m.2 VS PCI SSD

[suchamoneypit]

Currently im looking at two SSDs

 

M.2- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147466

PCI- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167359

 

My goal is to put my OS on the SSD, and then have room left over for some games while my 2TB then becomes mass storage. I have two options, I can either wait like a month, and get the PCI SSD, or, I can get this M.2 SSD for christmas, then in a month sell my 390X and upgrade to a Fury X. Im leaning to the 256GB M.2 SSD and the Fury X. 

 

My question is which option to take? Whats the advantages and disadvantages of these two SSDs. How much better are they then SATA SSDS? Will 256GB be sufficent for core programs and games?

 

My motherboard is an X99-UD4, which should support both of these. Also, if I got 2 M.2 SSDs or 2 PCI ones, can I raid them for faster speeds? Also, are there any other M.2 or PCI SSDs that are cheaper/better you recommend over the ones I have selected?

[Enderman]

the intel 750

it doesn't have overheating issues

 

also why would you even try to raid these SSDs

they are already far faster than anything you ever need...

[Curufinwe_wins]

Currently im looking at two SSDs

 

M.2- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147466

PCI- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167359

 

My goal is to put my OS on the SSD, and then have room left over for some games while my 2TB then becomes mass storage. I have two options, I can either wait like a month, and get the PCI SSD, or, I can get this M.2 SSD for christmas, then in a month sell my 390X and upgrade to a Fury X. Im leaning to the 256GB M.2 SSD and the Fury X. 

 

My question is which option to take? Whats the advantages and disadvantages of these two SSDs. How much better are they then SATA SSDS? Will 256GB be sufficent for core programs and games?

 

My motherboard is an X99-UD4, which should support both of these. Also, if I got 2 M.2 SSDs or 2 PCI ones, can I raid them for faster speeds? Also, are there any other M.2 or PCI SSDs that are cheaper/better you recommend over the ones I have selected?

 

 

You can raid them, but not for bios. It just doesn't work with nvme on like all x99 yet (or with most z170 actually).

 

It won't help by any measurable margin... http://techreport.com/review/29221/samsung-950-pro-512gb-ssd-reviewed/4

 

In fact the intel 750 series is worse than many SATA ssd's in almost every gaming/os application you as a regular consumer will encounter.

 

IF you really feel you need the speed, the 512 GB 950 Pro is what I would recommend. Also 980ti>>Fury x.

 

256GB is not anywhere close to sufficient for games when you consider that recent open world RPG's (the games that benefit the most from SSD storage) can be up to 60 GB per game.

[Curufinwe_wins]

the intel 750

it doesn't have overheating issues

 

also why would you even try to raid these SSDs

they are already far faster than anything you ever need...

Yea... recommend an SSD that is inferior to even SATA drives in everyday consumer use...

 

http://techreport.com/review/29221/samsung-950-pro-512gb-ssd-reviewed/4

 

Besides, the 950 pro is already better in every test smaller than QD62 and less than 250 GB continuous transfer (120 seconds at continuous full speed to hit any significant thermal throttling)...

 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9702/samsung-950-pro-ssd-review-256gb-512gb/4

[Enderman]

Yea... recommend an SSD that is inferior to even SATA drives in everyday consumer use...

 

http://techreport.com/review/29221/samsung-950-pro-512gb-ssd-reviewed/4

 

Besides, the 950 pro is already better in every test smaller than QD62 and less than 250 GB continuous transfer (120 seconds at continuous full speed to hit any significant thermal throttling)...

 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9702/samsung-950-pro-ssd-review-256gb-512gb/4

 

No, that's wrong.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage/Intel-SSD-750-Series-12TB-PCIe-and-25-SFF-Review-NVMe-Consumer

it takes equally longer to boot from a PCIe M.2 SSD as it does from a PCIe SSD sicne they both need the PCIe controller to be initialized before boot

 

that's why boot times are longer than sata SSDs

 

yes the 950 pro has slightly faster reads

no it is not noticeable

 

and when it overheats then the speeds are far worse

http://www.storagereview.com/samsung_950_pro_m2_ssd_review

[dragoon20005]

my vote for the M.2 and Fury X

[suchamoneypit]

Yea... recommend an SSD that is inferior to even SATA drives in everyday consumer use...

