M.2 or SATA SSD for Gaming or Daily Use

[taimoorali007]

Hi guyz,
As m just an average user and gamer and my tasks are using Steam apps for games and Origin and watching movies and shows. In my country m getting 2 SSD at same price of $150(converted in USD according to my currency), Samsung SM951 M.2 256GB and Samsung 850 Pro 250GB. What you suggest for me and will not bottleneck and will give its fullest?

Specs are:
6600K @ Stock
16GB DDR4 @ Stock (G.skill Ripjaws V)
Maximus VIII Ranger
WD Black 1TB

 

[Barty1884]

If the prices are the same, I'd opt for the PCIe M.2 but note, the SM951 is the OEM version of the 950 Pro.
With OEM, your warranty is only with the vendor, not with the manufacturer; the warranty is (generally) 3 years vs 5 with retail versions, and firmware updates are not always easily accessible to consumers.

If I were you, given what you've described as your use case(s), I'd look for an 850EVO (SATAIII) rather than an 850Pro.
Should be a little cheaper vs the Pro, and should be all you'd really need.

As I said though, if the quality, warranty and price are very similar, it's hard to look past a PCIe/NVMe M.2 drive.

 

[why_wolf]

Neither one will bottleneck anything. The M.2 is a PCIe x4 unit so it has faster speeds, I'm assuming the 850 Pro is a traditional 2.5" drive in which case it runs at SATA III speeds.

Frankly you will not notice the difference between the two, especially in games.

 

[boosted1g]

Both are good.

You can get an NVMe drive like the 960 Evo that is only M2 that will be faster than SATA but noticeable speed gains is negligible.

So comparing apples to apples (an 850 evo SSD vs M.2.) it is completely preference. With M2 you don't use up a drive bay, cleaner install, no need for separate power. But is not as versatile/compatible as a SATA spec drive if you need to move it another PC.

 

[The Original Ralph]

keep one thing in mind - most of the ASUS mobos, if you install a NVMe SSD into the M.2 onboard socket, you loose use of two sata ports - check your owner's manual. YOu'll have to go with a M.2 > PCIe expansion card - if you go that route, go with the ASUS card ($20 on amazon) as ASUS designed with about 1/4" clearance between the backside of the NVMe SSD and the card itself, for better airflow. the NVMe SSDs run a little hot at the controller. The other cards have less than 1/8" clearance

speed wise, i'll agree with most that doubtful you'll notice the difference - i see a difference in render times rendering video files, but i'm talking 35-45 GB files - but that's writing from one NVMe SSD to a 2nd one

 

[taimoorali007]

If the prices are the same, I'd opt for the PCIe M.2 but note, the SM951 is the OEM version of the 950 Pro.
With OEM, your warranty is only with the vendor, not with the manufacturer; the warranty is (generally) 3 years vs 5 with retail versions, and firmware updates are not always easily accessible to consumers.

If I were you, given what you've described as your use case(s), I'd look for an 850EVO (SATAIII) rather than an 850Pro.
Should be a little cheaper vs the Pro, and should be all you'd really need.

As I said though, if the quality, warranty and price are very similar, it's hard to look past a PCIe/NVMe M.2 drive.

You're right then. As I'm not dealing with tons of files transfer and read just need launching and booting fast, SATA3 would do. I guess I should look for 850 Evo. Thanks for the help bro!