M.2 vs Standard SSD?

[EasonIDontKnowAnything]

Tbh I don't really know if there's a difference , just the M.2 is smaller. I heard it's faster too.

[rip]

 

[Droidbot]

m.2 nvme/pcie is faster

m.2 sata is as fast as standard SSD

[Daniel Z.]

1 minute ago, EasonIDontKnowAnything said:

Tbh I don't really know if there's a difference , just the M.2 is smaller. I heard it's faster too.

m.2 can be faster but that is NVME vs AHCI. Basically m.2 is more convenient and faster if it has NVME

[genexis_x]

38 minutes ago, EasonIDontKnowAnything said:

Tbh I don't really know if there's a difference , just the M.2 is smaller. I heard it's faster too.

Only faster if it's a NVMe drive.

 

It's small (suitable for laptop users) and doesn't require any cables to power up and transfer data (simply plug into mobo) which results in better cable management

[Naeaes]

OP, you shouldn't compare M.2 with sata. It's apples and oranges. M.2 is a form factor, like 2,5" or 3,5" whereas sata is a data transfer protocol, like PCI-E or TCP/IP or USB.

M.2 connectors "support" sata as is so if you stick in a sata M.2 SSD, it would be the same exact thing, not slower, not faster. The only difference would be that instead of a 2,5" form factor drive with cables, you'd have a M.2 form factor drive with no cables.

 

M.2 also "supports" what's called PCI-Ex4 or NVMe, which is way faster as a data transfer protocol than sata. But both the motherboard and the drive must be actually using the data protocol. If this is for the same sabertooth motherboard you mentioned earlier, you should know it doesn't support NVMe over M.2. if you want and M.2 SSD, it'll have to be sata (or installed in a separate PCI-E controller card).