Benefits of having an M.2 SSD as the OS drive

[germgoatz]

I know there's probably a lot of threads about this, and I'm very sorry if there are, but I can't seem to find a lot of advantages of having an SSD (especially m.2) to keep your OS on. Does it make everything in the system faster? Confused on this.

[userzero]

Yes.

 

And M.2 pointless for basic users.

[ARikozuM]

M.2 is cleaner to install. If you're asking about NVMe, you don't need it unless you do a lot of movement with numerous or large files. 

[knightslugger]

7 minutes ago, userzero said:

Yes.

 

And M.2 pointless for basic users.

I disagree. M.2 offers less cable management and better use of space. No power cables, and no data cables. The form factor is compact and takes up less room than 2.5-inch drives.

 

I'm sure, however you meant NVMe is pointless for basic users... but that's not what M.2 is.

[ProjectBox153]

M.2 is a form factor. Are you referring to NVMe SSDs (that use the M.2 form factor) or SATA M.2 SSDs?

[germgoatz]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

M.2 is a form factor. Are you referring to NVMe SSDs (that use the M.2 form factor) or SATA M.2 SSDs?

The SATA ones (SATA II and III)

[ProjectBox153]

3 minutes ago, germgoatz said:

The SATA ones (SATA II and III)

Then the only benefit is not taking up space for cables. They're the same as a 2.5" SATA SSD. They won't be faster just because they're shaped differently.

[germgoatz]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

Then the only benefit is not taking up space for cables. They're the same as a 2.5" SATA SSD. They won't be faster just because they're shaped differently.

My main question was how much the performance boost was when putting your OS onto an SSD rather than an HDD

[ARikozuM]

1 minute ago, germgoatz said:

My main question was how much the performance boost was when putting your OS onto an SSD rather than an HDD

The performance boost is great.

[ProjectBox153]

1 minute ago, germgoatz said:

My main question was how much the performance boost was when putting your OS onto an SSD rather than an HDD

Then that doesn't apply to just M.2 SATA SSDs, but rather M.2 and 2.5" SATA SSDs. Everything will be more responsive, your computer will boot quicker, they're more reliable than mechanical drives (especially in laptops), etc.

[knightslugger]

2 minutes ago, germgoatz said:

My main question was how much the performance boost was when putting your OS onto an SSD rather than an HDD

it's massive, everything loads faster, the system responds snappier, it's so worth it.

[Bl00dgod]

your system will boot in like ~15-20seconds and is ready to go,

HDD is much slower if i remember right i had like 2-3 minutes or so for full functionality at the desktop until everything was ready

 

you can easy"pimp" older systems with the SSD upgrade and still keep them

a few days ago a customer showed his a dell inspirion 1720 ( ~10 Years old) and the SSD protected it from being disposed

[lookpuppy]

What about an emmc drive?

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, Fruitsnacc said:

What about an emmc drive?

Those are nowhere near as fast as a SATA or NVMe SSD. They are designed to be cost effective for cheap laptops.

[mariushm]

At least on Ryzen and Threadripper, NVME SSDs get a  pci-e x4 connection directly to the cpu, there's a dedicated connection.

This could mean lower latency, higher IOPS etc etc.

For example, let's say a big database on the m.2 SSD which is capable of reading at up to 2-3 GB/s - that could help the database server process more queries per second.

 

The sata controller , the usb ports and a bunch of regular pci-e x1 and x4 slots are connected to the chipset and there's just a pci-e x4 connection between the cpu and chipset, so all the data from all devices attached to the chipset has to be squeezed through that x4 connection, while the nvme ssd has its own separate x4 "highway"

 

Other than that... regular sata m.2 ssds ... the benefit is less cable clutter, less risk of cables going bad resulting in transfer errors (very rare but happens) the downside is that being so small there's potential of drive being warmer which can result in lower lifetime... in some cases the m.2 ssd gets heat from the video card as well, which isn't great..

 

Another risk is extremely small risk of damaging the drive due to stuff falling on it, like screwdrivers or cards when user works in the computer , extremely small risk of user being statically charged and damaging the drive by touching the exposed metal parts while charged (regular sata ssds are nicely protected by plastic or metal case, they're basically bricks)

 

[Intelfreak]

If you are still on HDD for OS, you have been missing out a huge performance boost over HDD for ages. My self got my first SSD back in 2010 and i have never locked back since then.

 

what ever we talk M.2 sata, M.2 NVme or normal sata SSD. they all have in common that they are by far faster than a harddrive. SSD will make your pc to boot faster, load games faster (but will not give you more FPS cause that is still done by CPU/GPU unless your hardrive i slower than a snail), programs will open faster and in generel use your pc will feels more responsive and will not have the problem of hanging while loading files unless your CPU cant keep up.

 

today in my opinion every pc shut have a SSD for OS drive and for gamers an SSD for games is also really nice specially if you run games with alot of load sekvenses.

 

Here my pc booting and shut down with a Samsung 950 PRO 256 GB M.2 NVMe SSD and this is a 8 year old X58 pc. Taken that in to account, i think my pc have a very respectable boot time after bios is finishing posting.

 

 

 

[MrDrWho13]

25 minutes ago, Intelfreak said:

If you are still on HDD for OS, you have been missing out a huge performance boost over HDD for ages. My self got my first SSD back in 2010 and i have never locked back since then.

 

what ever we talk M.2 sata, M.2 NVme or normal sata SSD. they all have in common that they are by far faster than a harddrive. SSD will make your pc to boot faster, load games faster (but will not give you more FPS cause that is still done by CPU/GPU unless your hardrive i slower than a snail), programs will open faster and in generel use your pc will feels more responsive and will not have the problem of hanging while loading files unless your CPU cant keep up.

 

today in my opinion every pc shut have a SSD for OS drive and for gamers an SSD for games is also really nice specially if you run games with alot of load sekvenses.

 

Here my pc booting and shut down with a Samsung 950 PRO 256 GB M.2 NVMe SSD and this is a 8 year old X58 pc. Taken that in to account, i think my pc have a very respectable boot time after bios is finishing posting.

 

 

 

The bit before the Windows logo shows is all down to the motherboard checking all the devices etc. Newer motherboards will be faster. After that, you see the excellent SSD speed - no loading symbols!

[knightslugger]

1 minute ago, MrDrWho13 said:

The bit before the Windows logo shows is all down to the motherboard checking all the devices etc. Newer motherboards will be faster. After that, you see the excellent SSD speed - no loading symbols!

on my MX300 m.2 SSD (SATA) i get about one and a half revolutions of the windows loading circles before the desktop starts to load.

[MrDrWho13]

Just now, knightslugger said:

on my MX300 m.2 SSD (SATA) i get about one and a half revolutions of the windows loading circles before the desktop starts to load.

Yeah I get just under that with a cheap SATA SSD.

[Intelfreak]

7 minutes ago, MrDrWho13 said:

The bit before the Windows logo shows is all down to the motherboard checking all the devices etc. Newer motherboards will be faster. After that, you see the excellent SSD speed - no loading symbols!

yes that is also why i ride: i think my pc have a very respectable boot time after bios is finishing posting. Never motherboards with UEFI boots faster that is correct, but my old motherboard is from before UEFI. So OP ses SSD lovely boot time from when windows logo comes on.

[SouthMetroPCS]