M.2 NVMe - M.2 slot & PCIe

[Net3]

Will be M.2 NVMe SSD given the same speed, if I put it into M.2 slot instead of PCIe (through adapter) ? Though I know that through PCIe will flow around ~32Gb/s (correct me, if i'm wrong), but I dont know how much will go through M.2  (M) slot. (Like, is M.2 slot faster or slower.

 

Tho I know normal SATA SSD would perform quite the same for normal daily usage, but I will be doing some stuff in future like in UE4, PS and video editing...

 

On short, I just wanna know, if there's any difference between M.2 and PCIe slot (in data transfer rate). 

 

[themctipers]

M.2 is a tiny version of a pcie slot. It actually uses pcie lanes. 

 

Theoretically  it would perform the same. Though you lose NVMe, which makes the drive much slower. 

[agent_x007]

M.2 has two operating modes AHCI and NVMe on top of SATA/PCI-e connection.
M.2 "B-key" or "B/M-key" drives are AHCI only and can work both with PCI-e and SATA connections.
M.2 "M-key" drives are in theory PCI-e only, with right adapter they can work in SATA connection mode.

NVMe drives are M-key only, but you can use NVMe drive in SATA mode if you want (it will be slower).

Question :
What drive you want to buy and to what adapter (if any), you want to put it in ?

[Net3]

1 minute ago, themctipers said:

M.2 is a tiny version of a pcie slot. It actually uses pcie lanes. 

 

Theoretically  it would perform the same. Though you lose NVMe, which makes the drive much slower. 

Wait what ?? Really I could risk NVMe, if I put into M.2 SLOT? Then I get what AHCI instead of NVMe ?

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 minutes ago, themctipers said:

Though you lose NVMe,

No you don't, nvme is just a way to send storage data over pcie

 

 

It will preform the exact same with either.

[themctipers]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

No you don't, nvme is just a way to send storage data over pcie

 

 

It will preform the exact same with either.

oh. Thought adapters would strip that away  

[agent_x007]

6 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

No you don't, nvme is just a way to send storage data over pcie

 

It will preform the exact same with either.

Using AHCI mode on NVMe drive will butcher general small file performance.

[Net3]

3 minutes ago, agent_x007 said:

Using AHCI mode on NVMe drive will butcher general small file performance.

Which is good or bad? ;v

[Net3]

12 minutes ago, agent_x007 said:

M.2 has two operating modes AHCI and NVMe on top of SATA/PCI-e connection.
M.2 "B-key" or "B/M-key" drives are AHCI only and can work both with PCI-e and SATA connections.
M.2 "M-key" drives are in theory PCI-e only, with right adapter they can work in SATA connection mode.

NVMe drives are M-key only, but you can use NVMe drive in SATA mode if you want (it will be slower).

Question :
What drive you want to buy and to what adapter (if any), you want to put it in ?

Oh god. I dont have any intentions to go from pcie to sata  in worst scenerio SATAe (if even possible even that way) ^^

[agent_x007]

NVMe 
"Good" : Faster (by a lot in small file transfers)
"Bad" : Requires GPT and (U)EFI to work*
*(U)EFI can be bypassed, but it's a bit tricky if you have older PC.
Check online guides how to do it before buing NVMe drive.

AHCI 
"Good" : More compatible (only AHCI driver is required), will work on older platforms.
"Bad" : It's slower.

[Net3]

1 minute ago, agent_x007 said:

NVMe 
"Good" : Faster (by a lot in small file transfers)
"Bad" : Requires GPT and (U)EFI to work*
*(U)EFI can be bypassed, but it's tricky so if you have older PC. 
Check online guides how to do it before buing NVMe drive.

AHCI 
"Good" : More compatible (only AHCI driver is required) and can work on older platforms
"Bad" : It's slower.

Indeed, but I'm about to build new rig, so.. probably I don't ha e to worry about UEFI.  .-.

 

[agent_x007]

OK.
If Win 10 is also the OS you want to use, you shoudn't have any problems with NVMe drive OS installation.

[JoostinOnline]

3 minutes ago, agent_x007 said:

NVMe 
"Good" : Faster (by a lot in small file transfers)

Not so. It's about the same as SATA drives (sometimes slower) when it comes to small file transfers. That's why people who "upgrade" from a SATA SSD to an NVMe one usually don't notice any improvements in performance.

 

With sequential speeds, NVMe kills it. 

[Net3]

Tho I heared that for NVMe is harder to find drivers. Is that true ?

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, Net3 said:

Tho I heared that for NVMe is harder to find drivers. Is that true ?

 

Drivers are included In Windows and Linux. 

[Net3]

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

Not so. It's about the same as SATA drives (sometimes slower) when it comes to small file transfers. That's why people who "upgrade" from a SATA SSD to an NVMe one usually don't notice any improvements in performance.

 

With sequential speeds, NVMe kills it. 

So WD Black NVMe M.2 SSD, would be good investment?

[agent_x007]

9 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

Not so. It's about the same as SATA drives (sometimes slower) when it comes to small file transfers. That's why people who "upgrade" from a SATA SSD to an NVMe one usually don't notice any improvements in performance.

 

With sequential speeds, NVMe kills it. 

Sequential speed on AHCI is bigger than you think
Comparison of NVMe drive in both AHCI and NVMe mode : LINK.

To me 15% reduction is a lot (considering you pay for NVMe).
But you are correct in not seeing much difference between them in OS drive application.

PS. Latest drivers can be downloaded from manufacturers websites. Not much different than AHCI drivers really.

[Net3]

So NVMe M.2 SSD in M.2 slot (only keyed as M) would perform better (expect in games), than SATA SSD and AHCI M.2 drive ?

[Net3]

3 minutes ago, agent_x007 said:

Sequential speed on AHCI is bigger than you think
Comparison of NVMe drive in both AHCI and NVMe mode : LINK.

To me 15% reduction is a lot (considering you pay for NVMe).
But you are correct in not seeing much difference between them in OS drive application.

Well I'd choose NVMe over AHCI only because some mobos I'm looking only supports NVMe drives (as far as I know).

[agent_x007]

5 minutes ago, Net3 said:

So NVMe M.2 SSD in M.2 slot (only keyed as M) would perform better (expect in games) than SATA SSD and AHCI M.2 drive ?

Depends on drives you are comparing.
Games will NOT work worse on NVMe drive (what gived you that impression ?).

[Net3]

23 minutes ago, agent_x007 said:

Depends on drives you are comparing.
Games will NOT work worse on NVMe drive (what gived you that impression ?).

Well I didn't mean that will be worse, but only that, that I won't get any benefits out of it, with NVMe drive on games. Because games like right, don't really benefit or need more than just 6Gb/s. So SATA SSD would be for games right now just fine, if you know what I mean. ;P

 

[agent_x007]

Games also use small files to some extent, so NVMe will help in those cases.

[Net3]

But would you guys may know, how much difference is in boot time between SATA SSD vs NVMe ?

[Net3]

55 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

Not so. It's about the same as SATA drives (sometimes slower) when it comes to small file transfers. That's why people who "upgrade" from a SATA SSD to an NVMe one usually don't notice any improvements in performance.

 

With sequential speeds, NVMe kills it. 

 

15 minutes ago, agent_x007 said:

Games also use small files to some extent, so NVMe will help in those cases.

agent_x007 you thought with sequential speed or without it?

[agent_x007]

Just read what I wrote earlier...
There was a link to test of NVMe drive in AHCI and NVMe mode in my post.
So, belive what you want.