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M.2 compatibility and suggestions

Gop
By Gop
in Storage Devices
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Go to solution Solved by minibois,

For M.2 SSD's you have PCIE/NVME or SATA.

On the Samsung side that would be the 970 EVO PLUS for the M.2 PCIE or 860 EVO for the M.2 SATA side.

 

Usually it's quite easy to recognize it by the speeds too, SATA tops off and around 500-550MB per seconds, while M.2 PCIE could go higher in speeds.

Another way to recognize it (other than the product datasheet) is checking the connector of the M.2, SATA has three 'teeth' and PCIE only has two 'teeth'.

Image result for M.2 sata pcie

 

Your motherboard has two slots, both can run in either SATA or PCIE mode:

image.png.0320d1048d3465c687a2a64e9f50f56e.png

Just keep in mind, in SATA mode, the first M.2 slot will turn off 1 SATA port.

 

What drive you should get really depends on your personal preference and use case.

For example, I bought an 860 EVO 1TB two weeks ago, because I wanted a relatively fast drive for video recording. That meant I didn't need M.2 PCIE for speed, but did want the high durability.

That made the 860 EVO a good choice over a MX500, which has a lower TBW (how much can be written to the drive), but that might not matter.

 

Nowadays you also have quite cheap high capacity drives, like the Intel 660p or Crucial P1, these use a slower type of memory, which makes the SSD slower at 80%+ capacity used.These also have a lower TBW still.

To me, the 860 EVO or Crucial MX500 in as high capacity as possible just make the most sense. As someone who has an M.2 SATA in their laptop and M.2 PCIE in desktop for booting; I don't notice a difference between the two for just that.. So if I had to build a PC now again, I would not bother with M.2 PCIE (just getting a higher capacity drive instead).

 

Here is a screenshot of the spreadsheet I used to compare these drives:

image.png.dc28d0858ad3b5473641f4439c9d7a1c.png

With all these columns, higher means better, except for the last two columns (which are the price, in USD which I got from PCPartPicker)

THis is just to give you a rough idea for what drive cost how much and what they actually do. Don't pay too much attention to just numbers, but I feel like it's important to at least show you.

Posted

Hey Guys,

 

I have an Asus Rog Strix Z390-i motherboard and although I've read the specs I don't really understand the difference between the types of M.2 drives. 

 

Can someone recommend the best M.2 I can put in my motherboard? Ideally wanting a 1TB from a reliable brand like Samsung 

 

And if you care to teach, explain the differences between sata, nvme and the other types?

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SATA based M.2's are limited to the SATA3 standard at 600MB/s.

NVMe based m.2's connect directly to PCIe providing the motherboard supports it; and can go as fast as the PCIe standard will allow. 3940MB/s

 

image.png.290198c23bca8d859a0e3836944d95d0.png

 

So if you want Samsung go with the:

970 EVO 1TB NVMe / 970 EVO plus 1TB NVMe / 970 EVO 1TB PRO NVMe

 

If I recall the EVO PLUS claims the fasted speeds by Samsung's marketing. And theoretically the EVO PRO should have the longest lifespan.

 

 

 

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  • Solution

For M.2 SSD's you have PCIE/NVME or SATA.

On the Samsung side that would be the 970 EVO PLUS for the M.2 PCIE or 860 EVO for the M.2 SATA side.

 

Usually it's quite easy to recognize it by the speeds too, SATA tops off and around 500-550MB per seconds, while M.2 PCIE could go higher in speeds.

Another way to recognize it (other than the product datasheet) is checking the connector of the M.2, SATA has three 'teeth' and PCIE only has two 'teeth'.

Image result for M.2 sata pcie

 

Your motherboard has two slots, both can run in either SATA or PCIE mode:

image.png.0320d1048d3465c687a2a64e9f50f56e.png

Just keep in mind, in SATA mode, the first M.2 slot will turn off 1 SATA port.

 

What drive you should get really depends on your personal preference and use case.

For example, I bought an 860 EVO 1TB two weeks ago, because I wanted a relatively fast drive for video recording. That meant I didn't need M.2 PCIE for speed, but did want the high durability.

That made the 860 EVO a good choice over a MX500, which has a lower TBW (how much can be written to the drive), but that might not matter.

 

Nowadays you also have quite cheap high capacity drives, like the Intel 660p or Crucial P1, these use a slower type of memory, which makes the SSD slower at 80%+ capacity used.These also have a lower TBW still.

To me, the 860 EVO or Crucial MX500 in as high capacity as possible just make the most sense. As someone who has an M.2 SATA in their laptop and M.2 PCIE in desktop for booting; I don't notice a difference between the two for just that.. So if I had to build a PC now again, I would not bother with M.2 PCIE (just getting a higher capacity drive instead).

 

Here is a screenshot of the spreadsheet I used to compare these drives:

image.png.dc28d0858ad3b5473641f4439c9d7a1c.png

With all these columns, higher means better, except for the last two columns (which are the price, in USD which I got from PCPartPicker)

THis is just to give you a rough idea for what drive cost how much and what they actually do. Don't pay too much attention to just numbers, but I feel like it's important to at least show you.

"We're all in this together, might as well be friends" Tom, Toonami.

 

mini eLiXiVy: my open source 65% mechanical PCB, a build log, PCB anatomy and discussing open source licenses: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1366493-elixivy-a-65-mechanical-keyboard-build-log-pcb-anatomy-and-how-i-open-sourced-this-project/

 

mini_cardboard: a 4% keyboard build log and how keyboards work: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1328547-mini_cardboard-a-4-keyboard-build-log-and-how-keyboards-work/

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2 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

uhh we can't do this for now, not untill 2-lane NVMe SSDs stop using the B-key going forward ._.

 

-snip-

Aww man.. Is that Kingston M.2 SATA or PCIE? Because I see that Corsair one is, but not sure if it's one of the few ones that doesn't follow that general rule.. But I dunno.

"We're all in this together, might as well be friends" Tom, Toonami.

 

mini eLiXiVy: my open source 65% mechanical PCB, a build log, PCB anatomy and discussing open source licenses: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1366493-elixivy-a-65-mechanical-keyboard-build-log-pcb-anatomy-and-how-i-open-sourced-this-project/

 

mini_cardboard: a 4% keyboard build log and how keyboards work: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1328547-mini_cardboard-a-4-keyboard-build-log-and-how-keyboards-work/

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Thanks everyone. Makes a bunch more sense now

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8 hours ago, Gop said:

Hey Guys,

 

I have an Asus Rog Strix Z390-i motherboard and although I've read the specs I don't really understand the difference between the types of M.2 drives. 

 

Can someone recommend the best M.2 I can put in my motherboard? Ideally wanting a 1TB from a reliable brand like Samsung 

 

And if you care to teach, explain the differences between sata, nvme and the other types?

buy a sabrent rocket unless you gonna go samsung pro 2bit mlc, otherwise sabrent is half the price and better.

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8 hours ago, Gop said:

Ideally wanting a 1TB from a reliable brand like Samsung 

How are you going to know which models are reliable and which are not without failure rates? And why would the brand name be a factor in this? It's just a label...

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9 hours ago, hello_there_123 said:

How are you going to know which models are reliable and which are not without failure rates? And why would the brand name be a factor in this? It's just a label...

Samsung for quite a long time has been the go to, reliable brand in SSD's. That much i do know.

 

Also, in Australia we dont get as many brands, so its a bit more of a limited pick

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