SSD upgrade questions

[Legodude50]

I’m looking into upgrading to a WD blue m.w2 nvme. And I’m having some questions about the reinstall/back up process. I understand to create a windows OS on a usb stick and to boot from there but my question is what happens with my HDD? My plan is to back everything up on my HDD and then simply boot up a fresh install with the new SSD. But what about the OS file on my old HDD? Would that conflict with the new one on the SSD? Is it as simple as backing up my HDD, unplugging the drive then plugging in the new drive, booting through USB and then when that’s done plug back in the old drive and it’ll be there ready to go as a secondary drive? Or is it more complicated?

[Kisai]

3 minutes ago, Legodude50 said:

I’m looking into upgrading to a WD blue m.w2 nvme. And I’m having some questions about the reinstall/back up process. I understand to create a windows OS on a usb stick and to boot from there but my question is what happens with my HDD? My plan is to back everything up on my HDD and then simply boot up a fresh install with the new SSD. But what about the OS file on my old HDD? Would that conflict with the new one on the SSD? Is it as simple as backing up my HDD, unplugging the drive then plugging in the new drive, booting through USB and then when that’s done plug back in the old drive and it’ll be there ready to go as a secondary drive? Or is it more complicated?

The recommended way is to unplug all drives you do not want to install Windows on, and then re-plug them in after. The UEFI bios will not boot from other drives after it's been told to boot the EFI partition the first time. This is because people have a tendency to not read directions and accidentally erase the wrong drive.

[Legodude50]

1 minute ago, Kisai said:

The recommended way is to unplug all drives you do not want to install Windows on, and then re-plug them in after. The UEFI bios will not boot from other drives after it's been told to boot the EFI partition the first time. This is because people have a tendency to not read directions and accidentally erase the wrong drive.

So the existing drive on the Old HDD won’t conflict with the new correct? Another question I have is about compatibility? I read to make sure the m.2 is compatible with the motherboard. But if the motherboard has a m.2 slot that doesn’t make sense? If it has the slot then it should work shouldnt it? 

[LIGISTX]

12 minutes ago, Legodude50 said:

I’m looking into upgrading to a WD blue m.w2 nvme. And I’m having some questions about the reinstall/back up process. I understand to create a windows OS on a usb stick and to boot from there but my question is what happens with my HDD? My plan is to back everything up on my HDD and then simply boot up a fresh install with the new SSD. But what about the OS file on my old HDD? Would that conflict with the new one on the SSD? Is it as simple as backing up my HDD, unplugging the drive then plugging in the new drive, booting through USB and then when that’s done plug back in the old drive and it’ll be there ready to go as a secondary drive? Or is it more complicated?

All of your OS files and settings will be lost (unless you use your Microsoft account as a sign in option in Windows, this will cause it to save those settings to your account, is really convenient actually), and as @Kisai said, unplug the old drive when your formatting the new one, its just best practice.

 

Once thats all done, you can plug the old drive back in and copy all your files over to the SSD that you need/can actually copy. Games and such you will want to just re-install on the SSD, copying programs over doesn't really work. You CAN copy the games save data over though. Just have to figure out where games saved their data and copy those folders/files over, google will be your friend here as every game is different. Steam usually backs everything up to the cloud, but other games may not.

 

After your happy with all your data being moved to the SSD/an external drive, you can go ahead and format your old harddrive, and start using it as a mass storage device

[LIGISTX]

1 minute ago, Legodude50 said:

So the existing drive on the Old HDD won’t conflict with the new correct? Another question I have is about compatibility? I read to make sure the m.2 is compatible with the motherboard. But if the motherboard has a m.2 slot that doesn’t make sense? If it has the slot then it should work shouldnt it? 

M.2 and NVMe are not the same thing. A consumer NVMe drive will use a M.2 interface, but just because you have M.2 interface does not mean you can use NVMe. The mobo has to specifically say its NVMe compatible, if not, you will want a standard M.2 drive. The difference here is NVMe uses PCIe lanes to communicate direct to the CPU, where standard M.2 uses the SATA standard. Realistically, they both perform the same for real world tasks. Yes, NVMe is faster, but if you only have M.2 don't fret, its arguably the same for standard users, and A HUGE upgrade over a harddrive either way.

 

Just make sure your Mobo supports NVMe before you buy an NVMe drive. Hope that helps.

