[SOLVED] How much faster is an M.2 drive compared to a SATA SSD?

[fordongreeman]

How much faster is an M.2 drive compared to a SATA SSD?

My motherboard has an M.2 slot, so should I get one?

 

[kanewolf]

How much faster is an M.2 drive compared to a SATA SSD?

My motherboard has an M.2 slot, so should I get one?

It depends. They benchmark much faster. Real life usage, insignificant compared to a SATA SSD except in very limited use cases.

 

[Lafong]

Is your OS and applications now on a SATA SSD?

If you bought an NVMe, what would you do with the SATA?

 

[USAFRet]

How much faster is an M.2 drive compared to a SATA SSD?

My motherboard has an M.2 slot, so should I get one?

It depends, on a lot of things.

Use, the rest of the system, what specific drives.

In my particular use case:
Various SATA III SSD, and an Intel 660p.
The sequential benchmark numbers of the Intel are almost 4x faster than the SATA III drives.

In actual use, with a timed test, Adobe Lightroom, I cannot tell the difference.
A function that takes 15 seconds on the Intel is also 15 seconds on any of the SATA drives.

Watch there, and you decide...😉

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YoRKQy-UO4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA

 

[Dylan Beckett]

Hi fordongreeman

How much faster is an M.2 drive compared to a SATA SSD?

From what I've heard a PCIE 4/3 Nvme can be a lot faster - but as they said - it depends on what you're actually using it for.
No point using a superfast expensive drive if you'll never utilise any of that speed.

And unless I've heard wrong; aren't m.2 SATA's exactly the same speed as regular Sata SSD's - eg Sata III.
Also - don't make the classic mistake where you know the brand and model of the drive you want - but you end up getting the wrong 'type' version of that drive.... eg accidentally buying the old SSD type instead of the m.2 SSD. I've read that it happens a lot!

My motherboard has an M.2 slot, so should I get one?

First check your motherboard to see if it's the full x4 speed, or x2/x1 and check if it can do either PCIE 4/3 or m.2 SATA as you might have more options then?

Also check if this is a slot that only works if you have the right gen CPU... and note that some slots disable some regular SATA slots if you use them etc.


good luck

 

[Math Geek]

i noticed the jump from a spinning hdd to an ssd, but can't tell any difference from that budget sata ssd to the 970 evo plus m.2 drive i added later.

i knew this going in but still bought one to fill the slot, cause it is kind of cool to have such a small drive directly on the mobo giving so much storage

 

[USAFRet]

And unless I've heard wrong; aren't m.2 SATA's exactly the same speed as regular Sata SSD's - eg Sata III.

Yes.
Same drive and performance, different packages.

Samsung 860 EVO or Crucial MX500...available in either M.2 or 2.5" package.