ASUS S200E SSD Upgrade Guide


Here is a step-by-step photo tutorial for upgrading the S200E to utilize a fast SSD!

2016 UPDATE: My top SSD recommendation is the Samsung 850 EVO series. They start at around $70 for the 120GB version and they go all the way up to 2TB. Huge performance improvement vs the default HDD.

RATING NOTE: while this upgrade is a little more difficult than some others, the new SSD still resulted in a HUGE performance improvement so I give this upgrade a 4.5/5 star rating 🙂

28 comments

  • LaptopLuvr88

    Thank you for the guide, it really helped me get my S200E case open… could not figure it out before!

    Also, do you have any tips on Windows 8 Pro clean installation on S200E? I am having a terrible time with it… 🙁 Thank you in advance! 🙂

    • Hi LaptopLuvr,
      Thank you for your comment, I am glad the guide helped you!

      Can you elaborate on the issue(s) you are experiencing with clean installing Win8 Pro on the S200E/X202E/Q200E style laptops?

      Best regards,
      -JD

  • tddrs

    Just what I was looking for…..did you update to the Elan touchpad driver also?
    If you did, does it require 2 x finger scrolling and where is the configuration file?
    Thx

  • Imam Fletcher

    Thank you for the guide. I feel comfortable opening my S200E now. What SSD do you recommend for the S200E? I want at least 200GB and would like to keep it under $250 if possible. Thank you.

    • Hi Imam,
      Thank you for your comment. I am excited that you too are going to upgrade your S200E! 🙂

      My top SSD recommendation at the moment, while still meeting your price and size criteria, is the Samsung 840 256GB SSD. As of today it is available on Amazon for less than $171 and has nice performance and reliability characteristics. I am using the 500GB version of that SSD in my S200E and the performance has been excellent. 🙂

      Please let me know if you have any other questions Imam and good luck with your nice upgrade!

      Best regards,
      -JD

      NOTE: whichever SSD you end up choosing, make sure it is 7mm height as 9.5mm height drives are too thick and will not fit in the S200E/X202E/Q200E (unless you modify/remove the SSD casing which normally voids the SSD warrnty :-().

  • J.D.

    I recently followed your instructions and changed the HDD on my S200E for a 840 SSD 256GB. I used the Samsung software to clone and your instructions for opening up the laptop. I found it very straightforward and my computer just booted up exactly as I left it. Performance is now quicker (boot up and shut down impressively so). However, I think that the internal fan is in use more now than with the HDD (but don’t want to swap the HDD back to test this!). Is this a normal effect? I check Taskmanager and don’t note any stuck programs that are monopolising the CPU. Any ideas?

    thanks

    • Hi Alex,
      Thank you for your comment. I apologize for taking so long to respond!

      I too have noticed the fan being on quite a bit in my S200E with SSD. Unfortuntaely, I did not leave the HDD in long so I cannot really compare SSD vs. HDD fan levels 🙁

      However, something that might be a factor is this:
      -with a slow hard drive (HDD) the performance bottleneck is often the HDD, not the CPU… therefore the CPU may be idle (using less power) while waiting for the HDD to catch up
      +with a fast solid state drive (SSD) the performance bottleneck is often the CPU, not the SSD… therefore the CPU may be running more often or at higher speeds (and hence using more power) since it is not pausing while waiting for data

      Sorry to not be able to explain that more succinctly. I have read reviews in the past where they discuss the battery life impact of SSDs and they specifically address that more (CPU) work can be done in a shorter amount of time when the usage scenario is storage bound (because the CPU is never starved for data).

      However, the above discussion is only relevant if the CPU were to stay active… a more common scenario would be that an SSD could allows tasks to be completed more quickly and if no other tasks remain then everything (CPU/SSD/etc.) could then idle.

      I hope some of this makes sense and I am sorry to not have a better answer for you!

      Best regards,
      -JD

      PS A couple things to try that might help reduce the fan usage:
      +if you have not updated to the latest BIOS/UEFI version for your S200E I would try recommending that as sometimes improvements there can reduce fan usage
      +try adjusting the Windows power usage plan/settings

  • Patrick

    Many thanks for the guide.
    I was wondering if you could comment on the battery life after your SSD upgrade.

    Thanks again.

    Patrick

    • Hi Patrick, thank you for your question. Sorry for taking such an eternity to respond!

