Question SATA SSD versus M.2 NVMe SSD vs Memory Card (also an "SSD") ?

[DanielThommen]

Stupid Question, but why would you prefer one over the other?

Even a 512GB Memory Card is technically a SSD and could be mounted very easy with a card reader into a USB connector. Have WIN and all on it and start it from there (would that even work if USB is the booting device in BIOS)?

So what is better with a "real" SSD SATA (where you need an available SATA connector or a SATA-card (PCIe) where you could plug it in
...vs...
a SSD M.2 NVME (where you also need an adapter to connect it via PCIe)
...vs...
a SD card, connected via USB?

I guess whatever is connected to PCIe is faster than USB.

So is the fastest to get a PCIe-x4 adapter card for M.2 NVME and a SSD card that goes in there? But is the speed not also bottlenecked based on the PCIe (1.0, 2.0, 3.0 or 4.0)?
Or is a PCIe-x2 SATA card where you connect a SSD with a cable to it faster?
Or is a "SSD" SD Card connected via USB even faster?

 

[CountMike]

Stupid Question, but why would you prefer one over the other?

Even a 512GB Memory Card is technically a SSD and could be mounted very easy with a card reader into a USB connector. Have WIN and all on it and start it from there (would that even work if USB is the booting device in BIOS)?

So what is better with a "real" SSD SATA (where you need an available SATA connector or a SATA-card (PCIe) where you could plug it in
...vs...
a SSD M.2 NVME (where you also need an adapter to connect it via PCIe)
...vs...
a SD card, connected via USB?

I guess whatever is connected to PCIe is faster than USB.

So is the fastest to get a PCIe-x4 adapter card for M.2 NVME and a SSD card that goes in there? But is the speed not also bottlenecked based on the PCIe (1.0, 2.0, 3.0 or 4.0)?
Or is a PCIe-x2 SATA card where you connect a SSD with a cable to it faster?
Or is a "SSD" SD Card connected via USB even faster?

Memory cards like SD cards are just technically SSD (because SS= Solid State) But are made indifferent scale of transistors, smaller and so potentially less reliable, speed greatly influenced by USB interface which is often much slower than memory itself. Only USB3.2 can make them work full speed.
SATA SSDs are limited by SATA interface which has limited bandwidth to typically 550/500 Mbps.
NVME SSD drives work of PCIe interface which is much faster in frequency as well as in bandwidth.Even PCIe 2nd gen is at least 2 times faster than SATA3 and so are SSDs connected to it.
Newest PCIe gen5 NVME SSDs run at 11.700MBps. Compare that to SATA SSDs. Basically, PCIe interface doubled bandwidth with every generation while SATA will never improve.
So main and deciding difference is in speed but comparing to SD cards also have potential for much greater capacities. Sd cards capacity can't grow as much as other types of SSDs because they are simply limited in size and speed is also limited as faster they are they heat more with no practical way of cooling them while SATA SSDs canbe in metal casing with disapites heat and M.2 NVMe drives can have large evenwater coolers.
In SD cards there's little space to put RAM cache in wich can speed drives considerably.

 

[USAFRet]

If a system does not have native PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 M.2 ports, then get 2.5" SATA III SSDs.

SD cards, wile "solid state" (no moving parts) are NOT even close in performance or reliability.

And of course, getting a Windows system running from USB is its own headache.

 

[Bob.B]

Stupid Question, but why would you prefer one over the other?

Even a 512GB Memory Card is technically a SSD and could be mounted very easy with a card reader into a USB connector. Have WIN and all on it and start it from there (would that even work if USB is the booting device in BIOS)?

So what is better with a "real" SSD SATA (where you need an available SATA connector or a SATA-card (PCIe) where you could plug it in
...vs...
a SSD M.2 NVME (where you also need an adapter to connect it via PCIe)
...vs...
a SD card, connected via USB?

I guess whatever is connected to PCIe is faster than USB.

