[SOLVED] Need input on M.2 for Windows 10 Pro drive

g725s

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I'm getting a new computer at the end of the week and it has a single M.2 slot. So I assume I can install an M.2 for the Operating System(Windows 10 Pro)

The computer is an HP ProDesk 400 G5 Microtower. It has a i5-8500 3GHz. It will come stock with 8gb ram and I feel at this point the 8gb RAM will be fine for my needs, and I'm not looking to upgrade that.

It does have the OS on a 256gb SATA SSD.

Would there be any benefit to putting the OS an an M.2 drive?

Here is what HP offers:
  1. 512-GB, M2 2280, peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe), NVMe solid-state drive with SS and TLC
  2. 512-GB, M2 2280, PCIe, NVMe solid-state drive
  3. 512-GB M2 2280, PCIe3×4 solid-state drive with self-encryption (SED) and TLC
  4. 256-GB, M2 2280, PCIe, NVMe solid-state drive with SS and TLC
  5. 256-GB, M2 2280, PCIe, NVMe solid-state drive
  6. 256-GB M2 2280, PCIe3×4 solid-state drive with SED and TLC
I've been out of keeping up on the latest tech for a while and am not up on all the M.2 SSD specs listed here. I don't know why some say PCIe, or PCIe3x4, and two do not say NVMe.

I have to assume that PCIe3x4 is faster than just PCie. That NVMe is faster than those that don't have it. Am I right?

And I have no clue what TLC, SS, and SED are. Or what benefit I would get from any of those.

Now of course I'm NOT going to buy and M.2 from HP, because I for sure can get it cheaper elsewhere. But I wonder what is the differences in these specs.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Here is the page for the computer: https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-prodesk-400-g5-microtower-pc/21351180/manuals
 
Solution
What do you use this system for?
In terms of solid state M.2 drives, PCIe == NVMe.

But be wary of the huge benchmark numbers of a PCIe/NVMe drive vs a SATA SSD. In a LOT of use cases, the user sees no difference.

I would absolutely look to a 500/512GB drive rather than the 256GB specced initially.

USAFRet

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What do you use this system for?
In terms of solid state M.2 drives, PCIe == NVMe.

But be wary of the huge benchmark numbers of a PCIe/NVMe drive vs a SATA SSD. In a LOT of use cases, the user sees no difference.

I would absolutely look to a 500/512GB drive rather than the 256GB specced initially.
 
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g725s

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What do you use this system for?
In terms of solid state M.2 drives, PCIe == NVMe.

But be wary of the huge benchmark numbers of a PCIe/NVMe drive vs a SATA SSD. In a LOT of use cases, the user sees no difference.

I would absolutely look to a 500/512GB drive rather than the 256GB specced initially.

This will be a dedicated computer for running one program only: Blue Iris So I will do a clean install of Window 10 Pro and Blue Iris only. I won't be installing anything else other than this one program after the clean install of Windows 10 Pro.

So not sure I would need more than 256gb, but if the price is not much more I'd go with 512.

I will also install one single WD Purple 8TB Surveillance Hard Drive for video storage. I may in the future put in a second storage drive as I add more cameras.

This PC will run fulltime 24/7 recording 4k surveillance video.
 

Endre

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The M.2 PCIe NVMe drives are the fastest SSDs on the market right now.

TLC refers to the type of NAND flash memory.
There are 4 types of NANDs:
  1. SLC = single level cell = 1 bit per cell (the best)
  2. MLC = multi level cell = 2 bit per cell (good)
  3. TLC = triple level cell = 3 bit per cell (not so good)
  4. QLC = quad level cell = 4 bit per cell (worst)

Any of these NVMe drives are faster than a SATA based SSD.
 
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g725s

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The M.2 PCIe NVMe drives are the fastest SSDs on the market right now.

TLC refers to the type of NAND flash memory.
There are 4 types of NANDs:
  1. SLC = single level cell = 1 bit per cell (the best)
  2. MLC = multi level cell = 2 bit per cell (good)
  3. TLC = triple level cell = 3 bit per cell (not so good)
  4. QLC = quad level cell = 4 bit per cell (worst)
Any of these NVMe drives are faster than a SATA based SSD.

Is there a difference between PCIe and PCIe3x4?

Would there be benefit putting the OS on the M.2?

Becuase HP only offers TLC, do you think that this PC would not be able to use MLC or SLC?
 

Endre

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I'm getting a new computer at the end of the week and it has a single M.2 slot. So I assume I can install an M.2 for the Operating System(Windows 10 Pro)

The computer is an HP ProDesk 400 G5 Microtower. It has a i5-8500 3GHz. It will come stock with 8gb ram and I feel at this point the 8gb RAM will be fine for my needs, and I'm not looking to upgrade that.

It does have the OS on a 256gb SATA SSD.

Would there be any benefit to putting the OS an an M.2 drive?

