Question NVMe + SATA SSD vs. SATA only?

[thomasst]

Hello,

I'm looking to upgrade storage on my PC.

Currently I'm using a 128GB SATA SSD as boot drive, and two 1TB HDDs for storage, games and everything else. My plan is to get rid of HDDs altogether, due to speed and noise issues.

So now I'm considering the following:
1) Buy a 2TB SATA SSD to replace the hard drives, while continuing to use my old SATA SSD as primary drive;
2) Buy a 2TB SATA SSD to replace the hard drives, and buy a cca. 256GB NVMe SSD to use as a new boot drive;
3) Buy a 2TB NVMe SSD to replace everything.

My PC is now over 4 years old and hopefully I'll get about 2 more years out of it before I build a new rig. In that case, I'm hoping I'll be able to move the newly purchased disk(s) on the new PC.

My current PC's motherboard is ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4. I use about half of my storage on games and apps, the other half on media - music, movies etc.

Thanks in advance for advice!

 

[USAFRet]

Any combination that does not include still using the 128GB boot drive, and removing the HDDs, will work.

 

[thomasst]

Any combination that does not include still using the 128GB boot drive, and removing the HDDs, will work.

So you suggest doing away with my primary SATA SSD as well? Might I ask why? Capacity, speed, age...?

 

[USAFRet]

So you suggest doing away with my primary SATA SSD as well? Might I ask why? Capacity, speed, age...?

Capacity. 120/128GB is pretty slim.

 

[Bob.B]

Hello,

I'm looking to upgrade storage on my PC.

Currently I'm using a 128GB SATA SSD as boot drive, and two 1TB HDDs for storage, games and everything else. My plan is to get rid of HDDs altogether, due to speed and noise issues.

So now I'm considering the following:
1) Buy a 2TB SATA SSD to replace the hard drives, while continuing to use my old SATA SSD as primary drive;
2) Buy a 2TB SATA SSD to replace the hard drives, and buy a cca. 256GB NVMe SSD to use as a new boot drive;
3) Buy a 2TB NVMe SSD to replace everything.

My PC is now over 4 years old and hopefully I'll get about 2 more years out of it before I build a new rig. In that case, I'm hoping I'll be able to move the newly purchased disk(s) on the new PC.

My current PC's motherboard is ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4. I use about half of my storage on games and apps, the other half on media - music, movies etc.

Thanks in advance for advice!

If your 128 has ample space for your needs leave it alone and work on the hdd to ssd swap.

Nvme or sata won't matter.

 

[Co BIY]

#3 - One Drive to rule them all. One drive is easier to manage. 128 GB is not worth the bother.

2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVME for ~$220

https://www.samsung.com/us/computin...ampaign=9163094&utm_content=mms&nrtv_as_src=1

or

2TB Crucial P5 for ~$240

https://www.samsung.com/us/computin...ampaign=9163094&utm_content=mms&nrtv_as_src=1

2TB Crucial MX500 SATA (as a good example) for $175 saves you a little bit of cash. The performance difference is not much but now neither is the price difference.

You could step up to a PCIe 4.0 SSD but it would only run at the PCIe 3.0 speeds of your motherboard and cost another $50. And still be less than cutting edge in 2 years.

 

[Zerk2012]

Hello,

I'm looking to upgrade storage on my PC.

Currently I'm using a 128GB SATA SSD as boot drive, and two 1TB HDDs for storage, games and everything else. My plan is to get rid of HDDs altogether, due to speed and noise issues.

So now I'm considering the following:
1) Buy a 2TB SATA SSD to replace the hard drives, while continuing to use my old SATA SSD as primary drive;
2) Buy a 2TB SATA SSD to replace the hard drives, and buy a cca. 256GB NVMe SSD to use as a new boot drive;
3) Buy a 2TB NVMe SSD to replace everything.

My PC is now over 4 years old and hopefully I'll get about 2 more years out of it before I build a new rig. In that case, I'm hoping I'll be able to move the newly purchased disk(s) on the new PC.

My current PC's motherboard is ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4. I use about half of my storage on games and apps, the other half on media - music, movies etc.

Thanks in advance for advice!

Just get what cost less the rest don't matter when you stop using a HDD all the real world speeds are so close.

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

 

[geofelt]

The main problem with a 128gb C drive is that it is too small.
Many things default to the C drive, and once it nears full, it will slow down and lose endurance.

The m.2 pcie ssd devices show wonderful benchmark numbers, particularly in sequential performance.
But some 90% of activity will be small random I/O and the difference between sata and pcie is negligible.
You are right in looking to go all ssd. A ssd will be some 40x faster in random I/O than even a 10K HDD.

As a plus, a ssd will be more reliable if you buy a good one.
Puget systems is high on Samsung:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/hardware-reliability-puget-systems-2021

I would vote for option 3, one 2tb m.2 for everything.

Here is an amusing video:

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

 

[thomasst]

Thanks everyone for responding!

One note - I live in continental Europe so prices are somewhat different from those listed, although the pattern is generally similar.
For instance, the Samsung 870 QVO Basic, so far my preferred SATA SSD choice, is priced at $220 here, while the Samsung 970 Evo NVMe M.2, retails at $320. Both come with a 5-year warranty. I am inclined to buy a Samsung, owing to their good track record (as Geofelt says) as well as the fact that my current 128GB SSD is a Samsung, and it has served me well.

Anyways, having considered everything, so far I lean towards buying a SATA SSD to complement my current one. Reasons:

• cheaper
• negligible difference in most operations
• no possible compatibility issues - Samsung 970 is not on the list of my board's supported drives
• in case of building a new PC in the future, it will be there to use, if merely as a backup drive. But in a few years time a new generation of PCI-E SSDs may come around, and it will be more prudent (and probably less pricey) to buy such a disk as a primary drive, at that point in time

Small size of my current primary drive is, however, an argument in favor of getting another one to serve this purpose. It was a sensible choice at the time, as in 2017, higher capacity SSDs cost significantly more than today...