Is getting a NVMe or any M.2 Worth it over SSD?

[N.E.A]

Hi guys, 

 

I am looking to upgrade my storage to either a large SSD namely 960+ GB or running 2 480 GBs in Raid 0 or M.2 solution. So is the speed gain of M.2 over a regular SSD worth it? Will I notice a performance gain of one vs the other? 

Also can it boot Windows 10 on my MSI H170 Gaming M3 Motherboard or not?

[z97]

Nah regular ssd is fine. only benefit massive files such as cad or video editing.

[pcshme33]

Raid 0 isn't really worth it. I would just get one large ssd and a m.2 for my boot drive.

Yes, it can boot windows.

[ThomasD]

The only benefit of an M.2 in a desktop is no cables are required.

[Skiiwee29]

Not really. The only thing m.2 is worth is to not have to run cables. If you have a small form factor and want as little cable mess as possible, then m.2 is worth it in that sense. But just for raw speed, no as you really wont notice much difference in real world performance. 

[brandishwar]

As @ThomasD and @legacy99 have both said, the fact you don't have to run cables is the major benefit here. So if an SSD is the only reason you're running a SATA power harness from your power supply and a SATA cable from the mainboard, then an M.2 drive will save you from having to do that, giving you a cleaner build. It's why I selected an M.2 SSD for my wife's system when upgrading her to X99.

[brighttail]

I have had both SSD and m.2 even m.2 in RAID 0.  Other than some faster boot speeds, there isn't much real world difference unless you are doing something pretty intensively like video editing and rendering.

 

The other things you need to remember about m.2 is if you are going to do NVMe to take advantage of the x4, you need a MB that can handle it, otherwise if you put it on a x97 you'll only get x2 speed which pretty much negates the whole purpose.

 

That being said, there are benefits. I run a Samsung 961 as my boot drive and two others in RAID 0 as my Game drive.   Using Ram Cache and setting up browser Cache on the D: drive, simple web surfing is quite speedy and games do have a noticeable time when loading up.  I actually timed a few like Witcher, Civ, EQ2, Tomb Raider and everyone loaded up 5-20 seconds faster.  Is it worth the cost? That is subjective. 

 

Bottom line there is SOME improvement, but I think it comes down to personal preference, the ability of your hardware and pocketbook as to whether it is worth it.

 

(It is nice to see sequential reads in the 7k range and IoPS of 300k is nice, 4k is about 250-300)