Samsung 950 pro, an affordable NVMe SSD

[Kirky2k15]

You need to add VAT to the price. So it would cost closer to £160 in the UK.

Glad I bought the cheaper SM951 then, negligible performance increase in the NVMe version...

 

Edit: Actually, re-reading the specs of the 256gb 950 pro the read is 2200 and the write is only 900 I get 2200 and 1200 on my SM951 so...........

[Sauron]

Very nice! Now if only I had a motherboard that supports m.2... nah, I guess I'll wait until it makes sense to upgrade my 2600. Until the mainstream platform has 6 cores or the x820k has 8 I don't see the point.

[Notional]

Glad I bought the cheaper SM951 then, negligible performance increase in the NVMe version...

 

Edit: Actually, re-reading the specs of the 256gb 950 pro the read is 2200 and the write is only 900 I get 2200 and 1200 on my SM951 so...........

 

But your drive only has 90k IOPS compared to this drives 270k IOPS. Unless you do very specific large file transfers, you won't ever reach neither read or write max speeds on your drive:

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage/PCIe-SSD-Roundup-Samsung-SM951-NVMe-vs-AHCI-XP941-SSD-750-and-More/Sequential-Perfor

The nvme version of you​r drive is faster on average due to the higher IOPS and nvme. This drive will be too.

[Notional]

Very nice! Now if only I had a motherboard that supports m.2... nah, I guess I'll wait until it makes sense to upgrade my 2600. Until the mainstream platform has 6 cores or the x820k has 8 I don't see the point.

 

Get an m.2 adapter?

 

 

Only issue is if your old motherboard even supports nvme. Maybe not.

[Sauron]

Only issue is if your old motherboard even supports nvme. Maybe not.

 

I strongly doubt it does ^^ that said the pcie adapter *might* do the job, but the drive is already pretty expensive as it is. Wouldn't make much sense for me to spend that much on an old system. When I'll decide to uopgrade my cpu I'll probably get an nvme drive, but by the time I do they'll probably be a lot cheaper and there might even be a better solution.

[Kirky2k15]

But your drive only has 90k IOPS compared to this drives 270k IOPS. Unless you do very specific large file transfers, you won't ever reach neither read or write max speeds on your drive:

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage/PCIe-SSD-Roundup-Samsung-SM951-NVMe-vs-AHCI-XP941-SSD-750-and-More/Sequential-Perfor

The nvme version of you​r drive is faster on average due to the higher IOPS and nvme. This drive will be too.

Regular every day usage you won't notice any difference so meh

[Kirky2k15]

I strongly doubt it does ^^ that said the pcie adapter *might* do the job, but the drive is already pretty expensive as it is. Wouldn't make much sense for me to spend that much on an old system. When I'll decide to uopgrade my cpu I'll probably get an nvme drive, but by the time I do they'll probably be a lot cheaper and there might even be a better solution.

No need to spend big to get an adapter:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00X55S2I4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

 

I know its ugly but it does the job

[Notional]

I strongly doubt it does ^^ that said the pcie adapter *might* do the job, but the drive is already pretty expensive as it is. Wouldn't make much sense for me to spend that much on an old system. When I'll decide to uopgrade my cpu I'll probably get an nvme drive, but by the time I do they'll probably be a lot cheaper and there might even be a better solution.

 

Indeed. Even worse still is that most m.2 slots are only x2 and not x4, so you cannot max out the drive on most onboard m.2 slots. I can't on my Asus z97 Ranger for instance. Asus also gimped it on their new mATX x99 workstation board (so dumb).

[Sakkura]

Indeed. Even worse still is that most m.2 slots are only x2 and not x4, so you cannot max out the drive on most onboard m.2 slots. I can't on my Asus z97 Ranger for instance. Asus also gimped it on their new mATX x99 workstation board (so dumb).

 

Well, it's only with the LGA 1151 chipsets that Intel has really taken PCIe storage support to the next level. Z97 only natively supports PCIe 2.0 x2 for either SATA Express or M.2.

[Sauron]

No need to spend big to get an adapter:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00X55S2I4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

 

I know its ugly but it does the job

 

uh, nice! do you think the nvme standard would be a problem though?

 

Indeed. Even worse still is that most m.2 slots are only x2 and not x4, so you cannot max out the drive on most onboard m.2 slots. I can't on my Asus z97 Ranger for instance. Asus also gimped it on their new mATX x99 workstation board (so dumb).

 

although to be honest, who wants mATX for x99?

[Notional]

uh, nice! do you think the nvme standard would be a problem though?

 

 

although to be honest, who wants mATX for x99?

 

Last BIOS update for your board was in 2013, so no it won't support nvme sadly.

 

I would, standard ATX is dead to me. Almost all users even in here can make do with an mATX board and most could use an ITX board as well.

[Deli]

although to be honest, who wants mATX for x99?

Ha, I have the board you mentioned. The M.2 option is the only weak link of this board.

 

Some people prefer more CPU power than 4 cores, but don't need to plug tons expansion cards. I only have one GPU and a PCIe SSD. M-ATX is perfect. :lol:

[Sauron]

Last BIOS update for your board was in 2013, so no it won't support nvme sadly.

 

I would, standard ATX is dead to me. Almost all users even in here can make do with an mATX board and most could use an ITX board as well.

 

Sure, but I'd expect people who go for x99 to want that extra pcie bandwidth - whereas an matx motherboard would limit that by having less physical slots and not enough room to fill them all. To each their own, but x99 is hardly necessary for htpc use, and anywhere else size isn't really a factor. 

[Doobeedoo]

Finally an M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD with a black PCB with a decent price... looks promising

Yeah, indeed. Can't wait for SSDs like this to become the norm more.

[Crowcore]

No need to spend big to get an adapter:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00X55S2I4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

 

I know its ugly but it does the job

Isn't it too small to fit into "normal" cases ? The rear part.

[Crowcore]

Well, it's only with the LGA 1151 chipsets that Intel has really taken PCIe storage support to the next level. Z97 only natively supports PCIe 2.0 x2 for either SATA Express or M.2.

I realized this recently when starting to consider NVMe for my next upgrade. How disappointing. But getting a PCIe adapter is not a big deal I suppose, even with micro-ATX.

[Sakkura]

Isn't it too small to fit into "normal" cases ? The rear part.

 

You can swap to a full-height bracket for compatibility with regular ATX cases. You can see it in the last pic.

[Doobeedoo]

Though I wonder when will Samsung make an SSD for U.2 connector. Will it be main connector for next gen SSDs?

[xeromynd]

1. NVMe in M.2

 

 

2. $200 price tag  

 

 

3.) A BLACK PCB

[Kirky2k15]

Isn't it too small to fit into "normal" cases ? The rear part.

No I've got it, its fine

[Adriel]

It looks great! Want.

[Lethal Seraph]

This is definitely gonna be on my future upgrade rig. Hopefully it'll get cheaper as the tech matures... 2018 can't get here soon enough.