Question M.2. SSD PCIE 3.0 question

[Jiry_XD]

Hi all,

I am looking to buy a M.2. SSD but, I think my motherboard (Gigabyte AORUS Z370 gaming 3) only supports PCIE 3.0.

On the internet I read that 1 data lane = 985 MB/s (at PCIE 3.0.) .
Since M.2. has 4 this comes out to a max speed of = 3,940 MB/s.

Can this be correct?
If yes then it doesn't make much sense for me to get a faster SSD than 4000MB/s?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bob.B]

Hi all,

I am looking to buy a M.2. SSD but, I think my motherboard (Gigabyte AORUS Z370 gaming 3) only supports PCIE 3.0.

On the internet I read that 1 data lane = 985 MB/s (at PCIE 3.0.) .
Since M.2. has 4 this comes out to a max speed of = 3,940 MB/s.

Can this be correct?
If yes then it doesn't make much sense for me to get a faster SSD than 4000MB/s?

Thanks in advance!

Sense?........How fat is your wallet?
You might find it cheaper to get a gen4 ssd than a gen3.

 

[Math Geek]

Yah that's 3.0 slots on your board. You can put a 4.0 drive on it but obviously it will only run a 3.0 speeds. Look at prices and get what's good in your price range. Some 4.0 drives are as cheap as 3.0 ones.

Pick your size, then skim for the best bang for the buck. Might be a 3.0 drive might be a 4.0 one

 

[hotaru.hino]

Pick whatever fits your budget, which PCIe Gen it uses is irrelevant because it doesn't offer any practical benefits anyway unless all you do is shovel gobs of data around.

 

[Jiry_XD]

Sense?........How fat is your wallet?
You might find it cheaper to get a gen4 ssd than a gen3.

True but I found some drives that go up to 4000MB/s that are like 50 bucks cheaper, so that's what I mean, it doesn't make sense to go higher than my mobo can handle.

 

[Jiry_XD]

Yah that's 3.0 slots on your board. You can put a 4.0 drive on it but obviously it will only run a 3.0 speeds. Look at prices and get what's good in your price range. Some 4.0 drives are as cheap as 3.0 ones.

Pick your size, then skim for the best bang for the buck. Might be a 3.0 drive might be a 4.0 one

Thanks guys, should I also keep future upgrades in mind?
I know that most M.2. are TLC, so the endurance isn't that great. So I don't think I should even look for a better SSD yet, only when I upgrade my machine right?

 

[USAFRet]

True but I found some drives that go up to 4000MB/s that are like 50 bucks cheaper, so that's what I mean, it doesn't make sense to go higher than my mobo can handle.

"some drives"
You want to buy quality, not an artificial benchmark number.

There are absolutely some "inexpensive drives", that I wouldn't use if they were free.

 

[USAFRet]

I know that most M.2. are TLC, so the endurance isn't that great.

In the consumer space, endurance hasn't been a concern in years.

 

[Jiry_XD]

"some drives"
You want to buy quality, not an artificial benchmark number.

There are absolutely some "inexpensive drives", that I wouldn't use if they were free.

I bought the drive for my nephew his build and works great it is a WD BLUE SN570.
Benchmarks check out

 

[Jiry_XD]

Ok, beside PCIE, should I look for a particular cache size in M.2. SSD?
I know a cache can be benefitial, but imo the benefit is not that big since access/reading is already super duper fast on the SSD itself.
Or am I wrong there?

 

[USAFRet]

I bought the drive for my nephew his build and works great it is a WD BLUE SN570.
Benchmarks check out

And that is a quality drive.

 

[USAFRet]

Ok, beside PCIE, should I look for a particular cache size in M.2. SSD?

Mostly irrelevant.

 

[Math Geek]

as others are saying, benchmarks are not real world relevant. they are not indicative of real world performance. very little difference between sata ssd's, 3.0 or 4.0 m.2 drives. you'll notice no diffeence unless all you do is benchmark and look up you tube videos. if you just use and enjoy your system, you'll be happy with anything better than a spinning hdd.

what looks great on paper rarely offers any major benefit over what looks like a lesser drive. look at quality and price once you know how big a drive you want.

"future proof" is a fool's errand . in 2 or 3 years what looked great now is not even on the list anymore as new tech tales its place. then you'll be sitting there wondering if you need to upgrade again, which you'll then want to "future proof" and so on and so on.

get what you can now and worry about the future in the future.

 

[Jiry_XD]

Thanks all,

I have chosen 3 SSD's but I am not quite sure which one I should go for.

Lexar is Gen 4 and has the fastest speed, and benchmarks show that this is really true on the Internet.

Samsung also looks very good and also has a cache that the others do not have.

The WD also looked very good but the TBW is much lower (how come?).

I am most doubting between the Lexar and the Samsung, since samsung does have a cache, and according to this video this does have a plus.

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

 

[Math Geek]

i have the same samsung drive and it's a good one for sure. it would be my top pick of that group.