[SOLVED] Need advice on SSD

[Avik Basu]

I want to upgrade the storage of my system and this is the first time I'm touching SSD so I need advice on it.

I want to get the Crucial MX500 1TB for my primary drive and I wanted to know if the M.2 one is compatible with my motherboard. If it is then is it better to get the M.2 or the 2.5 inch one? Does either of the drive types have heating issues more than an HDD's normal working temperature? Especially M.2 drives since I have seen heatsinks for them. I'm talking about using it in a gaming PC for at least 3 hours of gaming in one go in a room that can easily get to 34°C for most of the year. Also, keep in mind, I plan to use my current HDD as a secondary drive so a 2.5 inch SSD will be sitting below or above it and be surrounded by its heat along with its own. Weird thing to talk about, I know, but I'm really worried about heating issues and want to minimize it as much as possible.

My specs are:-

AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Asus B450-E Gaming motherboard
G.Skill Trident Z 3200MHz 2x8GB RAM
Asus GTX760 DC2 2GB DDR5 GPU
Corsair TX650M 650W PSU
WD Black 1TB HDD

 

[jay32267]

Your board supports M2 drives.
M2 is faster than SATA but more expensive.
Personally I'm still sticking with SATA for now as I don't see the benefit for the money with M2...and my motherboards support M2 drives.
I don't think either SATA or M2 drives have more heating issues than HDDs if they are mounted correctly with the proper hardware.

 

[gingerrankin]

Your motherboard has two M.2 connectors. In one of them it supports SATA and PCI-e 3.0 (NVME) drives, in the other only PCI-e 3.0 (NVME).
The M.2 MX500 is SATA type and should be placed in the M.2 connector that supports SATA.

SATA-type M.2s have no advantage over SSDs. They have the same speed and heat up more. I would only recommend it for special cases where you can't put a 2.5 SSD (like a laptop).

Another thing would be an NVME type M.2 that is faster than a 2.5 SSD (although not much).

Since the M.2 MX500 is sata type I would choose SSD 2.5

 

[jay32267]

For the original poster...I should have been clearer.

I was referring to strictly NVMe type M2 drives.

SATA type M2 drives have no advantage over SATA 2.5" drives.

 

[Avik Basu]

Since the M.2 MX500 is sata type I would choose SSD 2.5

You're saying the since both M.2 and 2.5 MX500 are SATA I should go for 2.5 since it manages heat better than M.2? The M.2 position is a bit bad I suppose since it sits in between the CPU and the GPU.

Personally I'm still sticking with SATA for now as I don't see the benefit for the money with M2...and my motherboards support M2 drives.

Do you mean you're still using 2.5 or SATA M.2 instead of NVMe? Because both versions of the MX500 is priced the same in most stores here.

 

[jay32267]

I'm sticking with SATA 2.5 for now.
I don't see the cost benefit of NVMe for me.
My games load fast enough.

 

[gingerrankin]

You're saying the since both M.2 and 2.5 MX500 are SATA I should go for 2.5 since it manages heat better than M.2? The M.2 position is a bit bad I suppose since it sits in between the CPU and the GPU.

exactly

 

[USAFRet]

Your board supports M2 drives.
M2 is faster than SATA but more expensive.
Personally I'm still sticking with SATA for now as I don't see the benefit for the money with M2...and my motherboards support M2 drives.
I don't think either SATA or M2 drives have more heating issues than HDDs if they are mounted correctly with the proper hardware.

"M2 is faster than SATA but more expensive."

That is actually false. M.2 is simply the form factor.
The MX500 is the same drive and performance in either format...2.5" or M.2.

Only when you get to NVMe M.2 drives is there a speed difference.

 

[jay32267]

"M2 is faster than SATA but more expensive."

That is actually false. M.2 is simply the form factor.
The MX500 is the same drive and performance in either format...2.5" or M.2.

Only when you get to NVMe M.2 drives is there a speed difference.

,I realized my error earlier and corrected it.

"
For the original poster...I should have been clearer.

I was referring to strictly NVMe type M2 drives.