      I estimate battery life improved by approx 10-15% with the Samsung 840 SSD. The newer 850 EVO SSDs are probably even better.

      Have a great rest of the weekend 🙂
      -J.D.

      • Patrick

        Many thanks for your reply. I did use the SSD in an old laptop and found that it did work a lot better than with the original drive. unfortunately the laptop died after a few months!

        Thanks again for your reply, it is much appreciated even after all these years! 😉

        Patrick

        • Dear Patrick,
          I am very glad that I could help. Thanks for the kind comment and for taking the time to comment even after all these years. Have a GREAT day!! 👍

          Best regards,
          -J.D.

  • Bruce Warnick

    hi J.D.

    I just installed the Intel 6235 WIFI card and additional antennae into my ASUS S200E. Everything went as you discussed in your article. However, I’m not getting a connection into my home WIFI. I have checked it out and it is working just fine. Is there a software switch I need to give attention to to engage the new WIFI card?

    thanks for your article,

    Bruce

    • Hi Bruce,
      Thank you for your comment. I am sorry to hear that things are not working correctly yet with your upgraded wifi card. 🙁

      Could you answer a few questions for me:
      +did a ‘new hardware found’ dialog box popup in Windows the first time you booted your laptop after installing the card?
      +did you have to install any drivers?
      +does a wifi card show up in your Windows device manager? Start->Control Panel->Devices and Printers->Device Manager
      ++if not, do you see any unknown devices listed?

      If none of those things occurred, then it may be a case of a defective wifi card…

      Otherwise, if the card is showing up in Windows and you simply can’t connect to your particular home wifi network then we can troubleshoot that…

      Please let me know Bruce and I will try to help further!

      Best regards,
      -JD

  • Taylor

    Is the hard drive screwed in? I can not get it removed with just the tab.

  • Marco

    Hi J.D.
    is the internal antennae necessary for using 6235 WIFI card or is just for getting a performance improvement?
    Can I just replace the original card with 6235 WIFI card without adding anything else?

    Thanks for this great guide!
    Best,
    Marco

    • Hi Marco,
      Thank you for your nice comment 🙂 I believe to utilize bluetooth and get the best performance, the 6235 would do best with two antennas.

      Let me know if you have any other questions, and if you go through with the upgrade(s) please let me know how you like it!

      Best regards,
      -J.D.

  • Marco

    Hello J.D.,
    thank you for your answer!

    I’ve just opened my s200e and I saw that 2 cables (one to to main and one to aux) are already connected to my wi fi card.

    What do you think is better to do?

    Best,
    Marco

    • Hi Marco,
      That is great that your s200e already has two antennas! You should be able to utilize them both if your new wifi card has two connectors, or if your new wifi card only has one antenna you can just use the ‘main’ connector.

      Hope that helps, if I didn’t answer your question completely please let me know!

      Best regards,
      -J.D.

  • Ben

    Hey,

    Found your link and wanted to update a fix for the S200e/X202.

    I got the interior open and replaced the thermal paste (TIM) with Arctic MX4 (leftovers!); nice walkthrough on youtube without commentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqx0-g3URiI

    Cleaned the fan assembly & installed thin heat sinks over thermal pads: http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f108/asus-vivobook-s200-x202e-q200-overheating-thermal-throttling-solved-883009.html

    It now takes an extra few minutes but instead of throttling, my S200 just crashes; that was the problem I was trying to fix! Still, a few quid (GBP) down but happy in the knowledge I’ve done pretty much all I can.

    Just waiting for my new laptop to arrive… Core i7 in a similar shell (not Asus this time); hoping no overheating issues!

    Ben

    • Dear Ben,
      Thank you for your detailed comment. I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing a crashing issue with your S200 🙁 It sounds like you really have done everything possible.

      I hope you enjoy your new Core i7 based laptop! 🙂

      Best regards,
      -J.D.

  • miguel angel

    hi,

    the second antenna can be installed on keyboard, and thus bluetooth functionality works properly???

    thanks a lot!

  • itspiank

    Hi There.

    what about the windows? the windows is preinstalled in the old HDD, and I don’t have the serial number for it. How to install windows in the new SDD. any software we need to use?

    thanks for your feedback.

  • P. J. Martin

    Hi J.D.,

    Do you think the Samsung 750 EVO is a good option over the 850 EVO? My S200E has just 2 GB of RAM.

    Have a great day. Thank you for your helpful blog.

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