So is the fastest to get a PCIe-x4 adapter card for M.2 NVME and a SSD card that goes in there? But is the speed not also bottlenecked based on the PCIe (1.0, 2.0, 3.0 or 4.0)?
Or is a PCIe-x2 SATA card where you connect a SSD with a cable to it faster?
Or is a "SSD" SD Card connected via USB even faster?

Other than benchmarks it doubtful you would see a diff in perf between a 2.5 ssd and a nvme ssd.

So just to keep it simple if you have an open sata 3 port on the mobo connect a 2.5 ssd and go.

 

[DanielThommen]

Other than benchmarks it doubtful you would see a diff in perf between a 2.5 ssd and a nvme ssd.

So just to keep it simple if you have an open sata 3 port on the mobo connect a 2.5 ssd and go.

Problem is that, although I have an open SATA port on my MOBO, I recently figured out that it will not work, I could not make a second CD-drive work using it.

Therefore I added a SATA/eSATA card with a RAID controller to one of my available PCIe-x4 slots, but the card was too old and would also not work with my PC (that is also old lol).

So I literally have no available SATA connector (without buying a new SATA/PCIe-x4 card). I have 2 PCIe-x4 and one PCIe-x8 available where I could put in a N.2 MVNe SATA card I would have to get... The PCIe-x8 is on the bottom of my MOBO and the case and below the GPU, so cooling might be an issue in general with that one... I have to see whether their are cards that would take the PCIe-x4 slot to then accept a N.2 MVNe SATA card...

That's why I was asking about a USB SD Card, of course USB is way slower, so that might not be the best idea, for sure not to put Windows on...

 

[DanielThommen]

Other than benchmarks it doubtful you would see a diff in perf between a 2.5 ssd and a nvme ssd.

So just to keep it simple if you have an open sata 3 port on the mobo connect a 2.5 ssd and go.

I agree, with my old PC I will not even reach any benchmark. And with me just doing normal stuff on the PC, far away from heavy gaming, I doubt I would see a difference.

Plus for me, 1 second more or less does not make a difference at all. I just would like to have faster loading times, my 2TB HDD does not cut it there, it loads and works perfect, but it could go faster with an SSD...

Is all of that worth to do to a 15 year old PC with an old processor? Or invest the money into a new system?

 

[DanielThommen]

If a system does not have native PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 M.2 ports, then get 2.5" SATA III SSDs.

SD cards, wile "solid state" (no moving parts) are NOT even close in performance or reliability.

And of course, getting a Windows system running from USB is its own headache.

Thank you!

I will have to get a SATA card I can put into one of my available PCIe-x4 slots, as my available SATA3 port does not work anymore, tried to add a 2nd CD-drive to the SATA3 port and it would not work. So I basically have to upgrade the PC with a new SATA port...

And with that, would it be better to add a N.2 card to my available PCIe-x4 to use N.2 SATA stick or would it be better to buy e SATA card for the PCIe-x4 and use a square SATA SSD? Both would be connected to the PCIe-x4, just one is SATA-cable and one is N.2

 

[USAFRet]

Thank you!

I will have to get a SATA card I can put into one of my available PCIe-x4 slots, as my available SATA3 port does not work anymore, tried to add a 2nd CD-drive to the SATA3 port and it would not work. So I basically have to upgrade the PC with a new SATA port...

And with that, would it be better to add a N.2 card to my available PCIe-x4 to use N.2 SATA stick or would it be better to buy e SATA card for the PCIe-x4 and use a square SATA SSD? Both would be connected to the PCIe-x4, just one is SATA-cable and one is N.2

Be advised, the PCIe adapter cards generally rely on a motherboard SATA port for the data.
The slot and the card provides the power, the data goes through the normal SATA port.