SATA type M2 drives have no advantage over SATA 2.5" drives. "

 

[USAFRet]

,I realized my error earlier and corrected it.

And I only saw that later. But also, for someone coming across this thread 2 years from now...clarification...

 

[Zerk2012]

Short answer is yes.

Storage Comparison

pcpartpicker.com

The P1 is much faster also the WD drive is. On the other hand for your average user they will never see a difference.

 

[Karadjgne]

Sata III is Sata III, doesn't matter if it's M.2 or 2.5", it's the same thing. Only difference is how it connects to the motherboard. 2.5" is universal fit because every motherboard has at least one and upto 8 Sata ports and modern psus have at least one and upto 8 Sata power connectors. The benefit of the M.2 is its total lack of reliance on power/data wiring and any drawbacks from pinched or broken wires. It is not, however, universal as older motherboards do not have an M.2 port and some motherboards have port placements that are not ideal, like mITX boards have pcie x4 on the front for NVMe drives, but can have the Sata III M.2 port on the back side of the mobo, making access a pita.

The Crucial MX500 is an excellent choice for an SSD, but your choice of M.2 or 2.5" is a matter of preference and expedience. Up to you and the motherboard as to which you want or need to use as technically they are the same drive.

 

[SamirD]

Your concern for cooling is valid as you are much higher than the average operating temperature for these devices so pushing them gets them to their limits easily.

While the sata 2.5" form factor will work well, I would actually keep it away from your hard drive if you have the space and bays. I would also make sure all your fans work and set them to 100% duty. I have systems that run in 80F environments (26-27C) and I have set them this way and they have no problems. However, the same systems will start crashing at 90F (32-33C). Running at 34C and beyond, you need ample cooling and you need it continuously.

 

[Avik Basu]

The P1 is much faster also the WD drive is. On the other hand for your average user they will never see a difference.

I have looked at the P1 but both PC Gamer and PC Mag say that its endurance is lower than the MX500. Now although an NVMe drive would be faster, wouldn't it be better to get something that would last longer. As someone who is using SSD for the first time, I doubt I would miss the little bit extra speed I would get for NVMe over SATA. Of course, that doesn't mean I wouldn't take and NVMe if it was affordable, which of course, the P1 is. But the MX500 is even more affordable. And I would've loved to get the WD one but it is out of my range.

Your concern for cooling is valid as you are much higher than the average operating temperature for these devices so pushing them gets them to their limits easily.

While the sata 2.5" form factor will work well, I would actually keep it away from your hard drive if you have the space and bays. I would also make sure all your fans work and set them to 100% duty. I have systems that run in 80F environments (26-27C) and I have set them this way and they have no problems. However, the same systems will start crashing at 90F (32-33C). Running at 34C and beyond, you need ample cooling and you need it continuously.

Are you sure you have got your units correct? My PC runs at 45C-50C when idle or running low-level tasks such as browsing or playing videos/music. When playing games it gets up to 70-75C on hot days. I know it's not ideal but I have heard of people gaming at 50-60C. If 34C is the limit then all these PCs would've had trouble a long time ago. Ryzen Master says 95C is the limit for my CPU.

I use the stock CPU cooler and if you check the link for my motherboard you'll the that the GPU slot is very close to the CPU. And the SATA M.2 slot sits right in between them. So I'm worried about the heat from those two.

Then there is my case. I use the Corsair Carbide 175R which has a small section for storage drives at the bottom front where my HDD is sitting and the SSD would sit beneath it. While there is a fan in front of it I doubt it's getting cool air from a hot room.

So which of the two is the lesser evil?

 

[madmatt30]

I'd argue an m2 sata drive actually runs cooler than the cased sata versions in most scenarios.

Obviously that's dependant on case airflow but I'd rather have an open nand m2 drive sat on the board than a cased ssd sat between 2 other drives.

There is no substantial heatsinking in any sata ssd drive in my experience, a sata m2 drive will likely actually run cooler if there's not much room between your drive bays.

 

[Avik Basu]

I'd argue an m2 sata drive actually runs cooler than the cased sata versions in most scenarios.