[Legodude50]

3 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

M.2 and NVMe are not the same thing. A consumer NVMe drive will use a M.2 interface, but just because you have M.2 interface does not mean you can use NVMe. The mobo has to specifically say its NVMe compatible, if not, you will want a standard M.2 drive. The difference here is NVMe uses PCIe lanes to communicate direct to the CPU, where standard M.2 uses the SATA standard. Realistically, they both perform the same for real world tasks. Yes, NVMe is faster, but if you only have M.2 don't fret, its arguably the same for standard users, and A HUGE upgrade over a harddrive either way.

 

Just make sure your Mobo supports NVMe before you buy an NVMe drive. Hope that helps.

How do I check if my mobo supports it? I have a MSI x99a sli plus motherboard 

[LIGISTX]

1 minute ago, Legodude50 said:

How do I check if my mobo supports it? I have a MSI x99a sli plus motherboard 

The product page doesn't show it as supporting NVMe, only M.2. And that sound right as I don't think x99 had NVMe support. You will want to get a standard m.2 drive. 

 

This is a good 500 GB option. The 1 TB option is great as well, just depends on price point.

 

https://smile.amazon.com/Blue-NAND-500GB-SSD-WDS500G2B0B/dp/B073SBX6TY/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=m.2&qid=1584298067&sr=8-10

 

Also just for reference, this will perform about the same as a standard SATA drive. Just looks cleaner, and theoretically is slightly faster. 

[Legodude50]

1 minute ago, LIGISTX said:

The product page doesn't show it as supporting NVMe, only M.2. And that sound right as I don't think x99 had NVMe support. You will want to get a standard m.2 drive. 

 

This is a good 500 GB option. The 1 TB option is great as well, just depends on price point.

 

https://smile.amazon.com/Blue-NAND-500GB-SSD-WDS500G2B0B/dp/B073SBX6TY/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=m.2&qid=1584298067&sr=8-10

 

Also just for reference, this will perform about the same as a standard SATA drive. Just looks cleaner, and theoretically is slightly faster. 

Yeah that’s the drive I’m looking to get! The one terabyte version. And yes I see it’s standard m.2 so no need to worry. Another question, when picking and choosing which games to have on the SSD since one terabyte won’t be enough for every game I have/ will get, does SSD make a difference even in online games? My assumption is on multiplayer games that load times are more dependent on server latency and internet connection. Is that true?

[LIGISTX]

2 minutes ago, Legodude50 said:

Yeah that’s the drive I’m looking to get! The one terabyte version. And yes I see it’s standard m.2 so no need to worry. Another question, when picking and choosing which games to have on the SSD since one terabyte won’t be enough for every game I have/ will get, does SSD make a difference even in online games? My assumption is on multiplayer games that load times are more dependent on server latency and internet connection. Is that true?

Awesome, glad that worked out.

 

And it will load the game faster, just like any other game. The load screens will be shorter for initial game launch, and you will get through the menu's faster ect. Even in single player games thats the same, but since you're not waiting on others/game servers its more noticeable. So, yes, your assumptions are correct.

[Legodude50]

Just now, LIGISTX said:

Awesome, glad that worked out.

 

And it will load the game faster, just like any other game. The load screens will be shorter for initial game launch, and you will get through the menu's faster ect. Even in single player games thats the same, but since you're not waiting on others/game servers its more noticeable. So, yes, your assumptions are correct.

Okay cool! One more question if that’s alright. Will I see any performance or stability increase in games? More reliable FPS? I doubt higher fps but maybe more stable FPS? 

[LIGISTX]

1 minute ago, Legodude50 said:

Okay cool! One more question if that’s alright. Will I see any performance or stability increase in games? More reliable FPS? I doubt higher fps but maybe more stable FPS? 

Nope. It won't have any impact on FPS or stability. The only place you would see any difference is if there is level load times or open world pop in may be reduced as you can load data from SSD>RAM>GPU RAM faster. But, "FPS" will not change. That said, an SSD is the number 1 by miles and miles way to make a PC feel much faster and snappier. It WILL breath new life into your x99 platform. May not give you more FPS, but will make the PC feel current, not 10 years old slow. 

[Legodude50]

2 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

Nope. It won't have any impact on FPS or stability. The only place you would see any difference is if there is level load times or open world pop in may be reduced as you can load data from SSD>RAM>GPU RAM faster. But, "FPS" will not change. That said, an SSD is the number 1 by miles and miles way to make a PC feel much faster and snappier. It WILL breath new life into your x99 platform. May not give you more FPS, but will make the PC feel current, not 10 years old slow. 

