The data transfer cable is what you will use to clone your existing hard drive onto your new SSD using your laptop’s USB port. All the cables are pretty much the same, and you can pick one up ...

SATA M.2 drives tend to be far more affordable than PCIe drives.The 500GB version of the WD Blue drive we used was going for $110 when we wrote this. A 512GB WD Black M.2 PCIe SSD was going for $173.

Make sure you plug into a SATA 6Gbps/SATA 3.0 port if you’re installing a solid state drive. Otherwise, performance may be constrained. Once you’re all set up, close your computer and start it up.

Samsung 850 EVO SATA SSD Boot drive Crystal benchmark Seagate Firecuda M.2 NVMe Boot drive Crystal benchmark, over an x4 PCIe 2.0 interface.