Help with M.2 SSD compatibility for motherboard

[JackCS21]

I'm currently using a HDD which is becoming increasingly sluggish, so I would ideally like to clone my OS (Win 10) from my HDD to a M.2 SSD. I know a regular SSD would be much more straight forward but I'm really incited by the speeds of M.2.

 

However, I'm unsure if I should buy one for my motherboard (ASUS Z97-K) because on PC Part Picker it says:

"The motherboard M.2 slot #1 shares bandwidth with SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports. When the M.2 slot is populated, two SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports are disabled."

 

I'm fairly novice when it comes to knowing anything about drives as I've only started researching them recently. Does the quote from PCPP imply I wouldn't be able to use my SATA ports for a HDD? Or does it mean I can't use some of the SATA ports?

 

What do you guys think? Should I just go with a regular SSD? Or am I completely misunderstanding the quote? Thanks in advance!

[Crunchy Dragon]

You wouldn't be able to use 2 of your SATA ports, your manual might specify which ports those are.

[ATTWIFI]

I believe bandwidth is shared so either m.2 SSD or 2 SATA drives

[m0k]

so your options are:
 

1. M.2 PCIe / NVME SSD + Current HDD

2. M.2 SATA SSD+ Current HDD

3. Regular 2.5" SSD+ Current HDD

 

Any of these options will be fine

even a regular 2.5" SATA SSD will be a HUGE upgrade for you 

 

[JackCS21]

This is what I found regarding M.2 and SATA having shared bandwidths in my manual. So I can use the M.2 socket and a SATA connections so long as they aren't in ports 5/6? 

 

Quote

Any of these options will be fine even a regular 2.5" SATA SSD will be a HUGE upgrade for you 

I would just get a regular on but I'm fixated on M.2, there's a certain appeal I cannot help but like. 

 

Would this model be okay to use? I'm asking because I don't know how to pick on the isn't over/under kill.

[Vandorlot]

13 minutes ago, JackCS21 said:

This is what I found regarding M.2 and SATA having shared bandwidths in my manual. So I can use the M.2 socket and a SATA connections so long as they aren't in ports 5/6? 

 

I would just get a regular on but I'm fixated on M.2, there's a certain appeal I cannot help but like. 

 

Would this model be okay to use? I'm asking because I don't know how to pick on the isn't over/under kill.

 

First of thats a sata ssd in m.2 form. There should only be 1 key mark for nvme and 2 marks for sata. So the speed will be the same as you getting a regular wd green ssd. Secondly, the only nvme ssds id reccomend are Samsung 960 evo/pro and corsair mp500. Just get a crucial mx300 in regular form or nvme if its the same price so you wont need any wires. Also would like to add the wd green is a pretty slow drive so Id reccomend a blue or mx300.

[Vandorlot]

3 minutes ago, Vandorlot said:

First of thats a sata ssd in m.2 form. There should only be 1 key mark for nvme and 2 marks for sata. So the speed will be the same as you getting a regular wd green ssd. Secondly, the only nvme ssds id reccomend are Samsung 960 evo/pro and corsair mp500. Just get a crucial mx300 in regular form or nvme if its the same price so you wont need any wires. Also would like to add the wd green is a pretty slow drive so Id reccomend a blue or mx300.

Also I have an nvme ssd and the boot and program loadup speeds arent that much faster than my dads sata ssd. Maybe 1-2 secs. NVME is made for specific workloads where it actually helps a lot. You wont get quicker download speeds because your internet will definitely bottleneck you or anyone else. So unless your gonna be moving stuff around on your PC A LOT then it wont make a diffrence. The main noticeable improvement that I can see for a common user would be your antivirus scanning your ssd faster.

[JackCS21]

4 minutes ago, Vandorlot said:

Also I have an nvme ssd and the boot and program loadup speeds arent that much faster than my dads sata ssd.

Ah so I wouldn't even see much difference? Okay thank you for the advice, definitely gonna take it on board when buying a new drive. 

 

Thanks for the recommendations also, I'll keep having a look around to see if I can find something affordable with all the information I have now.

 

Thanks for all the help guys