M.2 SSD

[TheCaptain53]

So I've been thinking about swapping out my current storage solution for a while now. For starters, I've been wanting to replace my Seagate Barracuda 1TB with a Western Digital Black 2TB for my games and programs and swap out my Kingston V300 with a Samsung 850 EVO. I was considering the 120GB, but considering the 250GB isn't that much more expensive, I've more or less decided on that model.

However, I only recently remembered that my motherboard has an M.2 SSD slot. I was considering getting an M.2 SSD instead, but was hesitant when I found out how much more expensive it is at £78.35 on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00TGIVZTW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=ABQJGLE2G5CGH) versus a regular SATA drive at £65.49 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00P736UEU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_8&smid=A2TRPFGVK1DL97).

 

Also, just so you guys understand my situation, I'm using my SSD for my OS and a few core programs and it is plenty fast enough. My system feels really responsive. I'm looking to replace my SSD because I'm worried about the reliability of this drive (even though an OS isn't terribly write intensive, so it would probably last a long time anyway), and so was considering a Samsung SSD because its reliability is legendary.

Despite the premium, do you guys think it's worth it? Does the extra performance of the M.2 SSD justify its premium?

[KemoKa]

Depends on whether you actually use the extra performance or not. With normal consumer applications, a normal SATA SSD with 75-100,000 IOPs will make most applications and programs open more or less instantaneously.

[Zeke]

You wouldn't see much difference, even though on paper M.2 has bigger bandwith than SATA3, your SSD would not come close to pushing the limits of the latter. So really it's just a matter of space/cable management, which you have no issues to begin with (as I understand).

 

Besides, both of the versions are on the same controller, so the extra price of M.2 is just a matter of a smaller package, that's about it.

[Curufinwe_wins]

sata m.2 is not faster than normal sata.

 

The only time m.2 is faster is when the drive relies on PCIe.

 

THE DRIVE WILL NOT BE FASTER UNDER ANY CONDITIONS AND CAN ONLY BE SLOWER DUE TO WORSE THERMAL PROPERTIES.

[Monkey Dust]

At a premium of £13 I'd say it's worth it just to be able to ditch a couple of cables, but I'm weird like that.

[TheCaptain53]

sata m.2 is not faster than normal sata.

 

The only time m.2 is faster is when the drive relies on PCIe.

 

THE DRIVE WILL NOT BE FASTER UNDER ANY CONDITIONS AND CAN ONLY BE SLOWER DUE TO WORSE THERMAL PROPERTIES.

Oh, I didn't realise that it would be SATA M.2 rather than PCIe.

Thank you.