[SOLVED] Looking for storage options...

[Discount Bassy]

My system setup: i5 8400, MSI Z370-A Pro, 1TB M.2, Nvidea GTX1060 6GB, 32GB 2133 RAM...and 4 HDD's...3x 1TB (older salvages) and 1x 3TB (2018). I am looking to eliminate the HDD's and upgrade to SSD's for file access speed. Having an empty PCI-e x16 slot, what is the best way to put it to work as an SSD and how would I do that? I will be swapping out the SATA HDD's for SATA SSD's later on, but I am looking for something like the M.2 that I already have (it was a game changer for this fool).

Thank you in advance for any advice. I am more of a musician and mechanic than a computer guy and any input is appreciated. This is a system that will be upgraded in its entirety once the chip shortage is resolved, so I am trying not to dump too much cash into it that I cannot transfer to a newer system.

 

[USAFRet]

My system setup: i5 8400, MSI Z370-A Pro, 1TB M.2, Nvidea GTX1060 6GB, 32GB 2133 RAM...and 4 HDD's...3x 1TB (older salvages) and 1x 3TB (2018). I am looking to eliminate the HDD's and upgrade to SSD's for file access speed. Having an empty PCI-e x16 slot, what is the best way to put it to work as an SSD and how would I do that? I will be swapping out the SATA HDD's for SATA SSD's later on, but I am looking for something like the M.2 that I already have (it was a game changer for this fool).

Thank you in advance for any advice. I am more of a musician and mechanic than a computer guy and any input is appreciated. This is a system that will be upgraded in its entirety once the chip shortage is resolved, so I am trying not to dump too much cash into it that I cannot transfer to a newer system.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/z370-a-pro/Specification
Your motherboard has an M.2 port for an NVMe drive.

No need to put a drive in a PCIe slot adapter.
There is actually not as much difference between the various flavors of SSD as the benchmark numbers would suggest.

What is the M.2 drive you have now?

 

[Nighthawk117]

My system setup: i5 8400, MSI Z370-A Pro, 1TB M.2, Nvidea GTX1060 6GB, 32GB 2133 RAM...and 4 HDD's...3x 1TB (older salvages) and 1x 3TB (2018). I am looking to eliminate the HDD's and upgrade to SSD's for file access speed. Having an empty PCI-e x16 slot, what is the best way to put it to work as an SSD and how would I do that? I will be swapping out the SATA HDD's for SATA SSD's later on, but I am looking for something like the M.2 that I already have (it was a game changer for this fool).

Thank you in advance for any advice. I am more of a musician and mechanic than a computer guy and any input is appreciated. This is a system that will be upgraded in its entirety once the chip shortage is resolved, so I am trying not to dump too much cash into it that I cannot transfer to a newer system.

I believe on the MSI Z370-A Pro the second full length 16x slot is wired for 4x lanes to the chipset. So you can use that for an NVME drive. Any SSD you buy can be transferred to a new system later on, so I wouldn't worry about wasting money. I don't know your workload and to what extent you would benefit from NVME vs SATA SSD.

If you want 6TB of SSD space to replace your 3x1TB and 1x3TB then I would say your best bet right now is a few MX500 drives:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX...&qid=1643982718&sprefix=2tb+ssd,aps,74&sr=8-4

 

[SkyNetRising]

I am looking to eliminate the HDD's and upgrade to SSD's for file access speed.

Do your upgrade plans have a budget limit?
6TB of SSD storage will be pretty expensive.

 

[Discount Bassy]

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/z370-a-pro/Specification
Your motherboard has an M.2 port for an NVMe drive.

No need to put a drive in a PCIe slot adapter.
There is actually not as much difference between the various flavors of SSD as the benchmark numbers would suggest.

What is the M.2 drive you have now?

WD Black SN750 1TB. I transfer things that I'm going to need to the M.2 from the HDD's for quicker access right now, but with HDD's, that takes some time.

 

[USAFRet]

WD Black SN750 1TB. I transfer things that I'm going to need to the M.2 from the HDD's for quicker access right now, but with HDD's, that takes some time.

Replace the HDDs with SATA III SSD.
All at once or one by one as budget dictates.

 

[Discount Bassy]

I believe on the MSI Z370-A Pro the second full length 16x slot is wired for 4x lanes to the chipset. So you can use that for an NVME drive. Any SSD you buy can be transferred to a new system later on, so I wouldn't worry about wasting money. I don't know your workload and to what extent you would benefit from NVME vs SATA SSD.

If you want 6TB of SSD space to replace your 3x1TB and 1x3TB then I would say your best bet right now is a few MX500 drives:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX500-CT2000MX500SSD1-NAND-Internal/dp/B003J5JB12/ref=sr_1_omk_4?crid=1GNPAB1RPU649&keywords=2tb+ssd&qid=1643982718&sprefix=2tb+ssd,aps,74&sr=8-4

Good thoughts. I was thinking an NVME in the PCI-e slot via adapter would be something I could transfer to one of the newer motherboards with M.2 slots everywhere stock. I am mitigating trouble with the salvage drives as they fail. I've been lucky enough to hear the startup/shutdown honking noises and evacuate them as they go, swapping in other junkers from a family salvage heap.

 

[Discount Bassy]

Do your upgrade plans have a budget limit?
6TB of SSD storage will be pretty expensive.

There is always a budget limit. Figuring that I will have to upgrade everything when the build begins, I am squirreling away resources now for something that will likely not happen for about twelve months, barring a miracle, and will be a chunk of change no matter what. Luckily, I am not in a dead press right now and my system is well cooled, clean and doing the job, albeit slower than desired. The only mitigating factory are the crummy HDD's right now.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Good thoughts. I was thinking an NVME in the PCI-e slot via adapter would be something I could transfer to one of the newer motherboards with M.2 slots everywhere stock. I am mitigating trouble with the salvage drives as they fail. I've been lucky enough to hear the startup/shutdown honking noises and evacuate them as they go, swapping in other junkers from a family salvage heap.

Personally I use a combination of NVME and SATA SSD's because I use a lot of storage. Nothing wrong with going NVME of course but bare in mind on your current system your really limited to two NVME drives as you only have two 4 lane expansion options. Replacing the capacity of your previous hard drives like for like with NVME would be quite expensive.

 

[Bob.B]

My system setup: i5 8400, MSI Z370-A Pro, 1TB M.2, Nvidea GTX1060 6GB, 32GB 2133 RAM...and 4 HDD's...3x 1TB (older salvages) and 1x 3TB (2018). I am looking to eliminate the HDD's and upgrade to SSD's for file access speed. Having an empty PCI-e x16 slot, what is the best way to put it to work as an SSD and how would I do that? I will be swapping out the SATA HDD's for SATA SSD's later on, but I am looking for something like the M.2 that I already have (it was a game changer for this fool).

Thank you in advance for any advice. I am more of a musician and mechanic than a computer guy and any input is appreciated. This is a system that will be upgraded in its entirety once the chip shortage is resolved, so I am trying not to dump too much cash into it that I cannot transfer to a newer system.

3x2TB 2.5 ssd's.
One at a time migrate the hdd data to a ssd.
The ssd's can be brought over to a new build.