M.2 or SSD?

[EuphoricLlama]

I'm building a new PC and my original plan was just to stick a single 1Tb 850 EVO SSD in there so that I don't have to faff around with multiple drives but then I saw that there are also 1Tb Samsung m.2 drives for £35 more (£310 instead of £275) so I'm now wondering if:

1) The m.2 will be significantly faster once the pc has booted

2) the m.2 will be any more reliable than a ssd because this drive absolutely cannot fail

It's also worth mentioning I won't really be using this PC for gaming and its mainly going to be a workstation so load times for games is unimportant for me. 

If anyone can recommend one or the other I would be very grateful

thanks

[Colexd]

i dont think its that signifcant in the real world

[MrDrWho13]

5 minutes ago, EuphoricLlama said:

I'm building a new PC and my original plan was just to stick a single 1Tb 850 EVO SSD in there so that I don't have to faff around with multiple drives but then I saw that there are also 1Tb Samsung m.2 drives for £35 more (£310 instead of £275) so I'm now wondering if:

1) The m.2 will be significantly faster once the pc has booted

2) the m.2 will be any more reliable than a ssd because this drive absolutely cannot fail

It's also worth mentioning I won't really be using this PC for gaming and its mainly going to be a workstation so load times for games is unimportant for me. 

If anyone can recommend one or the other I would be very grateful

thanks

You need to remember that all drives fail. No drive is perfect so you should always have at least one backup of important data.

 

If I were to build a new system I'd go with a 500GB SSD (M.2 PCIe if you can afford it but SATA is also good) and then a 1-2TB HDD for file storage because you don't need the speed for these so it would be more money for less space if you went with just an SSD.

[EuphoricLlama]

3 minutes ago, MrDrWho13 said:

You need to remember that all drives fail. No drive is perfect so you should always have a backup of important data.

 

If I were to build a new system I'd go with a 500GB SSD (M.2 PCIe if you can afford it but SATA is also good) and then a 1-2TB HDD for file storage because you don't need the speed for these so it would be more money for less space if you went with just an SSD.

Is there a way that you know of that I could make it so all files/downloads automatically go to the HDD then because I really don't want to have to manually designate everything?

 

[MrDrWho13]

Just now, EuphoricLlama said:

Is there a way that you know of that I could make it so all files/downloads automatically go to the HDD then because I really don't want to have to manually designate everything?

 

I wrote this guide a while ago for exactly that: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/629590-windows-10-wont-reset/#comment-8131454

For downloads you need to go into your browser's settings and point it to your HDD. After that it's all automatic.

[EuphoricLlama]

Just now, MrDrWho13 said:

I wrote this guide a while ago for exactly that: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/629590-windows-10-wont-reset/#comment-8131454

For downloads you need to go into your browser's settings and point it to your HDD. After that it's all automatic.

Wow, thanks. That helps a lot 

In that case I may go for a 500gb ssd and 2tb hard drive then if it really is that simple.

[genexis_x]

Remember that M.2 is just a form factor like 2.5 inch

[SaladFingers]

3 hours ago, ZM Fong said:

Remember that M.2 is just a form factor like 2.5 inch

Bingo. Being M.2 is not a guarantee that it's faster. Many laptops nowadays use M.2 drives for their smaller form factor and their performance is exactly the same as with SSD drives. Pay attention to the specs before you opt for one.