Proper SSD and mounting solution - Help needed

[TubbusMaximus]

Hey there! Reaching out for some assistance on navigating through the increasingly confusing jargon that is PC life.

 

I am looking to upgrade to the below (or similar) SSD, but I am not sure if my motherboard will bottleneck its performance. In addition, I have not been able to find any performance information as it relates to mounting on the motherboard directly, or via PCIe adapter. My initial thought for most things in life is that if something requires an additional piece to run, that will degrade performance. Not sure if that holds true here.

 

The only thing I am aware of is that I will lose connectivity to one of my 4 SATA ports if I mount it directly to the motherboard, which is not an inconvenience for me as of today.

 

I would be using this SSD as my OS boot drive, and game/video/music storage. I do very minor video editing from time to time. I currently run a Kingston 480GB SATA SSD drive as my boot + game launcher. Seagate HDD for my data files.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

My motherboard

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/PRIME/PRIME-Z370-P-II/techspec/

 

Proposed SSD

https://www.amazon.ca/Sabrent-Internal-Maximum-Performance-SB-RKTQ4-2TB/dp/B08D29JQ24/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=KmUjh&pf_rd_p=abee655a-f25b-41b9-9f03-635abdfc697d&pf_rd_r=3M4Y7BQKFE3BMZ5QNZ6R&pd_rd_r=63c1b7d1-864a-4a66-a401-ec6679c4ae46&pd_rd_wg=HBIqK&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

 

Potential Mounting Solution (pending advice)

https://www.amazon.ca/Sabrent-NVMe-PCIe-Aluminum-EC-PCIE/dp/B084GDY2PW/ref=pd_day0fbt_img_1/132-1389921-2032339?pd_rd_w=zXhrE&pf_rd_p=acc65436-fc4e-45ed-98e6-1cea96557795&pf_rd_r=DV5MGYHJ9GMDT8YH6953&pd_rd_r=97647f96-7439-45e2-a30c-6f3b7f7b64b7&pd_rd_wg=WIs4Y&pd_rd_i=B084GDY2PW&psc=1

[Brooksie359]

Well I would choose a different ssd as its alot more expensive simply because it's a pcie 4.0 drive while your motherboard doesn't support pcie 4.0 so it wouldn't gain any advantage over other pcie 3.0 drives that are a fraction of the price. 

[AbydosOne]

12 minutes ago, TubbusMaximus said:

In addition, I have not been able to find any performance information as it relates to mounting on the motherboard directly, or via PCIe adapter.

There should be (in theory) no difference in performance, assuming both are connected directly to the CPU provided PCIe lanes (as opposed to those coming from the chipset, which can bottleneck).

 

However, as is the case with many motherboards, putting something in the second PCIe x16 slot will drop the primary slot to x8. If you have an especially high-end GPU, this can induce another bottleneck.

 

I would recommend just putting on the motherboard, just to save the cost of the adapter and to ensure the best compatibility in BIOS.

[Brooksie359]

I would go with this instead https://www.amazon.ca/Blue-NAND-2TB-SSD-WDS200T2B0B/dp/B073SBW3VD/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?crid=3C0124FE793S4&keywords=m2+ssd+2tb&qid=1640711373&sprefix=m.2+ssd%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-8

Also I would just connect it to the m.2 slot on your motherboard instead of over complicating it. 

[AbydosOne]

3 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

I would go with this instead https://www.amazon.ca/Blue-NAND-2TB-SSD-WDS200T2B0B/dp/B073SBW3VD/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?crid=3C0124FE793S4&keywords=m2+ssd+2tb&qid=1640711373&sprefix=m.2+ssd%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-8

Also I would just connect it to the m.2 slot on your motherboard instead of over complicating it. 

That's a SATA SSD.

[TubbusMaximus]

6 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

I would go with this instead https://www.amazon.ca/Blue-NAND-2TB-SSD-WDS200T2B0B/dp/B073SBW3VD/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?crid=3C0124FE793S4&keywords=m2+ssd+2tb&qid=1640711373&sprefix=m.2+ssd%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-8

Also I would just connect it to the m.2 slot on your motherboard instead of over complicating it. 

With that being a SATA SSD, I'll probably pass. I'd like to have some speed.

 

Perhaps this one?

https://www.amazon.ca/Sabrent-Rocket-Internal-Performance-SB-RKTQ-2TB/dp/B0829DZH2W/ref=sr_1_5?crid=37KWCSBDXYF2W&keywords=2tb+nvme+gen+3&qid=1640711426&s=electronics&sprefix=2tb+nvme+gen+3%2Celectronics%2C76&sr=1-5

[TubbusMaximus]

3 minutes ago, AbydosOne said:

That's a SATA SSD.

How about this one in your opinion?

https://www.amazon.ca/Sabrent-Rocket-Internal-Performance-SB-RKTQ-2TB/dp/B0829DZH2W/ref=sr_1_5?crid=37KWCSBDXYF2W&keywords=2tb+nvme+gen+3&qid=1640711426&s=electronics&sprefix=2tb+nvme+gen+3%2Celectronics%2C76&sr=1-5

[AbydosOne]

2 minutes ago, TubbusMaximus said:

How about this one in your opinion?

https://www.amazon.ca/Sabrent-Rocket-Internal-Performance-SB-RKTQ-2TB/dp/B0829DZH2W/ref=sr_1_5?crid=37KWCSBDXYF2W&keywords=2tb+nvme+gen+3&qid=1640711426&s=electronics&sprefix=2tb+nvme+gen+3%2Celectronics%2C76&sr=1-5

It's a reasonable choice. Honestly, I wouldn't have steered you away from a PCIe 4.0 drive as it will probably outlast the motherboard and could go in your next build (but by then, PCIe 5.0 will be a thing, so )

[TubbusMaximus]

1 minute ago, AbydosOne said:

It's a reasonable choice. Honestly, I wouldn't have steered you away from a PCIe 4.0 drive as it will probably outlast the motherboard and could go in your next build (but by then, PCIe 5.0 will be a thing, so )

Fair point. It's highly unlikely I will ever have a build that matches the times as I don't like being a first adopter of new tech. Going gen 4 today does have value for my needs. I'm on an OC'd i5 9600k today, with plans to upgrade my board and cpu next Christmas

 

Your help is much appreciated today, thank you!

[TubbusMaximus]

19 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

I would go with this instead https://www.amazon.ca/Blue-NAND-2TB-SSD-WDS200T2B0B/dp/B073SBW3VD/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?crid=3C0124FE793S4&keywords=m2+ssd+2tb&qid=1640711373&sprefix=m.2+ssd%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-8

Also I would just connect it to the m.2 slot on your motherboard instead of over complicating it. 

Thanks for your help today, Brooksie!