[SOLVED] different kinds of m.2 slots?

[psychicide]

hello,
my motherboard, the msi z390 a-pro, has an m.2 slot. however, on the webpage, it doesn't say what kind of m.2 slot it has, only M.2 SLOT - 1. i noticed on pcpartpicker that there are two different kinds of m.2 drives, m.2 22180, and m.2 2180. will both of these fit in my mobo? here is the drive i am looking at, for reference.

 

[Nemesia]

1 x M.2 slot (Key M)

• Supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s, 2242/ 2260/ 2280/ 22110 storage devices

The SATA2 will be unavailable when installing M.2 SATA device into M.2 slot.

You can install a PCIe 3.0 M.2 NVMe or a SATA M.2 NVMe of the size 2242, 2260, 2280 or 22110.

The numbers is just the size. a 2280 M.2 is 22mm by 80mm.

 

[USAFRet]

From the Detail:

1 x M.2 slot (Key M)

• Supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s, 2242/ 2260/ 2280/ 22110 storage devices

M2, 2280
22mm wide, 80mm long.

(and that Kingston is a poor choice, unless you're getting it for free)

 

[psychicide]

From the Detail:

1 x M.2 slot (Key M)

• Supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s, 2242/ 2260/ 2280/ 22110 storage devices

M2, 2280
22mm wide, 80mm long.

(and that Kingston is a poor choice, unless you're getting it for free)

thanks for the info! why would the kingston be a poor choice? what would be a better one? i chose it because of its low price and small size, as i am looking for a <$50 ssd only to hold win 10 and maybe 1 or 2 other things.

 

[USAFRet]

thanks for the info! why would the kingston be a poor choice? what would be a better one? i chose it because of its low price and small size, as i am looking for a <$50 ssd only to hold win 10 and maybe 1 or 2 other things.

We've seen too many reports of issues with Kingstons lately.

And as far as "win 10 and maybe 1 or 2 other things"...it never works out like that.
Prices are pretty reasonable right now. No need to go small.
PCPartPicker Part List

Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Crucial P2 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($50.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P5 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($64.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Intel 660p 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $235.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-12-25 13:26 EST-0500

 

[Nemesia]

I'd go for the Crucial P2 500GB at 50 dollars.

 

[psychicide]

I'd go for the Crucial P2 500GB at 50 dollars.

We've seen too many reports of issues with Kingstons lately.

And as far as "win 10 and maybe 1 or 2 other things"...it never works out like that.
Prices are pretty reasonable right now. No need to go small.
PCPartPicker Part List

Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Crucial P2 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($50.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P5 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($64.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Intel 660p 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $235.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-12-25 13:26 EST-0500

thanks for the reccommendations! i'll take a look. when you say it never works out like that, what do you mean? that i'll want to put more stuff on the ssd? i'm only looking for a boot drive b/c it takes my pc about 20 minutes to boot right now, and that's just way too long. i'm currently running a 4tb hdd, so storage is not an issue, only speed.

 

[Nemesia]

He meant like you buy a 256GB SSD and you put WIndows on it and 1-2 things then a week later you decide to install a game so the game load faster and some programs and some more and wow no more space left and then the SSD is crawling to a HDD speed because it's full

Go for a 500GB.

 

[USAFRet]

thanks for the reccommendations! i'll take a look. when you say it never works out like that, what do you mean? that i'll want to put more stuff on the ssd? i'm only looking for a boot drive b/c it takes my pc about 20 minutes to boot right now, and that's just way too long. i'm currently running a 4tb hdd, so storage is not an issue, only speed.

Right.
You eventually want to put more things on it...more applications.
Its not just for the OS. Applications, whatever utilities you use, a few games, etc, etc

I've seen few (zero) people say "I wish I had bought a smaller drive"

256GB Kingston for $35, vs 500GB Crucial for $15 more.