 

http://techreport.com/review/29221/samsung-950-pro-512gb-ssd-reviewed/4

 

Besides, the 950 pro is already better in every test smaller than QD62 and less than 250 GB continuous transfer (120 seconds at continuous full speed to hit any significant thermal throttling)...

 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9702/samsung-950-pro-ssd-review-256gb-512gb/4

 

 

You can raid them, but not for bios. It just doesn't work with nvme on like all x99 yet (or with most z170 actually).

 

It won't help by any measurable margin... http://techreport.com/review/29221/samsung-950-pro-512gb-ssd-reviewed/4

 

In fact the intel 750 series is worse than many SATA ssd's in almost every gaming/os application you as a regular consumer will encounter.

 

IF you really feel you need the speed, the 512 GB 950 Pro is what I would recommend. Also 980ti>>Fury x.

 

256GB is not anywhere close to sufficient for games when you consider that recent open world RPG's (the games that benefit the most from SSD storage) can be up to 60 GB per game.

so boot times will not be much faster than a SATA SSD because of this initialization thing?

 

what about in games? Will I notice a difference in speed there over a standard SATA SSD? Im really going for the best possible speed for my money with storage at least 200GB. How often would I run into this thermal throttling? Can I prevent it by having more/better case fans?

 

And as far as game storage I understand games are huge. I would only install select games on the SSD, everything else where i dont need the fast speed will be installed on my 2TB HDD.

[Curufinwe_wins]

No, that's wrong.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage/Intel-SSD-750-Series-12TB-PCIe-and-25-SFF-Review-NVMe-Consumer

it takes equally longer to boot from a PCIe M.2 SSD as it does from a PCIe SSD sicne they both need the PCIe controller to be initialized before boot

 

that's why boot times are longer than sata SSDs

 

yes the 950 pro has slightly faster reads

no it is not noticeable

 

and when it overheats then the speeds are far worse

http://www.storagereview.com/samsung_950_pro_m2_ssd_review

And yet every boot test review has the 950 pro much faster than the WORST IN CLASS (outside of server SSD's) 750 series.

 

It's called controllers...

 

And yea that thermal throttling is SO BAD!!!

 

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage/Samsung-950-PRO-256GB-and-512GB-M2-NVMe-PCIe-SSD-Review/Thermal-Throttling-Conclusio

 

 

From that own article....

 

 

Conclusion

PROS

• Best performing M.2 SSD Tested
• Best performing SSD Tested (period)
• Power Consumption is half that of the closest competing NVMe SSD
• M.2 form factor fits in more places (with adapter)

CONS

• Cost/GB higher than competing (slower) SSDs
• M.2 to PCIe adapter card needed for those without M.2

 

Hmm.... Also tops all the Anandtech charts...

 

 

so boot times will not be much faster than a SATA SSD because of this initialization thing?

 

what about in games? Will I notice a difference in speed there over a standard SATA SSD? Im really going for the best possible speed for my money with storage at least 200GB. How often would I run into this thermal throttling? Can I prevent it by having more/better case fans?

 

And as far as game storage I understand games are huge. I would only install select games on the SSD, everything else where i dont need the fast speed will be installed on my 2TB HDD.

http://techreport.com/review/29221/samsung-950-pro-512gb-ssd-reviewed/4

 

Check those charts.... Seriously it's all available.

 

No thermal throttling is NEVER AN ISSUE because you are NEVER going to transfer 200+ GB of data at once from a drive fast enough to stress the 950 Pro. Because there isn't any drive available to consumers (outside of other 950 pro's and the Intel 750, which you won't be using numerous of them) that can keep up.

