G751JT-CH71 SSD choice

[yizzle]

I'm considering purchasing the G751JT-CH71. I would like to swap out the mechanical drive for an SSD. I have read up on the forums and understand that the main bay has a PCIe m.2 connection and a SATA3 connection. I understand the m.2 is faster than the sata. I would like to order an SSD but am unsure what to look for. I am new to laptops. I would prefer to connect via the PCIe m.2. Searching Newegg and amazon, I am getting a little confused as to which ssds are compatible, especially with the PCIe m.2. I want to make sure I don't order something for a desktop. can anyone help me out? maybe you could refer me to a specific example of a product that would meet these requirements. Thanks!

[hmscott]

seagle7 wrote:
I did thank you, if I stumble upon a Crucial SSD or another brand, I will try it of course, but I have my doubts 🙂

seagle7, I have my doubts too, not sure how that guy got SATA III readings in both Bay's, that's why I was asking if you saw the post, and I thought I saw your post around that time / area, so you might have seen it.

I was hoping to talk to that guy and straighten out what is going on - like look at his measurements and hardware in more detail. Maybe he got an early build.

[seagle7]

hmscott wrote:
seagle7, I have my doubts too, not sure how that guy got SATA III readings in both Bay's, that's why I was asking if you saw the post, and I thought I saw your post around that time / area, so you might have seen it.

I was hoping to talk to that guy and straighten out what is going on - like look at his measurements and hardware in more detail. Maybe he got an early build.

Yes, but it is not impossible though, manufacturers are known to modifiy elements in the hardware without notice, like the screens, the hard disks and stuff, so has you said, maybe he got an early build, or a really specific model, either way, if it's true, he got lucky.

But like I said, the laptop is just wonderfull, performance wise and the cooling is truly great, but I'm used to it with the Asus G series; best gamer laptops for me

[vpshockwave]

hmscott wrote:
vpshockwave, early on there was a post by a new owner that used a Crucial M550 or M500 that said he got SATA III speed in both bays - swapped the drive and ran from it in both bays, but after that all the reports are from Samsung Evo owners and all report SATA II - another guy also set up the RAID0 and was limited by the 2nd Bay SATA II speed.

The only solution I could dream up was to use a M.2 PCIE in the first bay, and swap the cable/connector around for the SATA connection between Bay 1 / 2 to get the SATA III connection in the 2nd Bay. RAID0 would work about the same except at 1GB/sec - the SATA III port would be holding back the M.2 PCIE at that point. But at least you would have an optimal speed configuration.

A single M.2 PCIE can run up to 1600MB/sec, if you get a XP941 512GB it is about 900MB/sec-1100MB/sec, almost a RAID0 by itself.
http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Samsung-XP941-Plextor-PX-G256-M6e-M-2-Qualification-575/
http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Overview-of-M-2-SSDs-586/#PerformanceRange

Please come back and let us know what you worked out. 🙂

Thanks for the response. My SSDs are Corsair Force GTs so if all of these different brands are reporting it then it must be the controller or possibly a driver, though I have my doubts about that considering it's a standard intel chipset and I've installed drivers straight from intel's web-site with no success.

The prices of the M2 SSDs aren't terrible, but I really don't feel like going through the trouble of reinstalling everything again. I even thought about returned the two SSDs and getting one larger one, that way I could use the SSD for the SATA3 port and then I could put back in the 1TB HDD for the SATA2 port, but in the end I just don't feel like messing with it. It's still much faster than it was, and that'll have to do until (possibly) there is a bios update or driver update that can rectify it.

[hmscott]

vpshockwave wrote:
Thanks for the response. My SSDs are Corsair Force GTs so if all of these different brands are reporting it then it must be the controller or possibly a driver, though I have my doubts about that considering it's a standard intel chipset and I've installed drivers straight from intel's web-site with no success.

The prices of the M2 SSDs aren't terrible, but I really don't feel like going through the trouble of reinstalling everything again. I even thought about returned the two SSDs and getting one larger one, that way I could use the SSD for the SATA3 port and then I could put back in the 1TB HDD for the SATA2 port, but in the end I just don't feel like messing with it. It's still much faster than it was, and that'll have to do until (possibly) there is a bios update or driver update that can rectify it.

vpshockwave, you don't need to reinstall everything, you can use a program like Macrium Reflect to clone from the install you made on the 2.5" SSD to the M.2 PCIE SSD. I haven't tried to clone with those particular specs, but from 2.5" to 2.5" over internal SATA and between USB 3.0 and internal SATA worked fine. After the cloning, remove the original disk and boot on the new clone.

Macrium Reflect Free
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

The HDD only transfers between 80-100MB/sec, so a 300MB/sec SSD is faster. Plus you get the HDD heat generation out of the laptop, which is a plus.

If you do give an M.2 PCIE SSD a try please come back and let us know how it worked for you 🙂

[danchamp]

Great post guys. So its clear that for a SATA III what the form factor should be.

I am new to laptops as well and just ordered this last night from New Egg. I intend to get an SSD when I can afford it so in a couple of months.