Obviously that's dependant on case airflow but I'd rather have an open nand m2 drive sat on the board than a cased ssd sat between 2 other drives.

There is no substantial heatsinking in any sata ssd drive in my experience, a sata m2 drive will likely actually run cooler if there's not much room between your drive bays.

My airflow is somewhat good I believe. I've got 2 intake fans at the front and 1 exhaust at the back and 1 at the top. 120mm running at full speed.

 

[Zerk2012]

I'd argue an m2 sata drive actually runs cooler than the cased sata versions in most scenarios.

Obviously that's dependant on case airflow but I'd rather have an open nand m2 drive sat on the board than a cased ssd sat between 2 other drives.

There is no substantial heatsinking in any sata ssd drive in my experience, a sata m2 drive will likely actually run cooler if there's not much room between your drive bays.

I might debate that. I have had to replace 2 NVME drives is customers PC's that have melted down one with no heat sink and another under the motherboard heatsink had the actually pry that one out. A SATA M.2 drive is not as fast so should produce less heat, how good it cools would depend a lot on the placement some are right under the video cards some are right above the card between it and the CPU cooler.

For the regular SATA SSD I have never took one apart so not sure if the case is resting on the chip or not I have a old Samsung 60GB one I might take apart just to look at it. If the cover is up against the chips then it could be acting as a heatsink.

 

[madmatt30]

I might debate that. I have had to replace 2 NVME drives is customers PC's that have melted down one with no heat sink and another under the motherboard heatsink had the actually pry that one out. A SATA M.2 drive is not as fast so should produce less heat, how good it cools would depend a lot on the placement some are right under the video cards some are right above the card between it and the CPU cooler.

For the regular SATA SSD I have never took one apart so not sure if the case is resting on the chip or not I have a old Samsung 60GB one I might take apart just to look at it. If the cover is up against the chips then it could be acting as a heatsink.

I have no argument regarding nvme drives at all, under heavy use they tend to run monstrously hot.
Seen them hit 90c before throttling, I wouldn't want to run any component at that temp personally.

Sata m2 though I've never seen get above 50c, whereas my 850 evo cased drive runs slightly hotter regularly.

I like the neatness of m2 personally, that's the main thing for me.

 

[USAFRet]

Unless you have horrendous other air flow issues, 2.5" SSD does not really get that hot.
The below is in my AIR 540.

The 1TB is sandwiched in the little pod with 3 other drives, and in that half of the case, there isn't a lot of air flow.
Yes, the source 860 EVO got warmer, but nothing I'd consider problematic.

 

[Zerk2012]

I have no argument regarding nvme drives at all, under heavy use they tend to run monstrously hot.
Seen them hit 90c before throttling, I wouldn't want to run any component at that temp personally.

Sata m2 though I've never seen get above 50c, whereas my 850 evo cased drive runs slightly hotter regularly.

I like the neatness of m2 personally, that's the main thing for me.

Yes I need to many TB of drive space to stress over that have about 8TB in my PC right now. Seen a lot of the FD cases that have SSD mounting behind the motherboard tray so not sure how hot they run never looked at mine although their all mounted in the front drive bays of my case with the front fans blowing on them.

 

[Karadjgne]

There's a thermal pad on the chipsets of most 2.5" Sata drives, the case is the heatsink.

Are you sure you have got your units correct? My PC runs at 45C-50C when idle or running low-level tasks such as browsing or playing videos/music. When playing games it gets up to 70-75C on hot days. I know it's not ideal but I have heard of people gaming at 50-60C. If 34C is the limit then all these PCs would've had trouble a long time ago. Ryzen Master says 95C is the limit for my CPU.

No, it's not a mixup of units, it's a seperation. If you have a Ryzen cpu, at idle only one core is used, the rest are inactive. So the whole load of all the background tasks is concentrated. You see a idle temp of 40's but it's a single core, not the whole cpu.

Also at loads, that's just the cpu at 70's, not the case or the insides. With halfway decent airflow through a case, you can expect case temps to be @ 6-12°C above ambient outside temps. So if the room is 22°C, case temps will be @ 28-34°C. Most things with low wattage use like hdds and SSDs will be a few degrees higher unless heavily used and will only be a few degrees C above that.

