USB SSD : 2.5inch SATA vs M.2 NVME

[Larry Philips]

Hi,

 

So, I really, really need to get more storage (no choice, my drives are full) and after thinking again and again I'm going to go for SSD's and external USB enclosures. 

 

The cost of purchasing, say, a 2TB 2.5inch SATA SSD + enclosure or a M.2 NVME SSD + enclosure being rather similar around my area, could anyone tip me about the pros and cons of both solutions? I mean, apart from the size factor, is there any real upside or downside going one way or another?

 

Thanks!

[RONOTHAN##]

Depending on the enclose you get, the NVMe drive should be a bit faster. In practice though, the main difference is just the size, and since costs should be about the same either way I'd just get the NVMe setup since it's a bit smaller and in theory faster. 

[Applefreak]

8 minutes ago, Larry Philips said:

Hi,

 

So, I really, really need to get more storage (no choice, my drives are full) and after thinking again and again I'm going to go for SSD's and external USB enclosures. 

 

The cost of purchasing, say, a 2TB 2.5inch SATA SSD + enclosure or a M.2 NVME SSD + enclosure being rather similar around my area, could anyone tip me about the pros and cons of both solutions? I mean, apart from the size factor, is there any real upside or downside going one way or another?

 

Thanks!

Apart from the size, a regular SSD in a decent enclosure would do just fine. It will already saturate the USB interface. The extra speed of nvme goes to waste in most cases. In my experience, Sata based SSDs run cooler, which I would assume is better long term. External nvme drives, even with a passive heat sink on them, will get really hot on writes, that's why there are cases with small fans on them. However that adds to the cost of the product, which could otherwise be spent on a higher capacity for example.

[Larry Philips]

1 hour ago, Applefreak said:

Apart from the size, a regular SSD in a decent enclosure would do just fine. It will already saturate the USB interface. The extra speed of nvme goes to waste in most cases. In my experience, Sata based SSDs run cooler, which I would assume is better long term. External nvme drives, even with a passive heat sink on them, will get really hot on writes, that's why there are cases with small fans on them. However that adds to the cost of the product, which could otherwise be spent on a higher capacity for example.

 

Thanks for confirming what I thought about the USB interface being the limiting factor.

I checked my computers and the fastest I have are USB 3.1 ports. I hardly think the Nvme drives would be faster in these conditions.