2nd Phase Planning - ~512GB NVMe choices

[Aereto_Compuru]

I have been slowly adding up the rest of the computer parts since it was first built last December. One of the components I am planning is adding a 2nd M.2 that will replace the current M.2's role as the Windows OS / Priority Application drive.

 

Given that my motherboard is a Gigabyte H170 Gaming 3 with 2 M.2 (x4 speed and x2/SATA speed) and running on Windows 7 Ultimate, I would need some additional input into which M.2 SSD to use.

 

Here are some extra info, while the computer in question should be in my signature:

Spoiler

BIOS set to Intel RST, handling NVMe and RAID instead of the OS.

 

All PCIe ports expected to be populated, 1 x16 and 1 x1 ports remain open (planned to have Workstation GPU and USB Type-C port, respectively)

 

The M.2 x4 speed port is adjacent to the first PCIe x16 port, which will be directly under the primary GPU's air flow.

 

Storage layout and their roles:

• Plextor M8Pe 256GB (heatsinkless) - Current Windows OS / Priority App Drive, marked to change roles as a Server Linux OS Drive by the end of the year.
• Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - Windows Standard App Drive
• HGST Deskstar NAS 3TB x 2 (RAID 1) - Windows Data Storage Drive, may expand if reaching capacity.
• (M.2 SSD, 500-512 GB) - Marked to be the new Windows OS / Priority App Drive, expected to handle significant throughput on startup and during development periods.
• (2.5" HDD, 500 GB, HGST) - Re-purposed laptop HDD after being replaced by SSD. Planned to carry one Virtual Machine, produced by Server Linux OS for virtualization practice.
• (External HDD, 4+ TB) - Backup Drive, carrying images of all drives for monthly recovery checkpoints.

 

[MageTank]

13 minutes ago, Aereto_Compuru said:

I have been slowly adding up the rest of the computer parts since it was first built last December. One of the components I am planning is adding a 2nd M.2 that will replace the current M.2's role as the Windows OS / Priority Application drive.

 

Given that my motherboard is a Gigabyte H170 Gaming 3 with 2 M.2 (x4 speed and x2/SATA speed) and running on Windows 7 Ultimate, I would need some additional input into which M.2 SSD to use.

 

Here are some extra info, while the computer in question should be in my signature:

  Hide contents

BIOS set to Intel RST, handling NVMe and RAID instead of the OS.

 

Storage layout and their roles:

• Plextor M8Pe 256GB (heatsinkless) - Current Windows OS / Priority App Drive, marked to change roles as a Server Linux OS Drive by the end of the year.
• Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - Windows Standard App Drive
• HGST Deskstar NAS 3TB x 2 (RAID 1) - Windows Data Storage Drive, may expand if reaching capacity.
• (M.2 SSD, 500-512 GB) - Marked to be the new Windows OS / Priority App Drive, expected to handle significant throughput on startup and during development periods.
• (2.5" HDD, 500 GB, HGST) - Re-purposed laptop HDD after being replaced by SSD. Planned to carry one Virtual Machine, produced by Server Linux OS for virtualization practice.
• (External HDD, 4+ TB) - Backup Drive, carrying images of all drives for monthly recovery checkpoints.

 

If you are looking for great price;performance and high longevity, I highly recommend this:

 

https://www.amazon.com/MyDigitalSSD-80mm-Express-PCIe-480GB/dp/B01MDRUXNZ

 

Got a 240gb version for my father in February, and it's nice. It does get quite hot though, so active cooling or copper shims would be nice. 

[Aereto_Compuru]

10 minutes ago, MageTank said:

If you are looking for great price;performance and high longevity, I highly recommend this:

 

https://www.amazon.com/MyDigitalSSD-80mm-Express-PCIe-480GB/dp/B01MDRUXNZ

 

Got a 240gb version for my father in February, and it's nice. It does get quite hot though, so active cooling or copper shims would be nice. 

That would be interesting, despite seeing similar price points of competitors in Newegg.

 

M.2s do happen to get hot at the heated moments where I am doing a lot of things, but the main issue would be that just about every PCIe socket in that motherboard is planned to be populated, and when I looked at the motherboard, the M.2 that has the x4 speed is directly under the RX480, giving no room for any cooling solution that adds a fair amount of centimeters... aside from changing the case fan speeds. Probably I should edit my notes to address that.

 

As a bonus, the RX480 in question is the MSI Gaming X model, so you can see where the fans are blowing.