 

[DanielThommen]

Memory cards like SD cards are just technically SSD (because SS= Solid State) But are made indifferent scale of transistors, smaller and so potentially less reliable, speed greatly influenced by USB interface which is often much slower than memory itself. Only USB3.2 can make them work full speed.
SATA SSDs are limited by SATA interface which has limited bandwidth to typically 550/500 Mbps.
NVME SSD drives work of PCIe interface which is much faster in frequency as well as in bandwidth.Even PCIe 2nd gen is at least 2 times faster than SATA3 and so are SSDs connected to it.
Newest PCIe gen5 NVME SSDs run at 11.700MBps. Compare that to SATA SSDs. Basically, PCIe interface doubled bandwidth with every generation while SATA will never improve.
So main and deciding difference is in speed but comparing to SD cards also have potential for much greater capacities. Sd cards capacity can't grow as much as other types of SSDs because they are simply limited in size and speed is also limited as faster they are they heat more with no practical way of cooling them while SATA SSDs canbe in metal casing with disapites heat and M.2 NVMe drives can have large evenwater coolers.
In SD cards there's little space to put RAM cache in wich can speed drives considerably.

Very good explanation, thank you for your lengthy answer! I appreciate it.

My PC is 15+ years old and I need to upgrade it in a economic way, meaning I am not looking to spend a lot of money, yet it still has to work nicely. I am not a gamer, so it does not matter whether it needs a second more or less, but I am a bit tired of waiting minutes for a start up or waiting until the WIN explorer moves files... YEah, a newer PC with more whatever would do, but I do not have the financial means for this right now.

I think that after reading your explanation, a 512GB SD card connected with a USB stick to a USB port is out of the question for fixed storage. It is ok to move files around from one PC to the other or for limited backup, but not for a standard internal SSD.

 

[CountMike]

Very good explanation, thank you for your lengthy answer! I appreciate it.

My PC is 15+ years old and I need to upgrade it in a economic way, meaning I am not looking to spend a lot of money, yet it still has to work nicely. I am not a gamer, so it does not matter whether it needs a second more or less, but I am a bit tired of waiting minutes for a start up or waiting until the WIN explorer moves files... YEah, a newer PC with more whatever would do, but I do not have the financial means for this right now.

I think that after reading your explanation, a 512GB SD card connected with a USB stick to a USB port is out of the question for fixed storage. It is ok to move files around from one PC to the other or for limited backup, but not for a standard internal SSD.

If your PC has SATA port you can ad a SATA2.5" SSD which will be much faster than any mechanical HDD. It's just a matter of which generation of SATA port it has. Gull speed of 550/500MBps would be on SATA3 (that's maximum for them) and about half that in SATA2. port.To make full use of it OS and programs should be installed on it.

 

[DanielThommen]

Be advised, the PCIe adapter cards generally rely on a motherboard SATA port for the data.
The slot and the card provides the power, the data goes through the normal SATA port.

Oh my... Nothing ever easy... So my only option is then to get a PCIe-x4 card to add more SATA as my existing SATA3 on the MOBO does not work anymore...

 

[USAFRet]

Oh my... Nothing ever easy... So my only option is then to get a PCIe-x4 card to add more SATA as my existing SATA3 on the MOBO does not work anymore...

And on a 15 year old system, an NVMe drive is wasted.

What specific drives do you have in this now?

 

[DanielThommen]

If your PC has SATA port you can ad a SATA2.5" SSD which will be much faster than any mechanical HDD. It's just a matter of which generation of SATA port it has. Gull speed of 550/500MBps would be on SATA3 (that's maximum for them) and about half that in SATA2. port.To make full use of it OS and programs should be installed on it.

When I talked about SATA3, I talked about that I have 4 SATA ports (I assume first generation because of the age of my PC), so I have port SATA0, SATA1, SATA2 and SATA3. 4 SATA ports... Not the generation of SATAs... And because my SATA3 port does not work anymore, I have to come up with a solution to have more SATA ports in my PC, hence add a card connected to PCIe-x4 who will then give me 2, 3 or 4 new SATA ports I can then use for my second CD-drive and one or two SATA SSDs...

 

[DanielThommen]

And on a 15 year old system, an NVMe drive is wasted.

What specific drives do you have in this now?

I have 2 HDDS:
- 2TB Hitachi HUA722020ALA331
- 750GB WDC WD75000AADS

RAM:
-16GB RAM

CD/DVD/Writer:
- TSSTcorp CDDCDDW SH-233C

Graphic:
- Nvidia Quadro FX580

Processor:
- Pentium Dual Core CPU E5700 @ 3.00 GHz

 

[DanielThommen]

So I can add a new SATA card to the PCIe-x4 connector? And chose a SATA2 (or better SATA3) generation for the card so I have maximum speed for the 2.5" SATA SSD?

 

[USAFRet]

So, 3 current drives.
2x HDD and 1x optical.

And only 3 of the SATA ports on the motherboard actually work?

The OS is currently on one of the HDDs? Which one?

Keep things simple, and replace the 750GB HDD with a 1 or 2TB SATA III SSD.

 

[DanielThommen]

So, 3 current drives.
2x HDD and 1x optical.

And only 3 of the SATA ports on the motherboard actually work?

The OS is currently on one of the HDDs? Which one?

Keep things simple, and replace the 750GB HDD with a 1 or 2TB SATA III SSD.

Yes WIN and everything is on the 2TB HDD (SATA0).

Nothing is on the 750GB HDD, I literally just put it in there last week, took it out from another PC, works and all, wanted to use it as backup. It is on SATA2.

The optical is on the SATA1 as originally connected there. The original HP-drive was just a CD reader I exchanged it with a CD/DVD reader/writer...

I tried to add a second optical to SATA3 but that did not work, tried it all, moving cables around, connect another one opn SATA3 and all, at the end SATA3 is gone...

Good idea actually to get a new SSD and then connect it to SATA2, instead of the 750GB HDD.

So right now:
- SATA0: HDD 2TB
- SATA1: Optical
- SATA2: HDD 750GB
- SATA3: Nothing, does not work

 

[USAFRet]

Get a 2TB SATA SSD. Samsung, SanDisk, Crucial.
Remove the 750GB HDD
Clone from the 2TB HDD to a new 2TB SSD

(we can go into cloning specifics later)

 

[DanielThommen]

Get a 2TB SATA SSD. Samsung, SanDisk, Crucial.
Remove the 750GB HDD
Clone from the 2TB HDD to a new 2TB SSD

(we can go into cloning specifics later)

ok, sounds like a plan, I'll get back to you once I have the 2TB SSD.

THANK YOU!

 

[CountMike]

By SATA2 or 3 I meant generation not how they are numbered on the MB. SATA2 (II) has bandwidth 300MBps and SATA 3 (III) is faster at 600MBps.

 

[DanielThommen]

By SATA2 or 3 I meant generation not how they are numbered on the MB. SATA2 (II) has bandwidth 300MBps and SATA 3 (III) is faster at 600MBps.

No matter which one, I can still add them both the same way right? I take out my 750GB HDD (SATA) and connect the 2TB SSD (SATA) instead... Does it matter whether I get generation II or III as I have an old PC (I doubt I have SATA Gen III in it)... But either way, would either work?

 

[CountMike]

No matter which one, I can still add them both the same way right? I take out my 750GB HDD (SATA) and connect the 2TB SSD (SATA) instead... Does it matter whether I get generation II or III as I have an old PC (I doubt I have SATA Gen III in it)... But either way, would either work?

With gen2 ports (SATA II, 300MBps) you'll get about that speed with any SATA 2.5" SSD even if it was SATA III capable of 600MBps as they are all now.but that's still at last twice as fast as fast HDDs which typically get about 150MBps. That's actually not the best part of SSD.it's access time that's just a fraction of that of HDDs. Acess time like that which doesn't change with is what makes SSD more responsive and fast acting. There are other benefits of SSDs. Less load on rest of system and no disk fragmentation to slow it down, less heat and virtually no noise, can be mounted in any way and imprevious to moving or jarring which could kill any HDD.
You can replace any SATA HDD with 2.5" SSD using same cables and connectors and no drivers needed. Windows7 Sp1 and up should recognize it's an SSD, disable derfrag and enable Trim function. Other than that, OS is treating them just like they are HDD, same formatting etc.