Questions about ssd.

[LiquedSoul]

Hey, is there any difference between laptop / desktop ssd? Or both work the same and might just bee too small to mount (i use desktop)?

 

i dont have m.2 in my desktop, should i buy an m.2 adapter or just use solid sata ssd?

 

whats the difference between sata(sata 2, 2.5, 3, ect’)?

 

how do i check what speed i need to my uses? Any way to open some program that will log my max read/write with my current configuration?

[Mumintroll]

If you don't have m.2 slots you can go for a sata ssd. They are still faster than a regular harddrive.

If you're planning to have Windows installed on it I would recommend a TLC (Triple Layer Cell), sometimes called "3bit MLC" by some manufacturers. They can be written and overwritten much more than a QLC, and should last longer.

 

The different sata standards can you read about here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SATA

Unless you have a really old motherboard you probably have one of the sata 3 standards, which has a speed of 600MB/s. If you do have an older sata standard the ssd should be backward compatible and work, but abit slower.

 

You can check what sata standard you have with CrystalDiskInfo for example.

It's a good app to see info on the drive and its health.

[vanpuffelen]

7 minutes ago, LiquedSoul said:

Hey, is there any difference between laptop / desktop ssd? Or both work the same and might just bee too small to mount (i use desktop)?

 

No, there are no differences between a "laptop" SDD or a "desktop" SSD. Closest thing to that is weird OEM models used by companies, but other companies, like Framework, use consumer-available SSDs, such as the WD_Black SN770 NVMe SSDs Framework uses.

 

13 minutes ago, LiquedSoul said:

i dont have m.2 in my desktop, should i buy an m.2 adapter or just use solid sata ssd?

 

Unless you are reusing an m.2, there is no need to buy an m.2 adapter for a bootdrive. You will be limited by the platform it is converted to. SATA SSDs (Solid State Drives) are cheaper than M.2s, too. 

Plus, M.2s are much, much faster than SATA. Yes, I know SATA-based M.2s exist, and they are not recommended. Using an adapter (i.e. M.2 to SATA), forces you to use said M.2 at SATA speeds, which in this case, is at 6Gb/s. 

 

16 minutes ago, LiquedSoul said:

whats the difference between sata(sata 2, 2.5, 3, ect’)?

 

The only difference between them is their read/write speed. SATA 3 is the fastest, at a staggering 6Gb/s. SATA 2 is slower, at 3 Gb/s (?), and at last, SATA 1. SATA 1 is at 1.5Gb/s, I believe. 

 

17 minutes ago, LiquedSoul said:

how do i check what speed i need to my uses? Any way to open some program that will log my max read/write with my current configuration?

There is no real minimum speed requirement for literally anything. Faster drives mostly increase responsiveness and decrease loading times, at the cost of reliability . I still use HDDs in my PCs, and they've been alright in handling games, including games on the higher end, such as GTAV, BeamNG.Drive, and Cities Skylines. As for reliability, SSDs have a limited amount of read/writes they can perform, but this number is in general pretty large, unless it's an ADATA drive. HDDs can last for much longer, though. I've even gotten my hands on a used HDD made in April 2007, which has not kicked the bucket yet. 

[LiquedSoul]

17 minutes ago, vanpuffelen said:

No, there are no differences between a "laptop" SDD or a "desktop" SSD. Closest thing to that is weird OEM models used by companies, but other companies, like Framework, use consumer-available SSDs, such as the WD_Black SN770 NVMe SSDs Framework uses.

 

Unless you are reusing an m.2, there is no need to buy an m.2 adapter for a bootdrive. You will be limited by the platform it is converted to. SATA SSDs (Solid State Drives) are cheaper than M.2s, too. 

Plus, M.2s are much, much faster than SATA. Yes, I know SATA-based M.2s exist, and they are not recommended. Using an adapter (i.e. M.2 to SATA), forces you to use said M.2 at SATA speeds, which in this case, is at 6Gb/s. 

