This $23 gadget is all it’s essential to reuse an outdated NVMe SSD

One of many greatest upgrades I’ve made to my PC lately has been including M.2 NVMe SSDs. NVMe SSDs are a lot quicker than SATA SSDs, which makes booting into Windows and launching video games a lot faster. Though the costs of NVMe SSDs have fluctuated currently, I used to be capable of 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 priceless backup in case one in all my different NVMe SSDs fails unexpectedly — which has thankfully 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.

Fortuitously, 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 by way of a USB-C port. This gadget has enabled me to remodel my outdated NVMe SSD into quick exterior storage, giving it a second life.

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A dependable solution 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 number of months now with my PC, and I have been impressed with its reliability. I can handle information 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 velocity because of the limitations of USB 3.1 Gen 2, so chances are you’ll not have the ability to make the most of the complete velocity capabilities of your SSD. Nonetheless, I am simply utilizing mine for added storage and older video games, so it has been good, 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 quilt off of it, and inside, you may discover an NVMe SSD slot the place you may insert your SSD. Merely slot it in as you’ll 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 prime of the SSD, which can 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 obtainable to be used in Home windows. I had outdated information on mine from my outdated Home windows set up, so I used to be capable of 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 problem. This system saved me a ton of time and lets me use my outdated SSD each time I would like — actually a win-win.

When you’re all for one in all 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 most typical 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, similar to 2242 or 2230. The UGREEN mannequin I am highlighting on this story is appropriate with 2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280 NVMe SSDs.

If you wish to repurpose an outdated NVMe SSD or shortly handle information 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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