M.2 or SSD?

[DespereauxINC]

Which is better? Arent they both considered "SSD's"

[steelo]

3 minutes ago, DespereauxINC said:

Which is better? Arent they both considered "SSD's"

Typically, M.2 SSD's are capable of transfer speeds of 4 GB/s vs 600 MB per second with SATA SSD's

[Guest]

M.2 is a form factor. The "faster" drive would be ones using the NVMe protocol which are most often M.2 but can be other form factors. As well as being able to have SATA M.2 which are as fast as 2.5" SATA drives.

[Guest]

Just now, steelo said:

M.2 SSD's are capable of transfer speeds of 4 GB/s vs 600 MB/s SATA SSD's

This is incorrect. You are talking about a form factor. This has nothing to do with drive speed.

[minibois]

They are both SSD's.

There are different types of physical connections an SSD can have and also some different methods of connecting inside a PC.

 

A 'normal SSD' has a 2.5" form factor (that determines the physical size and screw holes) and uses a SATA data (to your motherboard) and SATA power connector (to your PSU). These typically have speeds of up to 550MB per second read/write.

 

Then we have SSD that use the M.2 connector. Instead of a separate data and power cable it connects to a motherboard directly.

These SSDs come in two varieties: NVME/PCIE and SATA. This determines the way they connect to the CPU in the system. The first goes through the SATA controller much like a normal SSD and thus has similar speeds.

The PCIE M.2 SSDs use the same internal connections as a video card, PCIE (nowadays typically PCIE 3.0 4x) which allows for much higher speeds. You see these SSD's with speeds ranging from 1500/500MBps read/write respectively up to 3500/3000 MBps.

 

The way you recognize this is by the connectors M.2 pcie has one 'bite' taken out of the connctor, M.2 SATA has two 'bites' out of the connector (much like how RaM Has a bite/notch out).

These SSD's may be named 2280 or 2240. The 80 or 40 parts (or 20 or 60) is the size in millimeters. 80mm is the standard.

 

With that info behind us, it's hard to say in one sentence which is better, because it depends on your use case.

Does the extra speed of the NVME drive actually benefit you? If so, get that. Otherwise, the extra space you get for the same price on SAta may be worth it.

 

Between M.2 data and 'normal' 2.5" Data SSD's there is no performance difference, they are based on the same technology. But IMO M.2 is more convenient because you don't need any more cables, no extra drive bays needed... Etc.

 

SATA i2.5" uses the same connectors as a HDD and is supported on basically everything. M.2 SATA and PCIE is usually supported in mainstream boards too, but it's worth it to double check if both or just one slot supports it... And also if any SATA connectors are turned off when using an m.2 sata.