Types of SSD

[jhn_10]

Hi, im kind of new in this pc kind of stuff, and ive been watching that are 2 types of SSD ones that look like a lonh chip, and other that is this little plastic box, whats the difference, and wich is better, and why,?

[kirashi]

20 minutes ago, jhn_10 said:

Hi, im kind of new in this pc kind of stuff, and ive been watching that are 2 types of SSD ones that look like a lonh chip, and other that is this little plastic box, whats the difference, and wich is better, and why,?

LTT actually have quite a few videos covering the different types & form factors of SSD technology. Definitely worth a watch if you've got a moment. For everyday users, the difference between a regular SATA SSD and an NVMe SSD is negligible, but if you're a photography or videographer, you may see performance benefits going with an NVMe SSD when it comes to editing large media files.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Techquickie/search?query=ssd

[Bombastinator]

deleted because @kirashi’s answer is better than mine

[Chiyawa]

Actually, there are 5 types of internal SSD types (at least for consumer). So, to break it down:

 

1. 2.5 inch SSD - Also known as SATA SSD, this SSD uses Standard SATA interface like SATA HDD, and has the size of a laptop HDD. The typical theoretical read speed is 550MB/s and write speed is 450MB/s.
2. mSATA SSD - This is obsolete, but you can still find it sometimes or in older laptops. Uses mSATA connector and mount on motherboard. The speed is pretty much the same as 2.5inch SATA SSD. Thy typically has low storage capacity (16GB until 480GB) and mostly use as HDD cache to speed up loading time of frequently used program back then before SSD became mainstream.
3. M2 SATA SSD - This type of SSD uses new type of connector (M2 socket) and mount on motherboard (usually). It has a greater capacity than mSATA SSD (now up to 2TB). Most of these SSD are B + M Key (two notches) M2 device, and can fit both B-Key M2 slot (which using SATA or PCIe x2 protocol) and M-Key M2 slot (which uses PCIe x2 and x4, and SATA protocol).
4. M2 NVMe SSD - Like M2 SATA SSD, but at a much higher speed. However, there are some variants to note. Those NVMe SSD with B + M Key (two notches) only utilise PCIe x2 lanes, while the M Key (one notch) can utilise up to PCIe x4 lanes. They also dependent on PCIe generation as well. Typically, a PCIe Gen3 x2 SSD can have a read speed of 1500MB/s, PCIe Gen3 x4 can have a read speed of 3500MB/s, and PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD can have a read speed of up to 7500MB/s. Write speed is usually 1000MB/s lower than their rated read speed.
5. PCIe NVMe SSD - Like M2 NVMe SSD, but instead of connecting to M2 socket, this will connect to your PCIe slot of your desktop motherboard. Not very popular currently.

Of course, as for the speed, it also depends on your CPU or the chipsets, and the allocation of the PCIe lanes as well as PCIe generation to the NVMe storage drive. As for those SSD that uses SATA protocol, their speed remains mostly the same.

 

If you like, you can learn more from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive

[jhn_10]

On 11/27/2019 at 10:41 PM, kirashi said:

LTT actually have quite a few videos covering the different types & form factors of SSD technology. Definitely worth a watch if you've got a moment. For everyday users, the difference between a regular SATA SSD and an NVMe SSD is negligible, but if you're a photography or videographer, you may see performance benefits going with an NVMe SSD when it comes to editing large media files.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Techquickie/search?query=ssd

ive try to watch the videos but Linus sometime talks too fast and with too many tecnical terms, and i get lost with so mane letters and numbers and terms, but am  trying to learn a little bit more to understand what those terms mean

[Chiyawa]

16 hours ago, jhn_10 said:

ive try to watch the videos but Linus sometime talks too fast and with too many tecnical terms, and i get lost with so mane letters and numbers and terms, but am  trying to learn a little bit more to understand what those terms mean

Yeah. Well, if you want a slow explanation, maybe this video can help you:

This video is from ExplainingComputers channel, and it provides a good deal of information about M2 SSD. You can check this channel for more computer related information, but this channel mainly focused on single board computer such as Raspberry Pi.