Question MSI GT75 Expanding Storage Questions

[Omega83]

Hi guys. I have an MSI GT75 Laptop, that currently has about 6.5TB of total storage spread across 4 SSD's:

1x 500GB SSD
1x 4TB SSD
2x 1TB SSD (m2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus)

With my pending Stimulus Check, I am thinking about getting 2 2TB m2 SSD's, and have been looking at the following for that:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsun...ith-v-nand-technology/6347286.p?skuId=6347286

I would be replacing the 2x 1TB SSD's with 2x 2TB SSD's.
I have a few questions before I proceed:

1. Does the 2TB m2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus SSD have the same size dimensions as the 1TB m2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus SSD, just with larger storage capacity? I would be ordering 2 of them online, as they are not available in my local Best Buy Store.

2. I primarily use my Laptop for games. Instead of dealing with moving around games and uninstalling/re-installing them, would it be better and easier to just do a System Reformat? If yes, I would do that before installing the SSD's.

Thoughts and help greatly appreciated

 

[FreezerBurn]

Wow, so I actually had to go find the manual for this one because OMG that's a lot of hard drives for a laptop. First thing you manual gives you two option for storage.
HDD 1 x SATA interface for 2.5” HDD device
SSD (option 1)
2 x M.2 slots, support PCIe or SATA SSD device
1 x M.2 slot, supports PCIe SSD device
SSD (option 2)
2 x M.2 slots, support PCIe or SATA SSD device
1 x M.2 slot, supports PCIe SSD device
2 x M.2 slots, ONLY support Intel® PCIe SSD device

Anyway. Those two M2 NVMe are the same size dimensions. If your not changing the SSD your OS is on you should not have to do a system reformat. One thing to think about is a video breakdown of that laptop shows 3 NVMe slots but the heatsink really only covers two... I would watch the temps.

 

[Omega83]

Wow, so I actually had to go find the manual for this one because OMG that's a lot of hard drives for a laptop. First thing you manual gives you two option for storage.
HDD 1 x SATA interface for 2.5” HDD device
SSD (option 1)
2 x M.2 slots, support PCIe or SATA SSD device
1 x M.2 slot, supports PCIe SSD device
SSD (option 2)
2 x M.2 slots, support PCIe or SATA SSD device
1 x M.2 slot, supports PCIe SSD device
2 x M.2 slots, ONLY support Intel® PCIe SSD device

Anyway. Those two M2 NVMe are the same size dimensions. If your not changing the SSD your OS is on you should not have to do a system reformat. One thing to think about is a video breakdown of that laptop shows 3 NVMe slots but the heatsink really only covers two... I would watch the temps.

Thank you so much for your help and info! I took the case off my laptop and removed heat sync today, and took pics of what it looks like inside where the SSD's go. I did notice that the 500GB SSD I have is indeed Intel brand, and that SSD has the OS installed on it. My thinking is, could I move that Intel SSD to one of the 2 Intel SSD slots, and keep one of the 1TB SSD's? Then remove the other 1TB SSD, and replace that with a 2TB SSD and add another 2TB SSD? I am thinking that I would have to do a System Reformat to make this all work easily, but wonder if I should do Reformat before, or after moving the Intel SSD from where it is to one of the 2 Intel SSD slots (If that is possible). I am attaching some images of what I am working with. Further thoughts and help appreciated

https://imgur.com/a/bN1yiEG

 

[FreezerBurn]

Thank you so much for your help and info! I took the case off my laptop and removed heat sync today, and took pics of what it looks like inside where the SSD's go. I did notice that the 500GB SSD I have is indeed Intel brand, and that SSD has the OS installed on it. My thinking is, could I move that Intel SSD to one of the 2 Intel SSD slots, and keep one of the 1TB SSD's? Then remove the other 1TB SSD, and replace that with a 2TB SSD and add another 2TB SSD? I am thinking that I would have to do a System Reformat to make this all work easily, but wonder if I should do Reformat before, or after moving the Intel SSD from where it is to one of the 2 Intel SSD slots (If that is possible). I am attaching some images of what I am working with. Further thoughts and help appreciated

https://imgur.com/a/bN1yiEG

My understanding is if you are wanting to move the OS to a different drive than you will most likely have to do a wipe and reinstall.

 

[Omega83]

My understanding is if you are wanting to move the OS to a different drive than you will most likely have to do a wipe and reinstall.

Thank you for helping me! Would the Intel 500GB SSD I have work in one of the 2 Intel SSD slots? If that SSD does work in one of the Intel SSD slots, would I need to do the reformat? My concern is that there is not a Heat Sync over the Intel SSD slots. Am not sure what the easiest route would be for me.

 

[FreezerBurn]

It should work fine. While I normally just start fresh, below is a site that talks about transferring windows and migrating... never done it but maybe it will help.
Windows 10 transfer

 

[Omega83]

It should work fine. While I normally just start fresh, below is a site that talks about transferring windows and migrating... never done it but maybe it will help.
Windows 10 transfer

Thanks again for your help. Um, is it ok to put the Intel SSD that I have in one of the Intel SSD slots, even though they don't have a Heat Sync?

 

[FreezerBurn]

I run an NVMe without a heatsink and I have yet to have an issue, but I don't know what their temps sit at.

 

[Omega83]

Hi guys. I got my Stimulus money today in my Bank Account, and placed order for the 2 2TB Samsung Evo Plus 970 SSD's. They should both arrive this Wednesday. Before I proceed with switching out and swapping around my SSD's, I have a few questions about the System Reformat process:

- How should I go about doing the Reformat? What are my options?

- When I ordered my laptop about 3 years ago, it came with a bootable Windows 10 USB. If I use that, do I need to have an OS currently installed on one of the SSDs? Currently, the W10 OS is on the 500GB SSD and I am thinking about putting the OS on one of the 1TB SSD's I already have. For the 3 SSD slots that are under the Heat Sync, I would put the 1TB SSD (with the OS), and the 2 2TB SSD's.

Thoughts and help appreciated

 

[largeGAMER]

Can i be nosey and ask why you need so much storage on a laptop? hahaha

My 1TB drive is way more than i'll ever need.