Questions about NVMe M.2 SSD Storage

[LavaPhoenix]

I had had my pc for a little over a year now but, I am currently running into minor problems. I am struggling on storage space in my SSD and HDD. I have a 1T Western Digital HDD and a 250GB Samsung Evo SSD. I am looking into M.2 storage because overall curiosity and it seems simple but I want to know for sure. 
Any reccomended NVMe M.2 SSD's?
Is M.2 really an improvment and worth it right now?
If I were to get and instlal an M.2 Drive, would it be "plug and play" (installing, checking the bios to see if my pc sees the drive(s) and done)

[WereCatf]

1 minute ago, LavaPhoenix said:

Is M.2 really an improvment and worth it right now?

M.2 is just the connector, it doesn't say anything about the speed or such. This is to say, you can have M.2 SATA SSDs that are just as fast/slow as your current SSD, or you can have NVMe M.2 SSDs, which are faster. I assume you actually intended to ask whether an NVMe - drive would be an improvement and worth buying; they are faster than your SATA SSD, yes, but whether they're actually worth paying more for or not kinda depends on you and what you're going to use it for.

[LavaPhoenix]

2 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

M.2 is just the connector, it doesn't say anything about the speed or such. This is to say, you can have M.2 SATA SSDs that are just as fast/slow as your current SSD, or you can have NVMe M.2 SSDs, which are faster. I assume you actually intended to ask whether an NVMe - drive would be an improvement and worth buying; they are faster than your SATA SSD, yes, but whether they're actually worth paying more for or not kinda depends on you and what you're going to use it for.

My apologies for mistaking M.2. I did mean to talk about NVMe M.2. I am not looking to use it for anything insane. I play games, music, and small video editing for friends of mine. I was just curious if it was easy to "plug in" and get back to using my system with more added storage. I had my system built by a local shop that recently relocated and their prices and labor fees are not the best. I don't really want to mess with cables and the work they have done and accidently mess something up. I have seen that NVMe M.2 is easily installed just by inserting into the motherboard. 

[WereCatf]

1 minute ago, LavaPhoenix said:

My apologies for mistaking M.2. I did mean to talk about NVMe M.2. I am not looking to use it for anything insane. I play games, music, and small video editing for friends of mine. I was just curious if it was easy to "plug in" and get back to using my system with more added storage. I had my system built by a local shop that recently relocated and their prices and labor fees are not the best. I don't really want to mess with cables and the work they have done and accidently mess something up. I have seen that NVMe M.2 is easily installed just by inserting into the motherboard. 

If you just want to add more storage and keep your current SSD for Windows, then yes, it most likely will be a simple plug-and-play thing. It gets a little hairier, if you want to move Windows to the new SSD and you don't really gain anything from it. I recently bought an NVMe - drive myself and all I did was pop it in the M.2 - slot, fired up the PC and it was good to go.

 

Now, there is one caveat: on many mobos installing an NVMe - drive may disable some of the SATA - ports and if this happens, you need to look at your mobo's manual and check which ports get disabled and move your current HDD and SSD to the ports that aren't disabled.

[LavaPhoenix]

7 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

If you just want to add more storage and keep your current SSD for Windows, then yes, it most likely will be a simple plug-and-play thing. It gets a little hairier, if you want to move Windows to the new SSD and you don't really gain anything from it. I recently bought an NVMe - drive myself and all I did was pop it in the M.2 - slot, fired up the PC and it was good to go.

 

Now, there is one caveat: on many mobos installing an NVMe - drive may disable some of the SATA - ports and if this happens, you need to look at your mobo's manual and check which ports get disabled and move your current HDD and SSD to the ports that aren't disabled.

Interesting. Thank you for the help WereCatf.