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M.2 VS SSD Value:Perfomance

ABunchaHerbs

I was wondering if there is a real noticeable difference in load times, start times and other general use and performance in M.2 drives?

Want to know if it is really worth it because I am debating about buying a 500GB M.2 drive for $97 AUD or just go with a 950GB SSD for the same price.

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I guess you're talking about SATA SSD versus NVMe SSD? There are both types on M.2 and even the same type of SSDs can perform very differently, you have to mention the models you'll looking at.

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

 

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

 

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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10 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

I guess you're talking about SATA SSD versus NVMe SSD? There are both types on M.2 and even the same type of SSDs can perform very differently, you have to mention the models you'll looking at.

I'm looking at a Western Digital 500GB M.2-2280. Here's The link if you want it: Link

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2 minutes ago, ABunchaHerbs said:

I'm looking at a Western Digital 500GB M.2-2280. Here's The link if you want it: Link

That's just a SATA drive. It'll perform the same as regular SATA drive.

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4 minutes ago, dizmo said:

That's just a SATA drive. It'll perform the same as regular SATA drive.

Oh. Me small brain.

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8 minutes ago, ABunchaHerbs said:

I'm looking at a Western Digital 500GB M.2-2280. Here's The link if you want it: Link

same performance as the 500GB 2.5" version. but what SSD is that 950GB model? I dont think WD Blue has that capacity.

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

 

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

 

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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2 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

same performance as the 500GB 2.5" version. but what SSD is that 950GB model? I dont think WD Blue has that capacity.

They don't. The other SSD is a Crucial BX500 960 GB. Thought it was 950Gb sorry.

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As long as the ssd isn't crap, you won't notice much of a difference for everyday usage. The benefit of current m.2 / nvme drives is the form factor or high speeds for workloads that can actually utilize the speed like content creation. 

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4 minutes ago, ABunchaHerbs said:

They don't. The other SSD is a Crucial BX500 960 GB. Thought it was 950Gb sorry.

Link

the BX500 lacks DRAM, so it has noticeably higher latency than the WD Blue tho the sustained bandwidth is only unnoticeably worse. Then again it does have nearly twice the capacity and higher capacity drives are born faster in sustained and continous read/writes. Seems like the BX500 is the better deal of the two

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

 

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

 

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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I can't notice a difference in load times in games and on my OS between my old Crucial M4 (2011 era SATA drive with MLC) and my new HP EX920 (TLC NVME). If there's a difference, it's small.

 

I'm sure some users will see a large difference between certain drives, but my general use/gaming experience has yet to show me much of one with the 3 SSDs I've owned so far.

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18 minutes ago, melete said:

I can't notice a difference in load times in games and on my OS between my old Crucial M4 (2011 era SATA drive with MLC) and my new HP EX920 (TLC NVME). If there's a difference, it's small.

 

I'm sure some users will see a large difference between certain drives, but my general use/gaming experience has yet to show me much of one with the 3 SSDs I've owned so far.

Thanks!

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On 10/9/2019 at 4:13 PM, ABunchaHerbs said:

Oh. Me small brain.

You save a SATA cable and power connection.

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