Question How to best make use of a NVMe hard drive?

[Photobug]

I just got a new 500GB Samsung 970 EVO. I do a lot of photography and some video and have had the need in the past to transfer large amounts of data to an external drive.

I am just wondering how to best use my new drive. My first instinct was to use it as my primary system drive, but don't get the feeling its speed would translate to faster startups or program opening on my computer. Would it be better to keep my operating system on the current SSD and use this as a scratch disk and as a working file storage to be backed up to an internal HDD at intervals?

If I was to use it as an operating system is it possible to transfer to the NVMe without having an external case?

 

[VirtualLarry]

If I was to use it as an operating system is it possible to transfer to the NVMe without having an external case?

Yes, use cloning software that supports NVMe devices, I believe Macrium Reflect (Free) will.

 

[Photobug]

Yes, use cloning software that supports NVMe devices, I believe Macrium Reflect (Free) will.

Is it a good idea to use this new NVMe as a systems drive or would it benefit to use it in another capacity?

 

[VirtualLarry]

As a system drive, preferably. Assuming that you have a full-speed M.2 PCI-E 3.0 x4 slot.

 

[Photobug]

As a system drive, preferably. Assuming that you have a full-speed M.2 PCI-E 3.0 x4 slot.

I downloaded the Macrium software, ran it, went to bed. I had read somewhere in this forum there were problems cloning an operating systems drive this way. Woke up this morning, restarted and it not only cloned perfectly. As a bonus, the BIOS automatically put the new NVMe disk first in line. At least that is what I think happened. When I went into BIOS there was a huge line of order(9 places) with one UEFI disk near the front of the order line and one further down being a named Samsung 860 UEFI disk.

Because the SSD was already so fast I have yet to notice any difference and now have to figure out what to do with all the other SATA and one m.2 slots.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Bat123Man]

I downloaded the Macrium software, ran it, went to bed. I had read somewhere in this forum there were problems cloning an operating systems drive this way. Woke up this morning, restarted and it not only cloned perfectly. As a bonus, the BIOS automatically put the new NVMe disk first in line. At least that is what I think happened. When I went into BIOS there was a huge line of order(9 places) with one UEFI disk near the front of the order line and one further down being a named Samsung 860 UEFI disk.

Because the SSD was already so fast I have yet to notice any difference and now have to figure out what to do with all the other SATA and one m.2 slots.

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for the update, I just performed the same procedure with Macrium. Worked like a charm. But I went from a 5400 to a NVMe and the difference is hilarious. As a side note, I initially tried Partition Wizard, but Win10 refused to boot when I switched the boot drives in my BIOS. It's entirely possible that I missed an option I should have selected, but I followed the instructions. At any rate, then I tried Macrium and it worked the first time. I had to manually set my BIOS to the new NVMe boot device, but other than that, the experience was the same.