Here is what HP offers:
  1. 512-GB, M2 2280, peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe), NVMe solid-state drive with SS and TLC
  2. 512-GB, M2 2280, PCIe, NVMe solid-state drive
  3. 512-GB M2 2280, PCIe3×4 solid-state drive with self-encryption (SED) and TLC
  4. 256-GB, M2 2280, PCIe, NVMe solid-state drive with SS and TLC
  5. 256-GB, M2 2280, PCIe, NVMe solid-state drive
  6. 256-GB M2 2280, PCIe3×4 solid-state drive with SED and TLC
I've been out of keeping up on the latest tech for a while and am not up on all the M.2 SSD specs listed here. I don't know why some say PCIe, or PCIe3x4, and two do not say NVMe.

I have to assume that PCIe3x4 is faster than just PCie. That NVMe is faster than those that don't have it. Am I right?

And I have no clue what TLC, SS, and SED are. Or what benefit I would get from any of those.

Now of course I'm NOT going to buy and M.2 from HP, because I for sure can get it cheaper elsewhere. But I wonder what is the differences in these specs.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Here is the page for the computer: https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-prodesk-400-g5-microtower-pc/21351180/manuals

Going from 1x 8GB to 2x 8GB RAM would be a great improvement, not only because the size of the memory would be double, but also because you’d go from single channel to dual channel memory setup.
 
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Endre

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Is there a difference between PCIe and PCIe3x4?

Would there be benefit putting the OS on the M.2?

Becuase HP only offers TLC, do you think that this PC would not be able to use MLC or SLC?

1. PCIe is the port.
PCIe 3.0 x4 means: Port PCIe; generation 3.0; size: x4 (there are smaller and larger ones: x2, x4, x8, x16);

2. Yes, there is a great benefit into installing your OS on an M.2 NVMe SSD.
Everything will run faster.

3. Your PC will handle any type of NANDs: SLC, MLC, TLC, QLC.
But the higher quality ones are expensive.
For instance: Samsung 970 Pro has MLC NAND and is very fast and durable.
If you can afford an MLC drive, buy it over a TLC or QLC drive.
 
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USAFRet

Titan
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Is there a difference between PCIe and PCIe3x4?

Would there be benefit putting the OS on the M.2?

Because HP only offers TLC, do you think that this PC would not be able to use MLC or SLC?
For this use, no difference between a SATA SSD and an NVMe SSD.
The 256GB SATA drive initially specced will be just fine.

"Is there a difference between PCIe and PCIe3x4?"
We'd have to know the specific drives in question. It may just be a case of someone not typing in the "3x4" characters in the description.
 
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g725s

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For this use, no difference between a SATA SSD and an NVMe SSD.
The 256GB SATA drive initially specced will be just fine.

Okay, the previous poster said that there would be better performance with the OS on an M.2 and you say not.

But you have more badges ;)

I very much appreciate your input.
 
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As many NVME drives are only a bit more expensive (if at all, in fact)than Samsung EVO drives, I'd go for NVME anyway...(Intel 660P, WD Black, etc)

Intel's 660P is often at fire sale prices, 1 TB only $95 or so... (The 'NVME cost premium over SATA' is substantially less than it was 2.5 years ago, when NVME drives costs were easily double....)
 
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USAFRet

Titan
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Okay, the previous poster said that there would be better performance with the OS on an M.2 and you say not.

But you have more badges ;)

I very much appreciate your input.
In this particular usage, there won't be any real performance benefit.
You're not interacting with the system that much.

If you can get an NVMe drive at the same price as a SATA SSD, sure, go for it.
But don't pay any price premium just for an NVMe drive.
 

Endre

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In this particular usage, there won't be any real performance benefit.
You're not interacting with the system that much.

If you can get an NVMe drive at the same price as a SATA SSD, sure, go for it.
But don't pay any price premium just for an NVMe drive.

Going from Kingston HyperX Savage SATA SSD to Samsung 970 PRO M.2 NVMe SSD i felt a big difference.

Every program opens up faster (especially large programs), copying files and archiving folders is faster, random usage is “snappier”.
Windows 10 install went from 28 minutes to 15 minutes.
Boot time and shut down time got shorter.

Going from SATA SSD to NVMe ain’t that dramatic as it was when going from HDD to SATA SSD, but still... the speed improvement is a lot more tangible than when overclocking RAM or CPU.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Going from Kingston HyperX Savage SATA SSD to Samsung 970 PRO M.2 NVMe SSD i felt a big difference.

Every program opens up faster (especially large programs), copying files and archiving folders is faster, random usage is “snappier”.
Windows 10 install went from 28 minutes to 15 minutes.
Boot time and shut down time got shorter.

Going from SATA SSD to NVMe ain’t that dramatic as it was when going from HDD to SATA SSD, but still... the speed improvement is a lot more tangible than when overclocking RAM or CPU.
Yes. In typical uses, NVMe presents faster than SATA SSD.
In this particular case, however, the system has but one function - to load the OS and run the BlueIris camera software.
 
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