I've seen a couple questions similar to this but none of them really sum up the answer well enough to fill me in on my problem.
System SKU Predator G9-791_105B_1.04
Windows 10
128 GB M2 SSD came with PC
1TB 2.5" HDD came with PC
I'm not EXTREMELY hardware savy, but I know a little bit. I opened up my predator, saw that I had a second M2 slot. I jumped on a prime day deal for a Samsung 960 M2 SSD. Didn't think about NVMe vs SATA.
First (set of) question: M2 is JUST a form factor, correct? Has nothing to do with write speeds, or compatability? Does it matter if it has 5 pins on one side and a solid row of pins the rest of the way, vs two sets of 5 pins on the outsides, and the rest of the middle being solid row of pins?
My new SSD is the former, thus limiting orientation of the drive to seem "upside down" when my laptop is flipped for install.
Second: NVMe and SATA are competing technologies, and they are not interchangable? i.e. If a drive is capable of using an M2 SATA it will be incapable of using an M2 NVMe?
Third: Is my motherboard incapable of accepting an NVMe drive?
Fourth: Saw something about this on one of the other topics here, is there a limit to how much drive space can come from the M2 drives? Like if the limit is 512GB, and I already have a 128GB, would adding a 500 not work because 628 GB is over the limit?
Summation question: If indeed NVMe won't work, and there is some kind of limitation on SSD total size, is there anything else I should look for/avoid when buying a different M2 SSD? Arbitrary R/W speed caps, any other standards that I missed beyond form factor and bus type?
Extra Credit: Could it just be me not knowing how to install another storage drive? I inserted the M2 SSD at about a 30 degree angle, made sure it was seated snug, pushed it down. Again, it seemed upside down compared to the existing M2 drive in the first port. Put the panel back on, and started my computer. I went to Disk Management and System Information seperately, and I didn't see it anywhere.
