Storage (Internal vs Module): Newbie would like some assistance

Community Support
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No but there is room to put a small copper shim.

Yes, if US based the SK Hynix P31 and P41 are highly recommended as is the Solidigm P44 Pro.

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I’m really impressed with this community overall so far. This has been quite encouraging that I’m making the right decision.

@GhostLegion, thank you for your help. I’ll check out the memory you’re recommending.

Is there a ram option that is superior in all the aforementioned qualities as well? I’d been using crucial for a while, but not getting a warm fuzzy about them at this point.

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You can only use the specs that Framework provides, any will work assuming they meet the voltage and frequency specs. Personally, I would just get the ones Framework provides.

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Yeah but it isn’t price competitive so you have to really want it and marginal benefit. Kingston Hyperx Impact CL20. It’s the only kit that is better than CL22 and doesn’t require XMP.

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Great, thanks will check this out as well.

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Do note that if you are looking at the new laptops, while there are some users who were able to get Windows 10 working on the 12th gen laptop (you can attempt the recommendations in this thread ), Framework does not officially support Windows 10 on their 12th gen laptops, so it may be hard to upkeep your installation. You can see an official statement from a Framework employee on the matter in the thread I linked above. You may be able to find a used/refurbished 11th gen mainboard, but 12th gen likely will never get official support, which makes me assume that 13th gen and AMD may not get it either.

Something to note is that there are projects like Tiny11 which is a version of Windows 11 that has already had a nice amount of debloating done to it.

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@Azure Thank you for the input. I’d seen something mentioned about Tiny11 after looking for reviews on Win11. I will look more closely.

And, deeply appreciate your advice with regard to 13th gen vs previous iterations of the computer, this will save me from suffering transition headaches and unnecessary downtime.

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Does anyone know the height/clearance needed for the NVME? It was suggested there’s enough room for a copper shim heat sink. Have looked and can’t locate this spec. WD makes a 2T and 4T NVME with an attached heat sink.

I keep reading larger sized (2T and up) SSDs produce a fair amount of heat and then suffer performance issues.

Does real world experience bear this out in the framework?

Does partitioning OS from storage on the same drive mitigate this?

Does keeping the OS and programs separate of storage (external storage media) assist in this?

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Note despite my concerns, most have reported a copper pad works well. Just not the huge heatsink WD supplies with these drives!

Yes but only under sustained load. The faster they are, the quicker they get over the load and go back to idle.

Depends on your usage pattern. The OS involves mostly reading, not writing. Storage - if you’re using large games then lots of reading and potentially lots of writing (though in bursts).

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@Fraoch You say that but the shim hasn’t been a problem for me :man_shrugging:

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True, most have reported it works fine. I would worry about it pressing underneath the keyboard but no one has reported any ill effects.

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Thanks for the feedback and the technical details. Again, I’m impressed with the level of support and information from the community.

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What experiences does the community have with the 1T module? Stable? Worth it? Better off getting an external NVME enclosure and buy another NVME?

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I’d avoid WD for now. I’ve seen too many threads about screw ups in firmware. Don’t own one myself so can’t speak from personal experience. Plus I recall they were known to run hot. This latest batch might be better tho. Check reviews for that.

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I got the 1TB 770SN from WD and had no luck with it,- it came with either a broken controller or hardware.

After replacing it with a Samsung 990 Pro 1TB I had no such issues for 2 months now, running rock solid.

So I fear I have to agree with @GhostLegion here. Competition is good and WD does make good drives, the current NVME lines however do not look to be as reliable for many of us.

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Thanks

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I’d again like to offer my gratitude for all the help.

I ordered my Framework 13th edition Intel last night (lower i7 version.) Also ordered memory separately going with Kingston ImpactX 2x16 3200, CL20 and WD 2T Black 850x. (got really good prices on these.) I figure if the WD craps the bed, so-to-speak, my next choice may be the SK 41p.

In all the reviews I read, none of the drives seem to be without issues of some kind and all seem to be a roll of the dice with regard to getting a dud: sad as this is with regard to QC in manufacturing.

Because I can’t afford to be down too long I ordered Win11pro mainly b/c of not having to be attached at the hip with Microsoft as I’m to understand one needs to be with the home version.

I’d appreciate some guidance with regard to the following two items:

  1. Recommendation(s) for a USB-C/thunderbolt NVME enclosure that will accommodate a drive with a heat sink and hopefully not weigh all that much for travel to create an extension/storage drive. Not sure if this is wise, but I’m looking toward a 4T drive to house and begin cleaning up all the files I have in various drives, eventually to have a backup of this as well.

  2. A good clear, comprehensive guide with regard to debloating as much if not ALL of the crap that is attached to Win11pro. I know right off I do not want Cortana, Edge the resident virus crap and any other communication with MS beyond update comms to keep the OS operationally smooth. I had some issues getting the crap off of Win10pro and not sure I was all that successful.

Thanks.

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The price difference between usb and thunderbolt is quite steep there.
You can get generic dual protocol (sata and nvme) ones for <20$ like this one for example (the heatsink is mostly show but I guess you could add a thermal pad to actually use it).

Thunderbolt ones were over 100$ last time I looked, not much cheaper than the cheap egpu boards (I though I could build a cheaper egpu board out of one but turns out the adt-link egpu thing is already a thunderbolt m.2 enclosure with a pcie adabter on it XD)

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A 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 enclosure would be very fast and a good compromise between the older 10 Gbps ones and the very expensive Thunderbolt ones.

Something like https://www.amazon.ca/Enclosure-Adapter-Aluminum-External-4TB-M233GY/dp/B0BKPP2QDY - a good brand and a good rating.

20 Gbps = 2.5 GB/s, not too shabby.

Cooling is passive with all these enclosures, so you want an all-metal one preferably with fins. The more metal the better.

There are 40 Gbps USB 4.0 ones that are more expensive but still less than a proper Thunderbolt enclosure. 40 Gbps = 5.0 GB/s

https://www.amazon.ca/INDMEM-USB-4-0-Compatible-Thunderbolt/dp/B0B9732VFL (cooling could be better on that one)

https://www.amazon.ca/Enclosure-External-Aluminum-Compatible-Thunderbolt/dp/B09TZYF48V (cooling seems to be better but I do not like their statement about incompatible drives, and price is getting up there)

Gives you an idea at least. You don’t have to go all the way to Thunderbolt 4 if you need high speed.

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Pretty sure that’s just thunderbolt