SK Hynix Gold NVME, Acer Aspire 5, i-5 A515-56 Is it a noticeable improvement over the Factory drive

KanagawaTomasu

Has anyone used the SK Hynix Gold 31 drive in their Aspire 5?

(It is a Gen 3 x 4 drive, same as the mother-board.)

How well did it work for you? Did it run hot?

Is it a noticeable improvement over the Factory drive?

This laptop had an Intel 670p NVME Drive.

(I notices there are several Hynix drives listed in the Acer Manual for this laptop.)

Let me hear from you.

Cheers!

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

KanagawaTomasu

By the way, I used the cloning software that was provided by SK Hynix at no cost.

It is Macrium Reflect. Only took about a half hour for the clone. The Intel Drive and the

SK Hynix drive are both 500 GB. There was only about 100 GB of data to copy.

I am happily surprised how easy it was.

Seriously, the hardest part of the clone was getting the back off the laptop.

(Especially if you forget 1 screw…. Luckily, I finally noticed it.)

Cheers!

KanagawaTomasu

Becon001,

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, I have a back up, good point.

I have the P5 Plus, but after asking lot's of questions,

I decided NOT to use a Gen 4 NVME drive in this Gen 3 Laptop.

I did not notice anything about "compatibility" on reelssaver.net.

I am fairly certain of compatibility at this point.

I did not notice anything about that on your link.

Thanks again,

Cheers!

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1255479#Comment_1255479

Western Digital is also used for NVMe Gen3 x4 SSD in this model, I would go for the Samsung 970 Pro EVO, 2940MB/s, much faster sequential read speed than the Hynix Gold S31. 😉

KanagawaTomasu

Thanks for your suggestions. The SK Hynix Drive is installed and running.

I described the installation process in my first message.

But I do appreciate your suggestions.

At this point I have nothing left to upgrade. (I am not messing with the Wi-Fi.)

I do like hearing your suggestions and other Acer users experiences.

It is my habit to ask a lot of "general, non-specific" questions and to ramble on.

There you have it.

KanagawaTomasu

Guess I will leave the "open question" to see if anyone on the Acer Community Blog "chimes in" to tell me about their experience with the SK Hynix Gold P31 (Gen 3 x 4) drive in an Acer Laptop.

BTW, I don't dislike the suggested brand name drives, I use some Samsung Drives, as well.

Thanks everyone!!

Cheers!

KJN9000000

The biggest difference in Nvme drives regardless of brand is the listed speed reads and writes and the longevity of those speeds depending on if the drive has a nand cache. Other things that matter are TLC vs QLC vs SLC chips. Finally the warranty and number of TB written before failure is also important for longevity and performance over time

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1255968#Comment_1255968

Best M.2 SSD drives for both longevity and speed at sequential read/write are the Samsung M.2 SSD drives bar none, I've used Samsung for over 7 years both in the 2.5" SSD format and the M.2 SSD format. I'm using both a 970 EVO NVMe® M.2 SSD (as there is NO 970 Pro available anymore) in my Nitro AN515-56 and its an excellent M.2 drive, its 3500MB/s sequential read and 3300MB/s write speeds are there all day long,

I'm using a Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD in my Swift SFX14-52G, that was fitted with a 1TB WD SN530 Gen 3x4 for its boot drive into the M.2 Gen 4 slot and this drive was like running crazy hot, as when I upgrade the drive to the Gen 4 M.2 and opener the laptop, I couldn't touch the M.2 SSD, as that is how hot it was even when this M.2 drive had a length of a 1.5mm thick thermal pad stuck right across the whole top of the M.2 drive, so figure that out, maybe Acer is saving costs or they have got too many Gen 3 M.2 drives left over as that Gen3x4 drive is definitely not suitable for the SFX14-51G laptop😀.

The Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD is an excellent drive with exceptional speeds of 6900MB/s read 6700MB/s write all day long. What I've also found is that WD M.2 drives are like 20% slower than the Samsung M.2 SSD drives as an overall speed analyzation. That is my experience with these M.2 drives.

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

KanagawaTomasu

Good information Gents, thanks much!

I use a Samsung 980 Pro in my Acer Predator (Helios 300 etc., etc.) and I have an Acer GM7000 (Predator) in the other NVME slot. It is rated "almost" as high as the 980 Pro. There is a Samsung 860 Evo SATA drive next to the battery.

About the SK Hynix Gold P31; It has TLC nand, it has DRAM casche, It is rated highly in the Gen 3 class, 3500 Read/3200 Write, (?) It has 4 channels, it is made by one of the top 3 Nand Makers in the world.

And my laptop boots from OFF to log in screen in LESS than 10 seconds. (Scout's honor!)

Thus far, it does NOT seem to run hot.

You made your case very well. You don't have to convince me.

I like Samsung drives, too!

😆 Thanks again.

KanagawaTomasu

As stated above, I like Samsung drives, too.

I am looking for information about the Gen 3, SK Hynix Gold.

Cheers!

KanagawaTomasu

https://www.techpowerup.com/ssd-specs/sk-hynix-gold-p31-500-gb.d445

Here you go, one and all. Specs', right from the Manufacturer.

That's all folks.

KanagawaTomasu

There is the link to a review by Thom's Hardware, as well.

(In the above article)

KanagawaTomasu

To answer my own question: after a few weeks of use…..

The SK Hynix Gold P31 is MUCH better than the Intel 670p, OEM drive that came in this laptop.

How so?? Boot times are faster. Software, any app, loads faster.

Specs/performance:

The SK Hynix Gold P31 rates a "close second" to the Samsung 970 Evo Plus, mentioned in this discussion.

I highly recommend this drive if you just "gotta-have" a Gen 3x4 NVME.

Cheers!

"Thanks" to those who "answered up", and offered advice.

(What WAS Acer thinking?? Putting a Gen 3 NVME with an 11th Gen (i-5) CPU???)

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1256863#Comment_1256863

The standard has always been imo that the Samsung SSDs are best and most reliable quality drives, while the WD and the Seagate HDDs and SSDs are also well renowned for their quality, and yes I know that today there are allot more manufacturers of drives and M.2 SSD drives but if you want quality and reliability then you can't go past those renowned manufacturers, as you can't take any chances with data loss. As an example, I'm still using an old 2.5" Samsung 850 EVO and it still works perfectly, as are all the M.2 SSD Samsung drives that I've installed, as I wonder how long some of these new drive manufacturers drives will last, as allot of them overheat and run really hot especially these new Gen 5 and 4 M.2 drives that need coolers and are only suitable for desktops.

There is a Tom's Hardware test called SSD Benchmarks Hierarchy 2024 where in their benchmark the quickest Gen 5 and the quickest drive that they have ever tested is the Teamgroup Z540 2TB rated at Seq. MB/s of 12,112, and their #1 and their quickest Gen 4 M.2 SSD is the Crucial T500 2TB at Seq. MB/s of 6,904 and at #7 is the WD SN850X Black 2TB at Seq. MB/s of 6,827 and at #26 is the Samsung 990 Pro 2TB at Seq. MB/s of 6,985. The quickest SK Hynix is at #21 and its the SK Hynix Platinum P41 2TB at Seq. MB/s of 6,919. Its all relative to what you use these drives for as their speeds are way more than allot of people need. Good luck

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

KanagawaTomasu

StevenGen,

Way cool! 😎 I have not seen that before. Thanks! I will go over that several times.

Cheers! Thanks again!

KanagawaTomasu

https://versus.com/en/intel-670p-512gb-vs-sk-hynix-gold-p31-500gb

https://versus.com/en/intel-670p-512gb-vs-sk-hynix-gold-p31-500gb

https://versus.com/en/intel-670p-512gb-vs-sk-hynix-gold-p31-500gb

KanagawaTomasu

NOTE to Moderater;

I think the middle link (above) works. You may cut or remove the other two. They are all the same link.

Thanks!

Kanagawa Tomasu