Why you need an SSD Upgrade – How to install an SSD in a laptop

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This blog was updated in August 2022.

Whether it’s streaming high-resolution videos, playing ultra-realistic games or running resource-heavy programs, we’re always asking for more and more from our PCs. It’s why many of us think about ways to upgrade them.

Often, we’ll consider a new processor, slotting in extra RAM, or investing into the latest generation graphics card. But have you thought about one of the cheapest and easiest upgrades of them all?

Upgrading to a solid-state drive (SSD) is super easy and it’s a great way to improve your system’s responsiveness. From booting up your PC in a matter of second to making your operating system faster to navigate, an SSD really is a must-have in any modern PC. Let’s run though why you need an SSD upgrade, which SSD you should buy, and how to install your new drive into a laptop.

SSDs and HDDs can work together

Solid-state drives are much faster than hard drives. However, upgrading to SSD storage doesn’t mean you have to ditch hard drive storage entirely. Running an SSD alongside a HDD is a great way to compliment it.

A HDD, which likely has the larger capacity of the two, can be used as long-term storage and back-up for all your files and applications. While an SSD can be used to hold the operating system and your other ‘main’ programs, the ones you use on a regular basis.  

This will give you blistering fast load times in your favourite games, programs, and more. Using a hybrid storage system of a large capacity HDD together with a super-fast SSD is highly common among PC users and gamers.

All-in on SSDs

An alternative to a hybrid storage system is to completely replace your HDD with an SSD. Until recently, this wasn’t really an option for most PC users as the few high-capacity SSDs on the market were ridiculously expensive. But that’s changed.

Prices have tumbled and there’s more choice than ever before. Manufacturers produce a whole host of high-capacity SSDs. Now, a 2TB drive can be had for under £150, down from £300 just a few years ago.

If you replace your laptop HDD with an SSD it’ll feel like having a brand-new computer. An SSD doesn’t necessarily speed up the processing power of a PC, but it’ll make loading things up that bit snappier.

Why you should replace HDD with SSD

We’ve already mentioned some of the advantages of an SSD upgrade but let’s round them up:

Speed – The main reason to buy an SSD over a HDD. Even the slowest SSD is going to be noticeably faster than a HDD. Upgrade from a HDD to an SSD, and you won’t believe how fast your load times become. In modern PCs, SSDs are practically essential. An operating system like Windows 11 just isn’t designed with a HDD in mind anymore.

Form-factor – SSDs come in either a 2.5” or M.2 form-factor. 2.5” SSDs are the same size as the smallest HDDs, while M.2 SSDs are no bigger than a stick of gum. This makes them a great option in a laptop or a small form-factor PC. Some Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX computer cases don’t have any 3.5” drive bays, instead relying on 2.5” bays and M.2 slots on your motherboard.

Capacity – While HDDs remain a strong option for getting terabytes’ worth of storage on the cheap, SSDs now come in large capacities too. The most popular capacities are 1TB and 2TB, though they do go up to 4TB. For those on a budget, 120GB, 240GB, and 500GB are ideal as a boot drive in a hybrid storage solution, running alongside a large capacity HDD.

Price – SSDs are continually falling in price, starting at under £20. Considering how much faster your system will feel with an SDD, it’s a fantastic value for money.

Installation – As you’ll see in our installation guide, SSDs are one of the simplest upgrades you can make to your PC. Even if you’ve never handled a PC component before, we’d wager you could install an SSD in under five minutes.

Endurance and Noise – Unlike a mechanical hard drive, a solid-state drive uses no moving parts. This means an SSD is completely quiet even under a heavy load and it’s much more resilient to shocks, ideal for a portable device like a laptop.

Which SSD should you buy?

Browse Ebuyer’s range of solid-state drives and you’re sure to find the one you need. But which SSD you choose very much depends on why you’re upgrading your PC. Let’s take a look at a few options…

Best value SSDs

It wasn’t too long ago that an SSD used to be considered expensive. Now, however, prices have dropped dramatically. So much so that even the cheapest laptops and desktop PCs will include an SSD. There are some great options out there at very low prices.

You can get a basic 120GB 2.5” SATA SSD – that’s enough to hold a Windows 11 operating system – for under £20 at Ebuyer, from a reputable brand such as Kingston.

Sure, it won’t be the fastest drive. But if you’re coming from an HDD, any SSD will be a noticeable upgrade. For context, a hard drive’s transfer rate caps out at around 180MB/s, whereas a SATA SSD comes in at just 600MB/s. Keep these figures in mind when we discuss the other drives. SATA SSDs are a great value for money. Any modern PC should at least have a SATA SSD, there’s no excuse!

Best gaming SSDs

If you’re looking to upgrade to an SSD and add a real boost to your PC’s performance, consider an NVME SSD over a SATA SSD.

As explained in our NVMe SSD vs SATA SSD vs HDD blog, the SATA interface is quite old. A SATA SSD’s transfer rate of just 600MB/s os largely due to the decades-old SATA interface. Fortunately, a new interface was introduced in 2011 to address the growing demand for more and more bandwidth – NVMe.

A NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) SSD slots right into a motherboard’s M.2 slot, transferring data over the PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) bus. It’s the same bus a super-fast graphics card uses. With such direct access to hardware, NVMe SSDs have consistently low 0.00001 second – or 10 microsecond – access times for blistering read-write speeds.

Gamers are always looking for an edge, and trying to squeeze every drop out from their hardware. If you’re a gamer, then PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSDs deliver the unbeatable performance you’re looking for.

For example, the Seagate FireCuda 530 has ridiculously fast performance of up to 7,300MB/s read and 6,900MB/s write. That’s around 12 times faster than your average SATA SSD – imagine how much faster than a HDD is it! It’s one of the best performing SSDs you can buy.

As for capacity, you’ll want at least a 500GB SSD for gaming. For reference, that’s the same size as the Xbox Series S. However, with some games ballooning to over 100GB, you’ll ideally want a 1TB SSD or 2TB SSD.

How to install an SSD in a laptop

Looking to upgrade your laptop’s internal storage but don’t know how? Well, we’ve got the guide for you. Fortunately, installing a solid-state drive into your laptop is one of the easier upgrades anyone can make, even for complete tech novices. It’s not like building a PC where you’ve got to wire things up. For the most part, it’s as simple as removing some screws, dropping the SSD in, and securing it in place.

An SSD in a laptop is a great option for those wanting speed and versatility, while saving on weight too. With SSDs continually falling in price, there’s never been a better time to upgrade to an SSD. Looking for how to install an SSD in a desktop PC? Check out our PC build guides over on the Ebuyer YouTube channel. We also have a guide on how to install a solid-state drive in a PlayStation 5.

WARNING – do not attempt this if you are not confident around the internal components of a computer

1. Locate the storage drive bay. How you access this bay varies model by model, so consult your laptop’s manual. On some models, it may be as simple as unscrewing a cover on the bottom of the laptop to reveal a 2.5” bay. These bays accept 2.5” hard drives and 2.5″ solid-state drives. To get to a laptop’s M.2 slot to install an M.2 SSD, which is located on the motherboard itself, it will require the removal of the bottom panel. As to not strip and screws or snap any clips, we’d strongly advise you to follow the manual or a YouTube ‘teardown’ video for reference.
2. Remove any screws, spacers, and stand-offs in the storage drive bay. You’ll need them to install an SSD securely. It’s important to remove every screw as to not damage the SSD or the laptop. A wrongly placed screw could otherwise interfere with installation and cause a short circuit. Don’t forget the spacers and stand-offs either, as they ensure the SSD isn’t contacting things it shouldn’t. If it’s a 2.5” drive you’re installing, then you may also have to remove a drive ‘caddy’ or ‘sled’ that’s in the bay.
3. If there’s already a drive installed, gently remove it from the bay. Unlike building your own PC, you won’t have to deal with data and power cables in a laptop. It’s simply a case of sliding the drive off the bay’s connector. Take it slow as to not damage the connector, thought it may need a little jiggle. If the old drive is in a caddy, unscrew and slide it out, replacing it with your new drive.
4. Again, there are no cables. So, you just need to line up the connector on the drive with the bay’s connector and push it place. On a SATA SSD, it’s easy to orientate the drive the right way up. You have SATA POWER, the long part of the connector, and SATA DATA, the short part. A M.2 connector is much smaller, but it too uses a notched design with a short and a long part. When slotting an M.2 drive in, it’s best to do it at a slight angle as demonstrated in the image below.
5. Now that the drive is in place, secure it down with the screws you removed earlier. And if there’s supposed to be a spacer in-between the drive and the drive bay, make sure you don’t forget it.
6. Seal up the unit, whether that’s putting the cover or bottom panel back on, and you’re good to go.

Before you install an SSD…

• Clear that static. If you’re worried, you can pick up an anti-static wrist band to keep yourself grounded at all times during installation.
• Make sure the laptop is completely powered down, not just set to sleep. You don’t want to go removing components while it’s still on. And if you’re working inside the laptop, you’ll want to disconnect the battery as well for safety.
• Each laptop will be laid out a little differently. So, check your laptop’s manual for an exact guide on how to access the drive bay, remove the bottom panel, and so on.
• Opening your laptop may void your warranty. So, double check your warranty before you install an SSD in your PC. If you’ve got any concerns, take your laptop to a specialist.
• New SSDs won’t have an operating system pre-installed. This is fine if you’re using it as a secondary drive. However, if it’s replacing an old drive as the new primary boot drive, you’ll need to either clone your old drive or re-install an operating system onto the new one.
• Just in case anything goes awry during installation, back up the contents of your old drive using an external hard drive, a cloud storage solution, and so on. You can then move your back-up over to your new drive.
• Keep the old drive safe if you plan to re-use it. Or, if you’re disposing of it, make sure to wipe it properly as to not leave fragments of your personal information on it.

See the full range of SSDs at Ebuyer

From SATA SSDs to PCIe Gen4 SSDs, we carry drives from all the biggest brands including Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung, and more. You can see the full range of SSDs at the best prices you’ll find online right here at Ebuyer.