SSD upgrade options?

[thegopnik]

should i get an m.2 ssd or a SATA one? my motherboard (z370p d3) has an m.2 slot and im thinking of utalizing it. is there any difference between the m.2 and sata connection? i have 8gb of ram a core i3 8100 and a 1tb hard drive

 

any other specs let me know

[Dedayog]

Just go bang for buck.  

 

Doesn't matter unless you're specifically doing huge file transfers.  An M.2 can be SATA as well, fyi.

 

Look at Sabrent or Intel for M.2 drives that are fairly inexpensive.

 

 

[mcbaes72]

SATA SSD is about 3-5 times faster than HDD. 

 

NVME m.2 is about 3-5 times faster than SATA SSD. 

 

In the past, I used to recommend SATA SSD most of the time and even use SATA SSD/HDD combo in one of my two builds. But NVME m.2 has gone down so much in price that it's the best way to go. Advantages would be space saving and no cables, low profile and doesn't hinder case air flow, looks much cleaner, too. 

[Dedayog]

Just now, mcbaes72 said:

SATA SSD is about 3-5 times faster than HDD. 

 

NVME m.2 is about 3-5 times faster than SATA SSD. 

 

In the past, I used to recommend SATA SSD most of the time and even use SATA SSD/HDD combo in one of my two builds. But NVME m.2 has gone down so much in price that it's the best way to go. Advantages would be space saving and no cables, low profile and doesn't hinder case air flow, looks much cleaner, too. 

Note that your speed comparisons are not exactly real world usage for 99.9% of users.

[TheGlenlivet]

10 minutes ago, thegopnik said:

should i get an m.2 ssd or a SATA one? my motherboard (z370p d3) has an m.2 slot and im thinking of utalizing it. is there any difference between the m.2 and sata connection? i have 8gb of ram a core i3 8100 and a 1tb hard drive

 

any other specs let me know

What do you use the PC for?  if just games, browsing and homework, a SATA drive is the best bang for the buck.

If you want to spend a little more for a cleaner, no cable look and maximum(but not noticeable in everyday use) file transfer speed, then go M.2.

[SPARTAN VI]

26 minutes ago, thegopnik said:

should i get an m.2 ssd or a SATA one?

The terms "M.2 SSD" and "SATA" are not mutually exclusive. There are M.2 SSDs that interface over SATA and M.2 SSDs that interface over PCI-Express (e.g. NVMe drives).

 

If the prices are the same between a M.2 SATA SSD and a 2.5" SATA SSD, then I'd almost always go with M.2 for the simple fact that I don't have to hassle with routing power and SATA cables. In the US, we're even seeing consumer NVMe drives in price parity with M.2 SATA drives, but they often omit DRAM or use QLC to keep costs down, but that's another discussion.

[thegopnik]

thanks everyone.

 

i game but i also mod the hell out of them so a file transfer speed would be very helpful to me. any arguments in favor for the SATA?

[thegopnik]

1 minute ago, SPARTAN VI said:

The terms "M.2 SSD" and "SATA" are not mutually exclusive. There are M.2 SSDs that interface over SATA and M.2 SSDs that interface over PCI-Express.

 

If the prices are the same between a M.2 SATA SSD and a 2.5" SATA SSD, then I'd almost always go with M.2 for the simple fact that I don't have to hassle with routing power and SATA cables.

interesting...

[SPARTAN VI]

10 minutes ago, thegopnik said:

thanks everyone.

 

i game but i also mod the hell out of them so a file transfer speed would be very helpful to me. any arguments in favor for the SATA?

In typical consumer use cases, e.g. opening random files or launching games, you likely wouldn't notice a difference between a NVMe SSD vs SATA SSD unless they were side by side, and you had a stopwatch. The performance difference when loading games would be in the single digits of percentages, which would come out to maybe 1 - 2 seconds difference in load times. IMO, you're better off with a TLC-based SATA SSD with DRAM over a QLC-based NVMe SSD with/without DRAM of the same price for gaming. 

 

And to reiterate, SATA doesn't not only mean 2.5" drive. M.2 SATA SSDs are common and priced just as competitively. 

[mcbaes72]

22 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Note that your speed comparisons are not exactly real world usage for 99.9% of users.

Hmmm... Here's a real world example:

 

Cloned from 7200 HDD onto a SATA SSD and installed in friend's eight year old HP laptop. 

 

HDD took 1 min 11 seconds from cold boot to desktop. 

 

SSD reached desktop in 19 seconds, nearly four times faster. That's within my 3-5 times faster estimation. 

[Dedayog]

42 minutes ago, mcbaes72 said:

Hmmm... Here's a real world example:

 

Cloned from 7200 HDD onto a SATA SSD and installed in friend's eight year old HP laptop. 

 

HDD took 1 min 11 seconds from cold boot to desktop. 

 

SSD reached desktop in 19 seconds, nearly four times faster. That's within my 3-5 times faster estimation. 

Sorry, I meant the SATA and NVMe comparison.

 

HDD to SDD yes of course.

[thegopnik]

21 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Sorry, I meant the SATA and NVMe comparison.

 

HDD to SDD yes of course.

i understand. if any other person wants to comment you can but i wont reply