[SOLVED] M2 SSD drive recommendations

[shermanbuck]

Just purchased a MEG Z790 GODLIKE MB, and will be using an i9-13900KF core, wondering what recommendations for M2 cards would work best?

 

[USAFRet]

Just purchased a MEG Z790 GODLIKE MB, and will be using an i9-13900KF core, wondering what recommendations for M2 cards would work best?

Budget, size requirements, use case?
Single drive or more than one?

 

[Lafong]

"Work best"?

Dozens would work. Not sure what best means.

Would your choice be driven by benchmarks?

Or some guess at reliability?

Or what?

What capacity do you need for the boot drive?

Do you have a max budget for that boot drive?

 

[shermanbuck]

Budget, size requirements, use case?
Single drive or more than one?

Budget, size requirements, use case?
Single drive or more than one?

Budget, size requirements, use case?
Single drive or more than one?

I don't have a budget, have basic understanding of M.2 nvme, no nothing about the different sizes and what they offer, my searches weren't that productive on that, also have no idea what will work on the MSI board. This is what it comes with:

Slot	2x PCI-E x16 slot (Qty) PCI_E1 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x16 (From CPU) PCI_E2 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x8 (From CPU)
Storage	7x M.2 (Qty) M.2_1 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 22110/2280/2260 devices M.2_2 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices M.2_3 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 / SATA mode, supports 2280/2260 devices M.2_4 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 , supports 22110/2280 devices M.2_5 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4 / SATA mode, supports 2280/2260 devices M.2_6 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices M.2_7 (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices 6x SATA 6G port *PCI_E2 slot will be unavailable when installing M.2 SSD in the M2_4 slot. **SATA5~8 will be unavailable when installing M.2 PCIe SSD in the M2_5 slot. ***SATA5~8 will be unavailable when installing M.2 SATA SSD in the M2_5 slot.

Ideally, the PCIe 5.0 would be ideal, but didn't find very many M.2 nvme's that would work. Also I've only seen 1 or 2Tb M.2's. I currently use a 4TB SSD, and would like 4TB. I have no idea how all these slots work. If I have more than one, how would that work, given they only seem to come in 1 or 2TB sizes?

Thx

 

[USAFRet]

PCIe 5.0 is still a very new interface.
5.0 drives are rare, and stupidly expensive.

Also, more than "2TB" NVMe can be very expensive, no matter which interface.

Further, you'll not really see a big performance difference between PCIe 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0.
No matter what the ads and big sequential numbers would suggest.

What a lot of people do is a 500GB - 1TB drive for the OS and applications, and other drives for all your 'data'.


That motherboard has 7X M.2 ports?
Unless you know why you need more than one or two, you don't.

What will this system be used for?

 

[Lafong]

PCIe 3 or 4 will work in the PCIe 5 slots at their speed; not at PCIe 5 speed.

Right now, I see 20 or more 4 TB M.2 2280 drives at Newegg.

Low 300 dollars on up to 1200.

 

[shermanbuck]

PCIe 5.0 is still a very new interface.
5.0 drives are rare, and stupidly expensive.

Also, more than "2TB" NVMe can be very expensive, no matter which interface.

Further, you'll not really see a big performance difference between PCIe 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0.
No matter what the ads and big sequential numbers would suggest.

What a lot of people do is a 500GB - 1TB drive for the OS and applications, and other drives for all your 'data'.


That motherboard has 7X M.2 ports?
Unless you know why you need more than one or two, you don't.

What will this system be used for?

Given I haven't used M.2's before, and what they can be used for, is why I'm asking, to be more informed on what's possible, and if I would want to explore that. I'll be using it for gaming, photo/video editing, streaming movies, and zoom interfacing.

Thx

 

[shermanbuck]

Given I haven't used M.2's before, and what they can be used for, is why I'm asking, to be more informed on what's possible, and if I would want to explore that. I'll be using it for gaming, photo/video editing, streaming movies, and zoom interfacing.

Thx

What's the difference in size? 22110/2280/2260 devices?

 

[Lafong]

PCIe 4 and 5 likely generate more heat and may need heatsinks if worked heavily.

I'd probably get a name brand....WD, Samsung, Crucial, Intel.