That’s exactly what I’m looking for. I upgraded to an RTX 2070 super and I currently have an i7-5820k with triple channel 24 gigs of ram and every time I load my computer up I get salty lol. I know the i7 is a little old but still! 6 core hyper threading with 12 threads and a beast gpu shouldn’t be giving me this! Lol. I had a feeling it might be the hard drive earlier on but I’ve been very paranoid about reinstalling things and worried about loosing everything. Especially since my wife and I share this Pc. However she uses it like once in a blue moon. So not too much On her account. 

[LIGISTX]

Just now, Legodude50 said:

That’s exactly what I’m looking for. I upgraded to an RTX 2070 super and I currently have an i7-5820k with triple channel 24 gigs of ram and every time I load my computer up I get salty lol. I know the i7 is a little old but still! 6 core hyper threading with 12 threads and a beast gpu shouldn’t be giving me this! Lol. I had a feeling it might be the hard drive earlier on but I’ve been very paranoid about reinstalling things and worried about loosing everything. Especially since my wife and I share this Pc. However she uses it like once in a blue moon. So not too much On her account. 

The CPU is on the older side, and "will bottleneck" you're RTX 2070, but its fine. Just means you will not get the most out of the 2070, but at the end of the day, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. As you said, its still a fine system.

 

May want to look into a new Mobo/CPU/RAM in the near future though, it would give you a solid uplift in performance. But, if you are happy with your FPS, then don't worry about it! Especially if your only at 1080p resolution, that PC will be more then adequate

[Legodude50]

1 minute ago, LIGISTX said:

The CPU is on the older side, and "will bottleneck" you're RTX 2070, but its fine. Just means you will not get the most out of the 2070, but at the end of the day, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. As you said, its still a fine system.

 

May want to look into a new Mobo/CPU/RAM in the near future though, it would give you a solid uplift in performance. But, if you are happy with your FPS, then don't worry about it! Especially if your only at 1080p resolution, that PC will be more then adequate

If I was at 1080p I would be a lot more cpu bottlenecked. I have a 1440p set up. From my understanding the jump from 1080 to 1440p alleviates a lot of the cpu bottleneck. Trust me I want to upgrade but I want an i9, and between that, a new mobo, new ram. I’m looking of close to a thousand dollars. And that’s way way out of the budget right now  pretty much the only game I have right now that bottlenecks a little is assassins creed odyssey. But I blame that on the engine and the poor optimization on Pc. 

[LIGISTX]

Just now, Legodude50 said:

If I was at 1080p I would be a lot more cpu bottlenecked. I have a 1440p set up. From my understanding the jump from 1080 to 1440p alleviates a lot of the cpu bottleneck. Trust me I want to upgrade but I want an i9, and between that, a new mobo, new ram. I’m looking of close to a thousand dollars. And that’s way way out of the budget right now  pretty much the only game I have right now that bottlenecks a little is assassins creed odyssey. But I blame that on the engine and the poor optimization on Pc. 

Yea, 1440p does help a bit as it shifts the load to the GPU. I run 3440x1440 and a 4700k @ 4.4 Ghz to a 6700k @ 4.6 was actually a bit of an FPS bump with my GTX 1080. But... we are also talking a few FPS. So, yes, you're correct, and also not correct. lol. But its all a matter of perspective and living within your situation. Your rig is certainly PLENTY powerful for enjoying games, is the 2070 being slightly underutilized, yes, is that an actual issue, probably not. lol.

[Legodude50]

7 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

Yea, 1440p does help a bit as it shifts the load to the GPU. I run 3440x1440 and a 4700k @ 4.4 Ghz to a 6700k @ 4.6 was actually a bit of an FPS bump with my GTX 1080. But... we are also talking a few FPS. So, yes, you're correct, and also not correct. lol. But its all a matter of perspective and living within your situation. Your rig is certainly PLENTY powerful for enjoying games, is the 2070 being slightly underutilized, yes, is that an actual issue, probably not. lol.

Well put.  

[OmniDyne]

53 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

The mobo has to specifically say its NVMe compatible, if not, you will want a standard M.2 drive. The difference here is NVMe uses PCIe lanes to communicate direct to the CPU, where standard M.2 uses the SATA standard.

First off, his motherboard IS compatible with PCIe NVMe SSDs. The manual states it quite clearly. A consumer NVMe SSD will always utilize PCIe. 
 

There is no “standard” M.2. The specifications are M.2 SATA or M.2 PCIe for consumer drives. 

 

PCIe is the interface; NVMe is the protocol. 
 