 

The only difference between them is their read/write speed. SATA 3 is the fastest, at a staggering 6Gb/s. SATA 2 is slower, at 3 Gb/s (?), and at last, SATA 1. SATA 1 is at 1.5Gb/s, I believe. 

 

There is no real minimum speed requirement for literally anything. Faster drives mostly increase responsiveness and decrease loading times, at the cost of reliability . I still use HDDs in my PCs, and they've been alright in handling games, including games on the higher end, such as GTAV, BeamNG.Drive, and Cities Skylines. As for reliability, SSDs have a limited amount of read/writes they can perform, but this number is in general pretty large, unless it's an ADATA drive. HDDs can last for much longer, though. I've even gotten my hands on a used HDD made in April 2007, which has not kicked the bucket yet. 

What about m.2 nvme to pcie?

[vanpuffelen]

21 minutes ago, LiquedSoul said:

What about m.2 nvme to pcie?

That just makes your M.2 use the PCIe slots on your motherboard. It is one way to use an M.2 on a non-M.2 PC, but it is generally not worth it. To be honest, its only real use case is for something more server-related. However, it really depends on what PCIe version your NVMe M.2 is running on. Most NVMe M.2s use either PCIe 3.0, PCIe 4.0, or PCIe 5.0. Since your PC does not have an M.2 slot, it is safe to assume it is made before 2017. 

 

If I may ask, what are the specs (and age) of the PC you want to put an M.2 in?

[LiquedSoul]

2 hours ago, vanpuffelen said:

That just makes your M.2 use the PCIe slots on your motherboard. It is one way to use an M.2 on a non-M.2 PC, but it is generally not worth it. To be honest, its only real use case is for something more server-related. However, it really depends on what PCIe version your NVMe M.2 is running on. Most NVMe M.2s use either PCIe 3.0, PCIe 4.0, or PCIe 5.0. Since your PC does not have an M.2 slot, it is safe to assume it is made before 2017. 

 

If I may ask, what are the specs (and age) of the PC you want to put an M.2 in?

Its optiplex 3020,

changed ram to 16gb ddr 3, and changed cpu to i7-4790(not k).

 

have a solid sata which improved the pc A LOT, evo 820 if im not wrong.

 

biggest performance boosters were the ssd and the cpu, ram helped but not too much (was 6gb now 16)

i play a 2d mmorpg called maplestory.

it looks like i need just a bit more power to run smoothly, so either changing cpu again to i7-4790k (although cant overclock with my motherboard, so if the extra 0.2ghz wont help ill probably need to change motherboard too and try to overclock).

or changing to nvme m.2 which i cant use (unless i either put it on pcie, or again buy an expansive motherboard)

 

Btw - i use igpu but it never reach 100% utilization, and its a 2d game so buying an expensive gpu just for that will be a waste of resources)

[vanpuffelen]

24 minutes ago, LiquedSoul said:

Its optiplex 3020,

changed ram to 16gb ddr 3, and changed cpu to i7-4790(not k).

 

have a solid sata which improved the pc A LOT, evo 820 if im not wrong.

 

biggest performance boosters were the ssd and the cpu, ram helped but not too much (was 6gb now 16)

i play a 2d mmorpg called maplestory.

it looks like i need just a bit more power to run smoothly, so either changing cpu again to i7-4790k (although cant overclock with my motherboard, so if the extra 0.2ghz wont help ill probably need to change motherboard too and try to overclock).

or changing to nvme m.2 which i cant use (unless i either put it on pcie, or again buy an expansive motherboard)

 

Btw - i use igpu but it never reach 100% utilization, and its a 2d game so buying an expensive gpu just for that will be a waste of resources)

I also have an OptiPlex 3020, but I do have the SFF variant. It's not worth getting an M.2, even through one of those M.2 to PCIe adapters.

[Mumintroll]

Remember to check for firmware updates for your ssd. When you buy a new one it might come with an older firmware.

The app to update the firmware is usually found on the manufacturer's homepage somewhere.