Is M.2 Ultra and M.2 SSDs compatible

[MarvelK]

I don't have much knowledge of SSDs but I am building a new PC and planning on buying SAMSUNG 960 PRO: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147596

I was originally going for ASUS ROG Maximus IX Hero motherboard but after reading some reviews I think ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming K6 might be a better option as it has all features I want and it is a bit cheaper than Asus.

Now my issue is when I go to Samsung 960 Pro SSD specifications page, I see it uses M.2 2280 (PCIE 3.0 x4) but when I go to Asrock page, it says "1 M.2 Socket (Key E)" and "Dual Ultra M.2 For SSD". I did some research but it got even more confusing. I guess I am looking for M.2 (Key M) which I never found on Asrock page.

So my question, will 960 Pro work on Asrock? Also, I read somewhere that Ultra M.2 are faster, is that true? I am spending good amount of money on SSD for I want to make sure I am using fastest connector possible.

Lastly, I will be using my PC for gaming only. Is investing in 960 Pro worth it as I will not be doing any extensive file transfers and only gaming. I will be putting in a 7700k and 1080ti so I chose 960 Pro in order to get more perf. Please advice.

Sorry for asking so many questions

Thanks

 

[ledhead11]

I don't have a lot of knowledge about the new M.2 specs except that most are backwards compatible.

In regards to whether or not a 960pro is needed. Well I've used single SSD's, 2 and even 4 in RAID0. For gaming I really only recommend for the money to simply have two drives in your system. One for the OS(120gb or 240 range) and one SSD. In terms of speeds anything at or above SATA III is going to be really fast for a long time still. The real issue is size. Many AAA games these days weigh in at ~40-50GB. Throw in some DLC and texture packs and they can bloat to 70GB.

SSD's lifespans can be shortened by either temps or how full they're kept also. Generally speaking you want to leave something like 25% of a drive empty to help with TRIM leveling.

All that being said, if you're going to have a half dozen or more AAA games installed at the same time you should look at either a 1TB single SSD or maybe RAID a couple of 480-500GB drives. It really comes down to your budget as TB drives tend to be fairly expensive but prices are dropping.

It's good to note also, that manufacturer listed speeds can be highly subjective.

 

[USAFRet]

For your use (gaming), an NVMe 960 Pro is overkill.

You'd probably see zero performance difference with a regular SATA III drive (850 EVO), for 1/2 the price and the same size.


And in contrast to the above reply...Don't RAID 0 SSD's. Serves no real purpose.

 

[MarvelK]

Thanks for the info. I will probably go for Samsumg 850 EVO as that was my original choice. Can someone please answer my M.2 Ultra vs M.2 as I would like to keep that option for future.

 

[MarvelK]

Will Samsung 960 Pro EVO work on ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming K6? I used pcpartpicker website and it too 2 of them and did not flag any compatibility issue with Asrock MB.

 

[USAFRet]

Will Samsung 960 Pro EVO work on ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming K6? I used pcpartpicker website and it too 2 of them and did not flag any compatibility issue with Asrock MB.

Yes, I believe it does.