Maximum Link Width 1x - Does M.2 NVMe SSD still make sense?

[pseller]

I have seen

which explains (between 1:00 and 2:30) that PCI Express Version 3.0 and Maximum Link Width 2x are minimum, and 4x is highly recommended.

Unfortunately, my Toshiba Portégé Z30-C 12Z only has Maximum Link Width 1x.
Do you agree that I should better get myself an Samsung 860 Evo M.2 SATA SSD rather than my currently bought Samsung 970 Evo M.2 NVMe SSD?

Or is there some - not too expensive - way I could upgrade my laptop, so that I could use Maximum Link Width 4x or at least 2x?
Is the RealTek Semiconductor RTS5227 PCI-E Card reader with Maximum Link Width 1x possibly the component responsible for the 1x Maximum Link Width of the PCI Express Root Port?
And could replacing this component make the difference?

 

[Dalai]

Did you already install the drive? If so, please find the drive itself in the component tree and check the link width there. The Realtek card reader has nothing to do with it.

Apart from that I wouldn't worry too much about it. Even if the link width is lower, the drive will still work as far as I know, only slower than it could be. Drives last quite a long time these days and maybe it gets used in another system sometime in the future, where its potential can then be fully utilized.

Regards
Dalai

 

[pseller]

Thanks for your point of view.

I tried to install the NVMe SSD, but failed, as it requires an NVMe driver which can only be installed when the SSD is connected internally.

And as I didn't manage to boot the computer from my Windows start medium USB stick, and it will not start from the NVMe SSD - but easily from the old SATA SSD - I do not know how I shall get the NVMe SSD running on my laptop (it only has one slot).

Cloning the old SATA SSD onto the new NVMe SSD has not given me a working system.
Any idea how to solve the problem?

 

[Martin]

You should check your laptop documentation as there might be slots/ports present but disabled by BIOS when not used. Such disabled ports are then not visible to software.
Sometimes the SMBIOS DMI can give some clues about available ports, but this is not always reliably populated by the BIOS.
For Windows 10 there should be no special driver required for NVMe.

 

[Dalai]

Do you have a manual for this system? From what I can gather online the system doesn't support NVMe but only SATA for the M.2 slot/interface. Exact model on the German website: https://de.dynabook.com/discontinued-products/portege-z30-c-12z/
Very similar model in the UK: https://uk.dynabook.com/discontinued-products/portege-z30-c-12u/
Both of them say

Solid State Drive capacity : 256 GB
interface : M.2 SATA

But maybe the manual is a little bit more specific, or maybe it's even printed somewhere around the slot itself.

Regards
Dalai