which G501 model that you have, but for the G501JW it sounds like there are different motherboard versions to support SATA3 or NVME M.2 SSDs as in the thread below, so you might still need to confirm that your model really supports PCIe M.2 SSDs.
Not sure if your local ASUS support or store can help at all, but if you want to send a Private Message to me at cl-Albert with your serial number, I can try to check for you.
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?83477-G501JW-NVMe-M-2-SSD-Support
I would like to share information about my recent experience in fixing my G501JW-DS71 laptop. Two years ago, the original SSD somehow died and was discarded, so the project objective was to simply source a replacement SSD to get this laptop working again. I recently saw this post and PM'd cl-Albert my serial number, and he quickly responded with the model of my original SSD and other helpful technical information, eventually leading to a successful replacement. Here are some details that could be helpful to you.
1. The G501JW has several sub-configurations, so be sure to PM cl-Albert to get assistance on compatibility. He informed me that my laptop came with the Samsung MZHPV512HDGL00000 PCIe AHCI 512Gb M.2 SSD.
2. Apparently my laptop model in particular is compatible with PCIe AHCI 512Gb M.2 SSDs but not NVMe. Nowadays PCIe NVMe M.2 SSDs are prevalent, so it took a leap of faith to source a AHCI version, which are more expensive due supply-demand imbalances. I successfully used this model:
Samsung SM951 256GB PCIe Gen3 8Gb/s x4 M.2 80mm (AHCI Version) Solid State Drive SSD 3. Prior to my success, I had failed to use these models because I didn't properly understand the difference between AHCI and NVMe.
Samsung (MZ-V7E500BW) 970 EVO SSD 500GBCrucial MX500 500GB 3D NAND SATA M.2 (2280SS) Internal SSD, up to 560MB/s - CT500MX500SSD4Samsung 860 EVO SSD 500GB - M.2 SATA Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND Technology (MZ-N6E500BW)...In essence, it appeared to me that the G501JW was manufactured in 2015 during an apparent turning point in technology as the PCIe M.2 SSD market transitioned from AHCI to NVMe drivers. While this post isn't all encompassing in the overall details of SSD technology, I hope this helps a little bit. Thanks.