m.2 SATA vs SATA

RaceTrout · March 17, 2015

I am considering building a new box and so far the argument has gone that there is no difference between mSATA and SATA.

However, the GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK claims that their mSATA M.2 runs at 10Gbps as opposed to SATA3 6Gbps.

So my question is: "Is the M.2 a game changer? Or just marketing hype?"

Wauthar · March 17, 2015

Well, as far as I know mSATA runs on the PCI bus, which is indeed faster.

tmlhalo · March 17, 2015

The M.2 interface is CAPABLE of 10Gb/s but that doesn't mean all drives are capable of saturating that interface (maxing out the interface). There are a couple of select drives that can. M.2 is nice due to no cable management but compare drive specs NOT drive interfaces.