[SOLVED] M2.2 or Sata 2.5" SSD for additional storage?

bdanning09

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I've got an NVMe M.2 1TB SSD as my only storage and I've quickly learned that 1TB goes fast with the size of most games these days...

Whats the best way to go for a secondary storage solution? Buy another NVMe M.2 SSD and put it in the M2.2 (2nd slot on MOBO) or a SATA 2.5" SSD? I know the M.2 slots are specific where you need to put your primary drive in the 1st slot to run at full speeds but thats about all I know... will installing a 2nd NVMe drive in the 2nd slot effect the 1st drives speeds at all?
 
Solution
  1. No RAID
  2. What specific motherboard?


For a second drive, SATA III SSD is almost certainly fast enough. Either M.2 if available, or 2.5" Zero difference in performance.
this might depend on the specific mainboard; my 3 year old Z270 might not support 2 NVME drives at full x4 lanes (32 Gbps) each speeds, for instance...(Even if limited to 2 lanes, it woud stil be faster than normal SATA drives.

The Intel 660P drives are intriguing value options, with 2 TB drives at about $225....
 

bdanning09

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Feb 27, 2019
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this might depend on the specific mainboard; my 3 year old Z270 might not support 2 NVME drives at full x4 lanes (32 Gbps) each speeds, for instance...(Even if limited to 2 lanes, it woud stil be faster than normal SATA drives.

The Intel 660P drives are intriguing value options, with 2 TB drives at about $225....

You have to install the NVMe M.2 drives in the top slot on most motherboards in order to have access to all 4 lanes, correct? If you use the lower slot, it'll be limited to just 2 lanes.

So if my main drive is in the top slot but I need addition storage, would I be able to buy a 2nd NVMe M.2 drive and use the lower slot WITHOUT effecting the primary drives speed or do they somehow share lanes? Would I have to run them in RAID 0? Can I use a SATA M2?

I'd like to avoid adding more cables to my computer, so no HDD or SATA 2.5" SSDs if possible. I just want to make sure before I install another drive in my lower M2 slot that it wont slow my first M2 slot.
 

bdanning09

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Feb 27, 2019
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530
  1. No RAID
  2. What specific motherboard?

For a second drive, SATA III SSD is almost certainly fast enough. Either M.2 if available, or 2.5" Zero difference in performance.


I've got the Asus ROG Strix B450-F Gaming MOBO.

Would there be a difference between NVMe M.2 and Sata M.2?