Pcie4.0 are storage gets warmer still, reason for heatsinks, because the memory chip and a cpu share a lot in common. Same basic principle and design, a chunk of silicon with voltage running through it. Speed it up and tax it heavily, it gets hot. Pcie4.0 gets plenty hotter than Pcie3.0 because of the bandwidth and transmission speeds.

But every area of a pc has it's own temps, VRM's and Sata chipsets can reach over 100°C, cpus, gpus all get hot, but the motherboard and case might never see 40°C and hopefully never see 50°C unless you live in extreme climate and the pc is outside or sourced from hot air.

 

[Avik Basu]

Guys, let's take NVMe out of the equation since I can't afford it. Where does SATA stand as M.2 and 2.5? I have mentioned my airflow system above. My SATA M.2 sits right between the GPU and CPU. For the 2.5, it'd sit at the drive bay at the bottom front with one fan blowing on it and an HDD sitting above it. I could be wrong but I think that the 2.5 case does act as a heatsink so there's some help from that.

Is it just a flip of a coin and either would work similarly or would one be better than the other even if it's just slightly?

 

[madmatt30]

Guys, let's take NVMe out of the equation since I can't afford it. Where does SATA stand as M.2 and 2.5? I have mentioned my airflow system above. My SATA M.2 sits right between the GPU and CPU. For the 2.5, it'd sit at the drive bay at the bottom front with one fan blowing on it and an HDD sitting above it. I could be wrong but I think that the 2.5 case does act as a heatsink so there's some help from that.

Is it just a flip of a coin and either would work similarly or would one be better than the other even if it's just slightly?

Its honestly a matter of convenience in my opinion.

M2 smaller, neater, tidier, no extra cables needed, can be aesthetically neater and tidier, frees up a slot for future drives as an option.

A cased sata drive may run cooler but not substantially so, I've honestly never heard of an issue with sata based m2 drives regarding temperatures.

Really it makes not one iota of difference, performance is exactly the same.

The only issue I have with m2 sata drives is that on some boards using one will disable 2 physical sata ports on the board rather than just 1.

I also would not pay extra for an m2 based drive

 

[Avik Basu]

Its honestly a matter of convenience in my opinion.

M2 smaller, neater, tidier, no extra cables needed, can be aesthetically neater and tidier, frees up a slot for future drives as an option.

A cased sata drive may run cooler but not substantially so, I've honestly never heard of an issue with sata based m2 drives regarding temperatures.

Really it makes not one iota of difference, performance is exactly the same.

The only issue I have with m2 sata drives is that on some boards using one will disable 2 physical sata ports on the board rather than just 1.

I also would not pay extra for an m2 based drive

If it's more or less the same either way I guess I'll give the M.2 a try. Not much interested in aesthetics but I am trying to reduce cable usage as much as I can to give the others more room to breathe. My motherboard is one of those that disable 2 ports when using M.2 but it's not like I'm adding more drives.

The CPU facing side of the case is pretty much as open as you'd expect in a case that lets you hide your cables. And I hope the four fans are providing good enough airflow even though the M.2 would pretty much be recycling the hot air. So I hope it'll work better than the 2.5 sitting in a mostly closed corner.

 

[SamirD]

Are you sure you have got your units correct? My PC runs at 45C-50C when idle or running low-level tasks such as browsing or playing videos/music. When playing games it gets up to 70-75C on hot days. I know it's not ideal but I have heard of people gaming at 50-60C. If 34C is the limit then all these PCs would've had trouble a long time ago. Ryzen Master says 95C is the limit for my CPU.

So which of the two is the lesser evil?

I didn't say 34C is the limit, but you have to remember that 34C outside means your components are much, much hotter unless they have adequate heat removal. Remember, at best your components will be as cool as the room they're in as that would be 100% heat removal.

As far as lesser evil--sata drive for sure. The more hots stuff the stays away from actual circuitry the better--that's where you want to remove heat from not add more.