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ROG Strx Scar 18 (2023) - SSD upgrade question (4TB)

Phil_K
Level 8
Hi Hive-mind. 🙂

Has anyone already tried to upgrade the SSDs in the 2023 Scar Strix 18 with double-sided SSDs?
Haven't found any official information about ssd upgrades yet.

The 2TB versions all seem to come with MZVL22T0HBLB-00B00 type SSDs which are "Samsung PM9A1 NVMe", which are single-sided SSDs and 2,38 mm thick.
Guess SSD-1 should be no problem.. maybe the spacer has to be reduced a bit or replaced by another one.

Thanks
Phil.
3,434 Views
11 REPLIES 11

Svan
Level 9
Hi,

I exchanged the 2nd ssd with a single side Kingston Fury Renegade 4TB (version with heat spreader). I get 15 degrees less than the samsung OEM ones.
This ssd is very nice and the speed too. I boycott samsung ones due to data loss news recently.

Greetings.

97594

Hi .

Svan wrote:
Hi,

I exchanged the 2nd ssd with a single side Kingston Fury Renegade 4TB (version with heat spreader). I get 15 degrees less than the samsung OEM ones.
This ssd is very nice and the speed too. I boycott samsung ones due to data loss news recently.


Thank you so much for sharing your experience. My Scar 18 is the single 2TB SSD version and I have a Kingston KC-3000 4TB on the way in addition.

That the Kingston Fury is only single-sided didn't come out that way on the Kingston site.

According to the spec sheet, they are both the same thickness in total. Let's see how close it comes to the WLAN module.

I see from your picture that you have the isolation strip between the WLAN module and the SSD.

Did you arrange it that way?
In some videos it looks like it's actually covering the SSD and the protruding part of the module.

I'll have a look at how the KC-3000 fits. If in doubt, the KC-3000 will then replace the current first SSD and a Fury will go in the 2nd port.

Edit: Btw... Do you have the type code of this SSD? Just to make sure it is a single sided version. Most of the pictures and comments I have found refer to a double sided version. Maybe they have updated the series....

Greetings.
🙂

Svan
Level 9
Hi,

The model is this one : https://www.kingston.com/en/ssd/gaming/kingston-fury-renegade-nvme-m2-ssd?partnum=sfyrd%2F4000g. You can find video on youtube showing the other side but I saw only the reference sticker. I will add a sided picture.

I added isolation strip (Scotch Super 33+ 3M). But it is not mandatory. Was in case the temps going very high like 80 degrees.
The max temp I got is around 48 degrees. And normally the under part should not be hot.

I will for sure replace the 1st SSD later with the same model but may be 2TB.

Greetings 🙂

97597
(on the top side of this picture is the heat spreader you saw in my installed picture)

Hi.

And sorry that I come back to this tropic so late.
Thanks for sharing the side images, but I have to say... your Kingston Fury also looks like a double sided SSD. 🙂

But that's no problem. Before seeing your answer my Kingston KC3000 had arrived, I cloned my old drive and installed the Kingston... without any problem. During normal usage it stays around 25°C after high load it's around 30°C.

As a result I tend to say my thread is solved. Using a double sided SSD which is not thicker than 3.3 - 3.5 mm seems to be safe.

My Scar 18 was ordered only with one 2TB SSD, so the second slot was empty.
I have attached a row of images as one to show how it looks.

97822

Greetings
Phil.

Svan
Level 9
Hi again thanx for sharing your experience and the nice pictures. The Fury Renegade and the KC3000 models are identical in size : 80 x 22 x 3,5mm (2To-4To version).
On Kingston website your model with the right size is specified : Double-sided. For the Fury it's not specifeid. Since they have same thickness have great chance that the Fury is double-sided too. Did you isolate with the board ? Greetings.

I just got the 2TB version. It is single sided. Works like a charm. No isolation. Runs at 25-27 degrees while idle. 🙂 

Sorry for the late reply but the forum switch delayed it.

Indeed I added a strip of isolation, starting at the M.2 socket across the wifi module up to the connector cable at the left side.
It's just in case. The KC3000 has a label on its backside so also the graphen layer is covered.
But it looks to me that there is even some air between the KC3000 and the wifi module.

The top isolation is the default which was attached there by ASUS.

Svan
Level 9

No problem @Phil_K. I read your private message. Me I didn't set back the default top isolation. I was thinking it will give promblem to the sdd heat spreader to evacuate heat. Greetings.

@PixelenforcerThanx for the report. Yes temps are great on those ssd.

Phil_K
Level 8

@Svan
Related to the temperature... hard to say how much that makes a difference.
The Kingston SSD Manager shows me 25-27°C during normal use and around 30°C after some 360° video editing with load on CPU/GPU raising their temperatures too. Those video files are on the KC3000.

In summary, it was all quite unproblematic and I'm satisfied with the actual performance.
It is a pity that Asus did not include a maximum height / thickness for the SSDs in the manual.

But unfortunately there is no changelog for the bios updates too. 😉