M.2 Overrated

[Lenka]

I can have m.2 drives but would i be better off getting them or jus buying ssd's or a HDD(kinda wanna get ssd min not rly HDD)..... im looking for price/performance IE speed. This is the SSD i have my games and os on Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive but im lacking space now price sint a big issue but i was looking for under 300$ around the 100- 200 mark pref i dont mind paying for a good product im jus looking for a more informed opinion

[stefanDB]

if you are going for a sata SSD, then M.2 won't improve the speed, but it just depends on what is available. if you want an even faster SSD, you should go for NVME, but that is probably not necessary. those come in M.2 format only however. so you should go for a sata SSD, the format doesn't matter unless you have no room or you don't want the cables.

[Mooshi]

They're niche, not overrated. Just because *you* can't see the value of them doesn't mean someone else can't. If someone *needs* the fastest storage solution, sata SSDs have been trapped at the 500 mark for over half a decade--the 850 Evo I'm currently using is no faster in the real world than the 120gb Patriot Wildfire that was failing on me from 2011.

 

For compact systems, a sizable m.2 drive saves on clutter.

[NowThatsDamp]

The thing about SSD's is that AHCI vs NVME, and also SATA vs PCIe vs M.2 is that the performance different is really really synthetic. 

SSD vs HDD for game load times is night and day

SSD vs HDD for boot times is night and day

But going from a SATA III SSD to an NVME M.2 drive won't decrease real world load times any further.

 

You can used 1tb SATA III SSD's on eBay that still have a 1 year manufacturer warranty on them for $250. I got one, my whole steam library is on it

[Lenka]

ok so i should be looking for a sata III ssd? good options to go for? i dont think i need 1tb tbh 500~ gigs would prob be a good comfort zone for me jus looking for good price/performance speed suggestions