This $23 gadget is all it is advisable to reuse an previous NVMe SSD

One of many largest upgrades I’ve made to my PC in recent times has been including M.2 NVMe SSDs. NVMe SSDs are a lot sooner than SATA SSDs, which makes booting into Windows and launching video games a lot faster. Though the costs of NVMe SSDs have fluctuated these days, I used to be in a position to purchase sufficient throughout a Prime Day sale final yr to fill all of the NVMe slots on my PC’s motherboard comparatively affordably.

Nonetheless, I lately disassembled an old PC build and ended up with a spare 2TB NVMe SSD. I did not need to promote it as a result of it is a invaluable backup in case considered one of my different NVMe SSDs fails unexpectedly — which has luckily by no means occurred. So I used to be left with 2TB of high-speed SSD storage that I could not use on my present PC, since all of the slots had been full.

Happily, I found an inexpensive repair — a handy system known as an NVMe SSD enclosure. I bought one from UGREEN on Amazon for $23, which permits me to attach my NVMe SSD to my PC through a USB-C port. This gadget has enabled me to remodel my previous NVMe SSD into quick exterior storage, giving it a second life.

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A dependable method to handle your NVMe SSD

I used it for reformatting my SSD, turning it into an exterior storage system

I have been utilizing the UGREEN NVMe SSD Enclosure I bought for a couple of months now with my PC, and I have been impressed with its reliability. I can handle recordsdata on it, set up video games, and use it if it had been linked internally to my PC. Nonetheless, it’s restricted to 10Gbps of pace because of the limitations of USB 3.1 Gen 2, so you might not be capable to make the most of the complete pace capabilities of your SSD. Nonetheless, I am simply utilizing mine for added storage and older video games, so it has been excellent, and it is higher than the SSD sitting round doing nothing.

The enclosure is straightforward to arrange and took me lower than a minute. Simply slide the duvet off of it, and inside, you may discover an NVMe SSD slot the place you possibly can insert your SSD. Merely slot it in as you’d in your motherboard and rotate the rubber plug on the finish to maintain it in place. From there, place the thermal pad that comes with it on high of the SSD, which is able to assist with warmth dissipation.

Then, merely join the enclosure to your PC utilizing the included USB-C cable, and your NVMe SSD ought to seem and be accessible to be used in Home windows. I had previous recordsdata on mine from my previous Home windows set up, so I used to be in a position to again up something I wanted and reformat the drive. With out this enclosure, I’d have needed to open up my PC and swap it in to do that, which might have been a trouble. This system saved me a ton of time and lets me use my previous SSD every time I need — actually a win-win.

Should you’re thinking about considered one of these, be sure to purchase one which matches the scale of your SSD. I’ve a 2TB Samsung 980 Professional SSD, which has a 2280 measurement code. Normally, the commonest measurement for NVMe SSDs in desktops is 2280. Nonetheless, when you have a smaller M.2 SSD (like one from a laptop computer), it might have a special measurement code, reminiscent of 2242 or 2230. The UGREEN mannequin I am highlighting on this story is suitable with 2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280 NVMe SSDs.

If you wish to repurpose an previous NVMe SSD or rapidly handle recordsdata on one with out putting in it inside your PC, an SSD enclosure is a helpful gadget to have. It is quick and dependable, and at $23 for the UGREEN enclosure I purchased, it does not break the financial institution both.

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