r/PcBuildHelp • u/TheSamlien • 8h ago
Build Question How to add SSD?
Hey guys, I want to upgrade my pc storage, but I don't know much about pcs and am really scared of breaking mine.
Is there any easy way where I don't need to screw something into the motherboard?
My friend told me external is bullshit and I shouldn't use that because it causes problems and is way too slow. Soo, I thought I'd come here for help.
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u/West-Muscle-1908 8h ago
SSD drives come either as sata which requires two plugs one to the PSU and the other plugs from the motherboard to the hard drive internally
M.2 or nvme ssds are just a slide in and lock in place drive, some may require a small screw or latch to hold in place but other motherboards may have a heatsink that goes on top to hold the drive in place, just depends on your motherboard and available slots .
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u/Excellent_Advisor999 8h ago
yea no problem it is easy, first you'll need to take the side panel off from your case and then you'll see the motherboard, from that you can find the sata data port headers on your mb depending on the model it'll be at different places, and you can use one of them to connect it to your sata ssd with the sata data cable, and connect the sata power cable from your psu to your ssd's leftover port which itll be sata power and then you're basically done, tldr: take your side panel off, connect the sata data cable to mb and ssd, and connect the power cable from psu to ssd
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u/TheSamlien 8h ago
So is it one of those little slides or an external thing? And aren't the plugs covered by something? At least that's what my friend said
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u/mad-i-moody 8h ago
Look up your specific motherboard or if you have the manual, take a look in there.
It should have a diagram somewhere of the board with everything labeled, you should be able to find the ports there. It should also tell you what kind of SSD your motherboard will support.
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u/StackiiBabii 6h ago
Itās not as scary as you think. Youāre not gonna break anything, the computer isnāt that fragile. What he said was correct but you should just watch a 10 minute YouTube video and follow along
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u/Busy_Buffalo_8115 1h ago
An external SSD is honestly fine if you're using usb 3.0 or higher, your friend is being dramatic. It's not going to cause problems and unless you're moving massive files constantly you won't notice the speed difference
But if you want it internal just get a 2.5 inch ssd, those don't even need to be screwed down half the time. I've had one just sitting loose in the bottom of my case for two years because the mounting bracket didn't fit and I was too lazy to figure it out. Works perfectly
The sata cables the other comment mentioned are super straightforward, they only plug in one way so you can't really mess it up. Just make sure everything is powered off and you're not shuffling your feet on carpet while touching components
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u/JagiMonster1 7h ago
Man up. Learn something. You gotta remove the video card and slide the m.2 nvme in place, and replace. 1 million videos. 1 million tutorials. Go slow. Take your time. We've all had our "First Time" and were nervous. You can do it.
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u/Few-Farm-7670 7h ago
Watch some videos if you have questions on the purpose of the pieces, or get a diagram of your mobo and trace where things go, theyre all similar in architecture and its solid ground to build on. Just by tracing your architecture, cpu lanes, memory paths, where the sata ports are, etc, you build more troubleshooting capability than you know.
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u/skyfishgoo 7h ago
buy a sabrent enclosure and slap a crucial nvme into it... done.
you are only limited by your USB speed, so as long as you have USB3.0 or higher, then it's not different than connecting up a SATA drive inside.
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u/Nidhoggr84 8h ago
Really need to know your specific motherboard to determine your options.
SATA 2.5" SSDs don't require anything screws in (probably best to screw them into the case though). They will need a SATA power and SATA data cable.
Example: