is a SATA III M.2 the same speed as a SATA III 2.5in?

[tJuggernaut29]

im looking to buy a 1 TB SSD for my rig and spend around 135-150$

 

The WD SATA III M.2 drive is only 135$

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-NAND-1TB-SSD-WDS100T2B0B/dp/B073SB2MXT/ref=sr_1_11?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1545677846&sr=1-11&keywords=ssd+1tb

 

is this the same speed as a 2.5 inch SSD? 

like a Samsung 860 EVO?

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Inch-Internal-MZ-76E1T0B-AM/dp/B078DPCY3T/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1545677988&sr=1-4&keywords=ssd+1tb

 

in terms of future upgrade ability, is it better to get a M.2 drive or a 2.5 inch? my current MOBO has 2 M.2 slots, but idk about a future build

[bitsandpieces]

Yes, it's the same

[MadPistol]

M.2 uses a SATA III interface to run. the only way it's faster is if you have an NVME M.2 slot, which uses the PCIe bus.

[tJuggernaut29]

2 minutes ago, MadPistol said:

M.2 uses a SATA III interface to run. the only way it's faster is if you have an NVME M.2 slot, which uses the PCIe bus.

my MOBO is an Asus Z170 Pro Gaming / Aura

 

it has a M.2 Socket 3 PCIe x4 mode (Gen 3.0) 

 

so is that NVMe speed?

[MadPistol]

1 minute ago, tJuggernaut29 said:

my MOBO is an Asus Z170 Pro Gaming / Aura

 

it has a M.2 Socket 3 PCIe x4 mode (Gen 3.0) 

 

so is that NVMe speed?

 

That would be an NVMe slot, yes.

I'm getting conflicting info on the internet, though. Places are saying that m.2 SATA III drives are not compatible with NVMe, which makes sense. However, the M.2 SSD you linked above has both a B and M key, indicating that it should work in your current motherboard.

Now I'm the one that confused... anyone else have an idea of if the M.2 SSD he linked will work with his motherboard?

[tJuggernaut29]

5 minutes ago, MadPistol said:

Now I'm the one that confused... anyone else have an idea of if the M.2 SSD he linked will work with his motherboard?

 

the picture of the MOBO on Asus's site shows only 1 notch in the M.2 slot, the WD SSD shows 2. 

 

i would assume less pins (some cut out) would mean older version? so maybe it would still work? idk

[tJuggernaut29]

8 minutes ago, MadPistol said:

Now I'm the one that confused... anyone else have an idea of if the M.2 SSD he linked will work with his motherboard?

i think it is like USB 3.0 vs 2.0. 

the board accepts NVMe, but is backwards compatible with SATA 3

 

here is that question being answered on the amazon page

 

[krakkpott]

Quoted from https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z170-PRO-GAMING-AURA/specifications/

Quote

1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (both SATA & PCIE mode)*1

...

*1:When the M.2 Socket 3 is operating in SATA mode, SATA port 1 will be disabled.

So yeah it will work. But do note your 1st SATA port will be disabled if you use the M.2 slot with a SATA drive.