[Enderman]

No thermal throttling is NEVER AN ISSUE because you are NEVER going to transfer 200+ GB of data at once from a drive fast enough to stress the 950 Pro. Because there isn't any (outside of other 950 pro's and the Intel 750, which you won't be using numerous of them).

Well then spending that much on an SSD and not using it to its full potential is just a waste of money.

[Curufinwe_wins]

 

And yes, for their speed PCIe drives are not great boot drives (hence why a SATA ssd can basically keep right up with the two Samsung NVME drives...)

 

But it isn't a coincidence the 750 is by far the WORST of the pack.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Well then spending that much on an SSD and not using it to its full potential is just a waste of money.

Obviously... It's a pcie SSD... What do you expect?

 

You'd need 2x10 gb ethernet capping the network to stress it externally...

 

It's a total waste.

 

At least, it has exceedingly low latency which is useful in some applications.

[OddsCrazyStuff]

so boot times will not be much faster than a SATA SSD because of this initialization thing?

 

what about in games? Will I notice a difference in speed there over a standard SATA SSD? Im really going for the best possible speed for my money with storage at least 200GB. How often would I run into this thermal throttling? Can I prevent it by having more/better case fans?

 

And as far as game storage I understand games are huge. I would only install select games on the SSD, everything else where i dont need the fast speed will be installed on my 2TB HDD.

As long as you dont restart your PC several times a day, so dont boot time matter. Of course its nice that it takes less then 30 sec, but you wont notice the difference that much.

 

When it comes to games, so will you only notice it in load times and install time (assuming your internet can keep up).

 

Anything beyond an SSD wont be much noticed for normal use. Its power uses that first and for most need speeds beyond normal SSD speed, as they can move several GB/TB on a daily basis.

[Enderman]

Obviously... It's a pcie SSD... What do you expect?

 

You'd need 2x10 gb ethernet capping the network to stress it externally...

 

It's a total waste.

 

At least, it has exceedingly low latency which is useful in some applications.

uh, you know that you can actually use those speeds internally, right?

such as when files are loaded to ram

and for a professional content creator, a PCIe SSD makes a lot of sense

 

but you probably dont edit videos so you know little about that...

[Curufinwe_wins]

uh, you know that you can actually use those speeds internally, right?

such as when files are loaded to ram

and for a professional content creator, a PCIe SSD makes a lot of sense

 

but you probably dont edit videos so you know little about that...

 

 

In fact the intel 750 series is worse than many SATA ssd's in almost every gaming/os application you as a regular consumer will encounter.

Yea... recommend an SSD that is inferior to even SATA drives in everyday consumer use...

No thermal throttling is NEVER AN ISSUE because you are NEVER going to transfer 200+ GB of data at once from a drive fast enough to stress the 950 Pro. Because there isn't any drive available to consumers (outside of other 950 pro's and the Intel 750, which you won't be using numerous of them) that can keep up.

 

 

Really? You want to throw a professional/pro-sumer argument at me when I specifically started from the premise of consumer use?

 

[suchamoneypit]

No need to argue guys. So with all this talking now I'm unsure if I should spend the money on a M.2 SSD or just get two SATA SSDs. 

[wpirobotbuilder]

No need to argue guys. So with all this talking now I'm unsure if I should spend the money on a M.2 SSD or just get two SATA SSDs. 

Don't buy based on benchmark numbers, unless you know you really need the speed. You won't notice in everyday usage.

 

Instead, buy based on the capacity you want, and the GB/$ you will get for a particular drive. Figure out how much you need and might expand to in the next few years. If it's fewer $/GB to get the two SATA SSDs, get them. There are some pretty darn cheap SATA SSDs out there, prices have come down by a lot.

 

There are other reasons to get an M.2 drive, but less compelling, in my opinion, than $/GB. One is the form factor. If you are building a small system, or don't have many SATA slots, then getting an M.2 gives you value that way. If you will be using all your SATA slots for other purposes, then the M.2 frees up a SATA slot that would otherwise have been used by the SSD(s). An M.2 drive also won't have the RAID concerns that the SATA drives will.