PCIe 3 would be fine.

Intel 660p; Intel 760p; Samsung 970 EVO Plus; several other samsungs; WD SN 750, etc would be fine, but may not be available at 4 TB capacity.

If you are benchmark-obsessed maybe go with PCIe 4.

There's a couple of Crucial 4 TB at Newegg for under 400; one PCIe 3.0 and one PCIe 4.0

WD SN 850x at 495; PCIe 4.0

 

[USAFRet]

Given I haven't used M.2's before, and what they can be used for, is why I'm asking, to be more informed on what's possible, and if I would want to explore that. I'll be using it for gaming, photo/video editing, streaming movies, and zoom interfacing.

Thx

M.2 NVMe are just the new type of SSD.

Faster than SATA III SSD.
Now....whether the 'fast' is really noticeable is up for discussion.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YoRKQy-UO4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9LyNXpsOo

What's the difference in size? 22110/2280/2260 devices?

Physical size.

22mm wide, and 110, 80 or 60mm long.
The typical size for a current NVMe drive is 2280.
22mm wide, 80mm long.

 

[USAFRet]

Given that motherboard and use case, what I might do...

OS and application drive - Samsung 970 EVO Plus or 980 Pro. 500GB - 1TB
Game and random junk drive - 1-2TB SATA III SSD. Samsung 860 EVO or Crucial MX500
Video editing drive - 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus

 

[Bob.B]

I don't have a budget, have basic understanding of M.2 nvme, no nothing about the different sizes and what they offer, my searches weren't that productive on that, also have no idea what will work on the MSI board. This is what it comes with:

Slot	2x PCI-E x16 slot (Qty) PCI_E1 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x16 (From CPU) PCI_E2 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x8 (From CPU)
Storage	7x M.2 (Qty) M.2_1 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 22110/2280/2260 devices M.2_2 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices M.2_3 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 / SATA mode, supports 2280/2260 devices M.2_4 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 , supports 22110/2280 devices M.2_5 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4 / SATA mode, supports 2280/2260 devices M.2_6 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices M.2_7 (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices 6x SATA 6G port *PCI_E2 slot will be unavailable when installing M.2 SSD in the M2_4 slot. **SATA5~8 will be unavailable when installing M.2 PCIe SSD in the M2_5 slot. ***SATA5~8 will be unavailable when installing M.2 SATA SSD in the M2_5 slot.

Ideally, the PCIe 5.0 would be ideal, but didn't find very many M.2 nvme's that would work. Also I've only seen 1 or 2Tb M.2's. I currently use a 4TB SSD, and would like 4TB. I have no idea how all these slots work. If I have more than one, how would that work, given they only seem to come in 1 or 2TB sizes?

Thx

The biggest advantage of the m.2 is less cable clutter.

Unless your moving big chunks of data don't expect to see much of a perf diff between a 2.5 ssd and a m.2 nvme ssd.

 

[shermanbuck]

Given that motherboard and use case, what I might do...

OS and application drive - Samsung 970 EVO Plus or 980 Pro. 500GB - 1TB
Game and random junk drive - 1-2TB SATA III SSD. Samsung 860 EVO or Crucial MX500
Video editing drive - 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus

That's helpful, realizing I can do that for my OS/app drive M.2 2TB; Gaming M.2 2TB; Photo/video/music M.2 4TB, as the I'm eyeballing either the WD SN850 or Firecuda 530 for the 4TB, as I'm close to 2TB's with photos/ videos/music. May do Samsung for the OS/app drive, as they've worked well so far.

Thx

 

[USAFRet]

That's helpful, realizing I can do that for my OS/app drive M.2 2TB; Gaming M.2 2TB; Photo/video/music M.2 4TB, as the I'm eyeballing either the WD SN850 or Firecuda 530 for the 4TB, as I'm close to 2TB's with photos/ videos/music. May do Samsung for the OS/app drive, as they've worked well so far.

Thx

Windows and applications have gotten really good at working with other drives and drive letters.

Steam has a built in functionality for doing this.

For other applications, your data can live wherever.

My systems has 6x drives, each with mostly their own use.

OS+applications
Photo
Games
CAD
Video
Random junk