I am confused if there is a form factor for these m.2 SSDs, will these http://goo.gl/AqrjBK all fit easily?

It has a 1 TB old technology drive in it, so if a get an m.2 SSD I shall use it as primary and the old 1 TB as secondary. That is possible right?

Thanks,
DAN

[hmscott]

danchamp wrote:
Great post guys. So its clear that for a SATA III what the form factor should be.

I am new to laptops as well and just ordered this last night from New Egg. I intend to get an SSD when I can afford it so in a couple of months.

I am confused if there is a form factor for these m.2 SSDs, will these http://goo.gl/AqrjBK all fit easily?

It has a 1 TB old technology drive in it, so if a get an m.2 SSD I shall use it as primary and the old 1 TB as secondary. That is possible right?

Thanks,
DAN

danchamp, the Samsung XP941 512GB has been reported as one of the M.2 PCIE SSD's Asus is shipping in their G751's, so it should fit 🙂

You can clone the OS from the HDD to the SSD theoretically, I use Asus Backtracker and Macrium Reflect, but reports have been that they can't get the cloned M.2 PCIE to boot. I would try it and use a Windows 8.1 DVD to do a repair session on the M.2 SSD to fix boot, see if that works. Make sure the original HDD is out of the laptop when you do this.

Macrium Reflect Free
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

Asus Backtracker for Windows 8.1
http://support.asus.com/download.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=3&m=Backtracker&hashedid=n%2fa

Please come back and lets us know how it works out for you, and start a new thread on your experience - how you got it to work 🙂

[yizzle]

Thanks for the responses. That video was helpful indeed. As far as the speed difference, that was the main reason I would really like an m.2 SSD but I just don't think I can spend the extra money right now. I'm thinking maybe I will a decent SATA3 and later on get an m.2 and swap them out, placing the SATA in the second bay, even if it bottlenecks at SATA2 speeds...

[andreacos92]

yizzle wrote:
Thanks for the responses. That video was helpful indeed. As far as the speed difference, that was the main reason I would really like an m.2 SSD but I just don't think I can spend the extra money right now. I'm thinking maybe I will a decent SATA3 and later on get an m.2 and swap them out, placing the SATA in the second bay, even if it bottlenecks at SATA2 speeds...

There's only one little problem.
If you buy now a model with no M.2 SSD preinstalled, then you have not the metal bracket that hold the M.2 drive in the bay.
So you'll have to use adhesive tape or something else 🙂

[hmscott]

andreacos92 wrote:
There's only one little problem.
If you buy now a model with no M.2 SSD preinstalled, then you have not the metal bracket that hold the M.2 drive in the bay.
So you'll have to use adhesive tape or something else 🙂

andreacos92, if everyone that wants a bracket writes in to the Feedback Channel and files a Technical Inquiry, I think Asus will come around and offer it in their estore.

Just like the 2.5" caddies you can get there for the g750/g751, along with batteries, power adapters, keyboard/touchpad top plate, etc - those aren't up for the G751 yet either, but eventually - given historical experience, Asus will get around to it - especially if they get enough requests.

http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=search_list&s[search]=g750&s[title]=Y&s[short_desc]=Y&s[full_d...

Asus didn't offer extra 2.5" caddies at first too...

It's not hard to rig up a splint and sticky tape base for the M.2 PCIE card. I wouldn't let that hold you back.

The only thing I am worried about is that there have been reports of Asus Backtracker backups from HDD not booting after restoring to M.2 PCIE SSD's. I assume they got it working because they never came back, but it would have been nice if they posted what they did. Likely a Windows 8.1 DVD boot for repair will fix the boot problem.

If you do this, and get it working, please post how to do it 🙂

[andreacos92]

hmscott wrote:
andreacos92, if everyone that wants a bracket writes in to the Feedback Channel and files a Technical Inquiry, I think Asus will come around and offer it in their estore.

Just like the 2.5" caddies you can get there for the g750/g751, along with batteries, power adapters, keyboard/touchpad top plate, etc - those aren't up for the G751 yet either, but eventually - given historical experience, Asus will get around to it - especially if they get enough requests.

http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=search_list&s[search]=g750&s[title]=Y&s[short_desc]=Y&s[full_d...

Asus didn't offer extra 2.5" caddies at first too...

It's not hard to rig up a splint and sticky tape base for the M.2 PCIE card. I wouldn't let that hold you back.

The only thing I am worried about is that there have been reports of Asus Backtracker backups from HDD not booting after restoring to M.2 PCIE SSD's. I assume they got it working because they never came back, but it would have been nice if they posted what they did. Likely a Windows 8.1 DVD boot for repair will fix the boot problem.

If you do this, and get it working, please post how to do it 🙂

Hi hmscott, I hope that Asus will sell them of course 🙂

I just remember that nowadays they aren't available. However, imho, it's not a big problem because the performance gap between Sata III and PCIe is very noticeable, even if Asus will not sell the bracket in a short time, adhesive tape and enjoy 🙂