Adding a second SSD means a free M.2 slot or SATA port, then initialising and formatting the drive in Windows. Check your motherboard manual first, because some M.2 slots share bandwidth with SATA ports and quietly switch one of them off.
Wondering how to add a second SSD to your PC? You need two things: a free connection on the motherboard (an M.2 slot or a SATA port) and a few minutes in Windows Disk Management, because a brand new drive shows up blank and stays invisible in File Explorer until you set it up.
Switch the PC off, fit the SSD into a free M.2 slot or connect a 2.5 inch SATA drive with a data cable and power lead, then boot and open Disk Management. Initialise the disk as GPT, create a new simple volume and give it a drive letter. Before buying, read the motherboard manual, because some M.2 slots disable SATA ports. Internal SSDs run roughly R1,200 to R15,500 depending on size.
Open the manual (the PDF for your exact board model is on the maker's site) and look for the storage section. You are checking three things: how many M.2 slots there are, whether they are SATA or NVMe, and which length they accept, usually 2280, meaning 22 mm wide and 80 mm long.
A quick visual check works too. M.2 slots are small horizontal connectors with a screw standoff at one end, often sitting under a metal heatsink near the CPU. Some boards hide a second one beneath the graphics card, so you may need to remove the card to reach it.
If there is no spare M.2 slot, a 2.5 inch SATA SSD still works well. It needs a free SATA port on the board, a SATA data cable, and a spare power connector from the supply.
Many consumer boards share lanes between the M.2 slots and the SATA ports. The manual may say that populating the second M.2 slot disables two SATA ports. That can quietly disconnect your old hard drive, and the PC then seems to lose a drive for no reason.
Look for a note under the storage specifications, usually marked with an asterisk. If your layout clashes, move the SATA drive to a different port group, or choose a drive type that does not take the shared lanes.
Never force an M.2 stick. It only goes in one way because of the notch in the connector.
Boot the PC and first confirm the BIOS lists the drive. Then right-click Start, choose Disk Management, and a pop-up should offer to initialise the new disk. Pick GPT for anything modern, then right-click the unallocated space, choose New Simple Volume, and follow the wizard with the default size and NTFS format.
A good split is to leave Windows and apps on the first drive and install your game library on the second. This avoids cloning anything and keeps a reinstall simple. A fast solid state drive helps most with load times for big games. If your case or board has no spare slot at all, a plug-in external SSD gives you extra space over USB without opening anything.
NVMe drives throttle when hot, and a closed case in a Gauteng summer gets warm fast. Use the board's M.2 heatsink where it exists, or fit the heatsink the drive came with. A gentle airflow path past the board is worth more than a flashy heatsink.
Check the manual, or look for a screw standoff near the CPU socket. Some boards put a second slot under the graphics card.
A fresh drive has no partition table, so File Explorer ignores it. Initialise it in Disk Management and create a volume. If the BIOS cannot list it, reseat the stick.
On many boards, yes. The storage page of the manual normally lists which pair of ports switches off, so read it before you buy.
You can, but extra storage rarely needs it. Leaving Windows on drive one and games on drive two saves a long reinstall.
Fast NVMe drives slow down when hot. Use the board's own heatsink or the one packed with the drive, and keep the case airflow clear.
For games, capacity usually wins, since most titles load quickly from any SSD. Prices climb mostly with size, from about R1,200 up to R15,500.
Ready to give your PC more room to grow? See the range of internal and external SSDs on Evetech and choose the capacity that fits your game library.
Check the manual, or look for a screw standoff near the CPU socket. Some boards put a second slot under the graphics card.
A fresh drive has no partition table, so File Explorer ignores it. Initialise it in Disk Management and create a volume. If the BIOS cannot list it, reseat the stick.
On many boards, yes. The storage page of the manual normally lists which pair of ports switches off, so read it before you buy.
You can, but extra storage rarely needs it. Leaving Windows on drive one and games on drive two saves a long reinstall.
Fast NVMe drives slow down when hot. Use the board's own heatsink or the one packed with the drive, and keep the case airflow clear.
For games, capacity usually wins, since most titles load quickly from any SSD. Prices climb mostly with size, from about R1,200 up to R15,500.
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