SATA is the interface; AHCI is the protocol. 
 

Calling an SSD an “NVMe” SSD realistically doesn’t make sense because it’s technically a PCIe SSD and M.2 isn’t the only form factor to utilize the NVMe protocol. Enterprise drives utilize the NVMe protocol through several different interfaces. 

[LIGISTX]

3 minutes ago, OmniDyne said:

First off, his motherboard IS compatible with PCIe NVMe SSDs. The manual states it quite clearly. A consumer NVMe SSD will always utilize PCIe. 
 

There is no “standard” M.2. The specifications are M.2 SATA or M.2 PCIe for consumer drives. 

 

PCIe is the interface; NVMe is the protocol. 
 

SATA is the interface; AHCI is the protocol. 
 

Calling an SSD an “NVMe” SSD realistically doesn’t make sense because it’s technically a PCIe SSD and M.2 isn’t the only form factor to utilize the NVMe protocol. Enterprise drives utilize the NVMe protocol through several different interfaces. 

Uh, thx? I am aware... But when you are trying to explain how this works, that isn't always useful. This is why I said "a consumer NVMe drive will use M.2", it is an interface, and consumer drives will use that interface. Don't assume things just because you failed to read the entire post... that single line item was there for that reason, but an in depth explanation wasn't really needed for this. Maybe I should have been more specific, but I a try and give folks as much info as required, while also trying to impart some knowledge, but I choose to respond to many questions with sufficient information, than less posts with extremely detailed information.

 

That said, I did not see where it said it supports NVMe, if you found data otherwise, sharing it would be great! The NVMe protocol is superior, no one is going to argue that, but it also makes realistically no difference for normal consumers day to day use case. I have ran both, for years, its really all a toss up. Unless you are doing large file transfers from drive to drive, the latency differences are negligible, and the raw throughput numbers are meaningless for consumers. IOPS are also meaningless for consumer use as well as a standard SATA drive can provide plenty as is.

 

Anyways, after all of that, yes, if his mobo does support NVMe, he should get that as it is better tech, and is more "future proof". If I missed that, I am sorry, I didn't see it on the landing page of the product. If you have new info, please share so the OP can make the most informed buying choice.

[Legodude50]

28 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

Uh, thx? I am aware... But when you are trying to explain how this works, that isn't always useful. This is why I said "a consumer NVMe drive will use M.2", it is an interface, and consumer drives will use that interface. Don't assume things just because you failed to read the entire post... that single line item was there for that reason, but an in depth explanation wasn't really needed for this. Maybe I should have been more specific, but I a try and give folks as much info as required, while also trying to impart some knowledge, but I choose to respond to many questions with sufficient information, than less posts with extremely detailed information.

 

That said, I did not see where it said it supports NVMe, if you found data otherwise, sharing it would be great! The NVMe protocol is superior, no one is going to argue that, but it also makes realistically no difference for normal consumers day to day use case. I have ran both, for years, its really all a toss up. Unless you are doing large file transfers from drive to drive, the latency differences are negligible, and the raw throughput numbers are meaningless for consumers. IOPS are also meaningless for consumer use as well as a standard SATA drive can provide plenty as is.

 

Anyways, after all of that, yes, if his mobo does support NVMe, he should get that as it is better tech, and is more "future proof". If I missed that, I am sorry, I didn't see it on the landing page of the product. If you have new info, please share so the OP can make the most informed buying choice.

So my board does support it...? Also you mentioned you don’t notice a practical difference in nvme and regular m.2? The price difference between the 2 is pretty large. Jumping to the $200 range for a nvme 1 TB. I’d love a superior product but spending 100$ on a hard drive is already driving me a little crazy lol 

[LIGISTX]

1 minute ago, Legodude50 said:

So my board does support it...? Also you mentioned you don’t notice a practical difference in nvme and regular m.2? The price difference between the 2 is pretty large. Jumping to the $200 range for a nvme 1 TB. I’d love a superior product but spending 100$ on a hard drive is already driving me a little crazy lol 

I think it does after looking into it further. I didn't think x99 supported NVMe, but I could be wrong.

 

That said, no, there is no real performance difference. The real thing SSD's offer is amazing latency, and both will provide that. NVMe is slightly less, but not enough to notice at all. Linus actually did a video recently on a blind test of NVMe vs M.2 SATA vs SATA, aaaaand none of their staff got it right... 

 

I have been saying this for a lot longer then he made this video, and this just sorta backs it up. Its near impossible to tell a difference. Yes, I run NVMe, but I also run a full custom loop. I do not really go around recommending what I have/do to others, but I also understand I am spending needless money on things that are not needed. IF the budget allows, yes, NVMe is a "better" option. But, don't feel bad if you don't get it... see video bellow loll

 

 

 

[Legodude50]

1 minute ago, LIGISTX said:

I think it does after looking into it further. I didn't think x99 supported NVMe, but I could be wrong.

 

That said, no, there is no real performance difference. The real thing SSD's offer is amazing latency, and both will provide that. NVMe is slightly less, but not enough to notice at all. Linus actually did a video recently on a blind test of NVMe vs M.2 SATA vs SATA, aaaaand none of their staff got it right... 

 

I have been saying this for a lot longer then he made this video, and this just sorta backs it up. Its near impossible to tell a difference. Yes, I run NVMe, but I also run a full custom loop. I do not really go around recommending what I have/do to others, but I also understand I am spending needless money on things that are not needed. IF the budget allows, yes, NVMe is a "better" option. But, don't feel bad if you don't get it... see video bellow loll

 

 

 

Thank you very much for the informative information. Very jealous of your liquid loop hu the way haha. Before I make a final decision do you know of any nvme ssds that are reasonable priced? Closer to the $109 range rather than $200? Or do are they all that expensive?

[Kilrah]

X99 does support PCIe / NVMe m.2, been running one for 3 years on my Rampage V.

 

The m.2 slot on mine however does NOT support SATA, so definitely check mobo manual and docs before buying anything.

[LIGISTX]

6 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

X99 does support PCIe / NVMe m.2, been running one for 3 years on my Rampage V.

 

The m.2 slot on mine however does NOT support SATA, so definitely check mobo manual and docs before buying anything.

Hmmmm, with this info, and 

 

7 minutes ago, Legodude50 said:

Thank you very much for the informative information. Very jealous of your liquid loop hu the way haha. Before I make a final decision do you know of any nvme ssds that are reasonable priced? Closer to the $109 range rather than $200? Or do are they all that expensive?

the price questions, honestly, a standard SATA SSD is not a bad option. All the performance you would want, guaranteed to work, and pretty cheap.

 

I looked on the website for you mobo, and I am not 100% sure. I didn't see it say NVMe anywhere doing a control F. But the one guy who hasn't posted again said he saw it in the manual. I guess if you do some digging, you may find out for sure..... But, if you want to play it safe, AND spend less money, 

 

https://smile.amazon.com/Samsung-Inch-Internal-MZ-76Q1T0B-AM/dp/B07L3D19MY/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=1tb+ssd&qid=1584305007&sr=8-3

 

or 

 

https://smile.amazon.com/SanDisk-SSD-PLUS-Internal-SDSSDA-1T00-G26/dp/B07D998212/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=1tb+ssd&qid=1584305047&sr=8-5

 

 

[Legodude50]

19 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

Hmmmm, with this info, and 

 

the price questions, honestly, a standard SATA SSD is not a bad option. All the performance you would want, guaranteed to work, and pretty cheap.

 

I looked on the website for you mobo, and I am not 100% sure. I didn't see it say NVMe anywhere doing a control F. But the one guy who hasn't posted again said he saw it in the manual. I guess if you do some digging, you may find out for sure..... But, if you want to play it safe, AND spend less money, 

 

https://smile.amazon.com/Samsung-Inch-Internal-MZ-76Q1T0B-AM/dp/B07L3D19MY/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=1tb+ssd&qid=1584305007&sr=8-3

 

or 

 

https://smile.amazon.com/SanDisk-SSD-PLUS-Internal-SDSSDA-1T00-G26/dp/B07D998212/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=1tb+ssd&qid=1584305047&sr=8-5

 

 

What’s the difference between the m.2 and the regular sata SSD? I mostly just went for the m.2 right off the bat because that’s just what I’ve heard is the best. They seem to be the same price. The 1 TB WD blue m.2 and the Samsung 1 TB sata SSD. 

[LIGISTX]

3 minutes ago, Legodude50 said:

What’s the difference between the m.2 and the regular sata SSD? I mostly just went for the m.2 right off the bat because that’s just what I’ve heard is the best. They seem to be the same price. The 1 TB WD blue m.2 and the Samsung 1 TB sata SSD. 

It is just the connector type. I still am not sure what your mobo supports, but if its not NVMe, a SATA SSD and a M.2 would be effectively the same, just the SATA would obviously require SATA cable and SATA power wires.